Suncoast Venture Studio, founded in April 2025 by Travis Priest, Will Dolan and Paul Harder, is aiming to form a “tech ecosystem” in Sarasota, building new companies from scratch and attracting leaders from the technology industry to the area. Rather than operating as  a traditional startup incubator or accelerator, the studio focuses on developing business ideas internally, launching them as independent companies and then bringing in entrepreneurs to take over the businesses. “The model essentially, as we launch these businesses, will help us build a tech ecosystem here, because the businesses are anchored here with us,” explains Priest. “We’re part of the Tampa Metro, but in Sarasota, we’re a little bit far removed and don’t see the direct tech ecosystem benefit that we would from building our own. The studio model helps do that.”

The studio, which focuses on financial technology, manufacturing automation and health technology, was created to meet the unique needs of the Sarasota economy. Financial technology helps automate financial services, saving costs and increasing accessibility. Priest also notes that retirees create demand for high-quality healthcare, and Sarasota County is home to more than 450 manufacturing companies—manufacturing automation helps streamline their process by incorporating technology. In contrast, a younger demographic of remote workers who have moved to Sarasota following COVID creates a strong workforce for potential entrepreneurs to bring into the studio. 

Priest was inspired to bring more of a technology-focused industry to the area when he moved to Sarasota three years ago and noticed that there was an opportunity for growth. Although a typical model would be a business incubator, which creates a space for entrepreneurs to collaborate and supports new start-ups, Priest realized that this model might not be successful in Sarasota. “When you bring in entrepreneurs with ideas, run them through a training program and teach them how to build a business, they then would graduate from that program, look around Sarasota and think ‘there’s not enough of a tech ecosystem here. I can’t draw enough people to build my business,’” he says. 

“The studio model is a little different. Instead of waiting for an entrepreneur with an idea to come to your area and build, here, we come up with the ideas and bring the entrepreneurs to execute them.” Priest and Dolan first met through Harder, who was a mutual friend—when the three began discussing the potential for increased entrepreneurship in Sarasota, they saw an opportunity to build on already-impressive growth in the technology industry. “It was Travis Priest’s idea to build the studio, and then Paul Harder and I helped him formulate exactly how to do it, what it would need and how we would fund it,” says Dolan. “It was through other group events and the network that we came together on this, but Paul and I both really resonated with Travis’s idea and wanted to help him out.” 

Both Priest and Dolan come from backgrounds in technological innovation and have experience building businesses from zero. Dolan says that a key part of the start-up process is ensuring that an idea or product is unique and can contribute something new to the local market. “The studio is really that model of ideation and creating ideas that can then potentially become a business, if they meet the criteria that an investor or a market would allow that company to enter and fit well within the industry,” says Dolan. The founders’ combined experience led them to build a step-by-step approach to building a startup. First, the studio comes up with an internal idea based on problems that could be solved with new technology, or hosts industry discussions in target segments to understand what needs could be met with innovative ideas. Then comes an internal business proposal and market testing, which involves speaking to more industry leaders to gauge market sentiment for the potential product. As a final step, the studio puts together a full business plan and pitches the product to their internal advisory board. If the studio gets final approval from the board it is finally time to launch the business and bring in one or two co-founders. 

Priest says that a key part of the studio’s forward-looking and innovative approach is artificial intelligence, which they use to help enhance their business plans. “AI offers two immediate opportunities. One, it allows us to work a lot faster, and then two, AI is changing the workflows in so many industries. It’s making a lot of things able to be automated that couldn’t be before. There are big opportunities for us to introduce tools to help industries automate from this perspective. So it’s a game-changer,” says Priest. With careful use of prompts, the studio has adapted to using AI not as a replacement for their own work, but as a tool to help streamline the process. 

The studio has even developed its own AI tool to assist with new ideas and creating business plans. “We use it every day in what we do, not to replace anything, or to create work where people are needed. Our approach is a little bit different. We think AI is an enablement tool that allows us to focus on the areas where our skills are needed in a more concentrated effort, where AI can fill in the gaps and help us accelerate and automate some of the things that will allow us to bring companies to market,” says Dolan. 

Approaching its first anniversary, the studio has been busy building its capabilities—they’ve brought in new team members and come up with a backlog of over 25 different company ideas. Now, four of those ideas are in various stages of development. “There’s been great progress in terms of the mechanics of setting up the company and getting all the processes in place, and now we’re actually in the process of executing and starting to really take these companies forward,” says Dolan. “That’ll be the first wave of businesses that we launch.”

The studio’s future plans are focused on launching three to five ventures per year. With these new businesses will come opportunities for job growth and far-reaching impacts to Sarasota’s economy. “We hope to create about 200 new jobs in the area in the next five years,” says Priest. “And we hope that our ventures will raise between $75 and $100 million in investment capital to launch.”