JAX Hub Delivers Commercial Wins for Paysafe and Jacksonville
Paysafe reports “exceptional ROI” as inaugural cohort moves beyond the program, with commercial opportunities progressing and planning underway for JAX Hub’s next phase.
September 15, 2026
JACKSONVILLE, FL – JAX Hub has completed its inaugural cohort with founding corporate partner Paysafe, delivering significant commercial outcomes as opportunities developed through the program continue to progress beyond the formal engagement.
Paysafe, a global leader in payments, has praised the program’s return on investment as exceptional, saying it has positioned the company to strengthen and diversify its offerings.
Designed and led by global innovation specialist L Marks, in partnership with the City of Jacksonville and JAXUSA Partnership, JAX Hub connected Paysafe with innovators from around the world to address strategic business opportunities across its payments and digital wallet ecosystem.
Three companies, Parafin, Paybotic Financial and Alpaca, were selected to work directly with Paysafe following a global search that identified 653 innovators across 56 countries. Throughout the program, they worked alongside Paysafe’s product and strategy teams to develop and validate commercial propositions, assess technical, integration and regulatory requirements, build financial models, and establish practical pathways for implementation.
JAX Hub demonstrated the value of taking a structured, practical approach to identifying and validating new technologies, surfacing opportunities across multiple areas of the business.
“This program has created tremendous strategic value for Paysafe. By engaging with this cohort, we’ve positioned Paysafe to broaden our product offering, explore new markets, and accelerate our path into attractive, high-growth opportunities.”
– Bob Legters, Chief Product Officer at Paysafe
JAX Hub also introduced a new model for connecting corporate innovation with Jacksonville’s academic talent by embedding the University of North Florida directly into the cohort. Through the partnership with UNF’s Coggin College of Business, 24 graduate students participated across two semesters, applying LLM-based analysis and advanced analytics to real program data and commercial challenges. Their work contributed directly to the development of business cases within the program.
“Our participation in JAX Hub demonstrates the value of connecting graduate education directly to Jacksonville’s innovation economy. Through applied industry projects, UNF Coggin College of Business graduate students used advanced analytics to examine real market challenges and generate insights that contributed to the work. This is the kind of experiential learning that prepares our students to lead while also creating value for our industry and community partners.”
– Dr. Gary Giamartino, Interim Dean of the Coggin College of Business at the University of North Florida,
With the first cohort complete and commercial activity continuing, attention is now turning to the next phase of JAX Hub. L Marks and its Jacksonville partners are preparing for the next cohort, while continuing to develop the role of UNF and exploring opportunities to expand the model into additional high-growth sectors across Jacksonville and Northeast Florida.
“We created JAX Hub to connect Jacksonville with the best innovators from around the world and turn that access into real commercial opportunities. The first cohort has shown what that model can deliver. Paysafe is seeing exceptional returns, commercial opportunities generated through the program are continuing to progress, and UNF students have contributed directly to the work. We’re now focused on building on that success – continuing to grow JAX Hub, deepening our partnership with UNF and establishing the program as a long-term platform for innovation and growth across the region.”
– Daniel Saunders, Chief Executive Officer of L Marks
JAX Hub was launched in 2025 at the UK Department for Business and Trade’s Global Fintech Forum, building on the UK-Florida Trade & Investment Memorandum of Understanding and its commitment to establish a UK-Jacksonville Fintech Corridor. The initiative was created as a practical step in turning that commitment into commercial collaboration between Jacksonville and global innovators.
“JAX Hub is another example of how Jacksonville is bringing together our business community, universities and global partners to create new opportunities for growth and innovation. The success of this first cohort is an important milestone, and I’m excited to see the program continue to build on that momentum.”
– Mayor Donna Deegan, Mayor of Jacksonville