Spotlight On: Daniel Saunders, CEO of L Marks, Founder of JAX Hub

Key points:

• • JAX Hub is building Jacksonville’s fintech ecosystem through collaboration between business, government, and academia.
• • Paysafe and UNF are helping connect global innovators with local talent and real-world pilots.
• • Daniel Saunders sees Jacksonville growing into a long-term hub for finance, healthcare, and logistics innovation.

May 2026 — Invest: spoke with Daniel Saunders, CEO of L Marks and Founder of JAX Hub, about the initiative’s early momentum in Jacksonville and the partnerships shaping its model. “The secret to true innovation is around collaboration,” Saunders said, as he discussed how the city, industry and academia are working together to build a financial innovation ecosystem.

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What momentum in Jacksonville convinced you that JAX Hub could take root in the city?

JAX Hub started through the MOU that was signed between the UK government and the state several years ago. That created a broader discussion about collaboration between the regions, but also about how to spearhead more innovation within the state and within Jacksonville specifically.

When we looked at Jacksonville, we considered a range of industries, but the financial sector consistently stood out. It is an area where the city has a competitive advantage, so the question was how to build on that and establish a financial innovation center.

From a personal perspective, I really liked Jacksonville. I have been operating in the United States for a number of years, but Jacksonville felt like coming home. The way people work here and the open and collaborative way of doing business really resonated with me.

I also saw that the public sector was keen to work hand in hand with the private sector. You do not see that everywhere. In some places, public sector engagement can feel superficial. In Jacksonville, it was genuine and collaborative. When we met with the mayor, the mayor’s office, the chamber, and the JAXUSA Partnership, the conversation was about how to work together to create something. The secret to true innovation is around collaboration, and that dynamic was there from the beginning.

How did you structure the initiative so it could become a sustainable innovation ecosystem?

From the start, we knew that if we wanted to create a sustainable innovation center, we needed the right partners. Industry partners are critical, but so are academic partners, which is where the University of North Florida came in. We also spoke with a number of potential industry partners in the financial sector.

That led to our work with Paysafe. They had the same collaborative mindset. There was a willingness to work together, to work with external partners, and to contribute to the wider region.

We identified over 600 businesses from around the world that were directly relevant for Paysafe and the region. Of these, we brought a subset to present to the partners at UNF. From there, three were selected and have now started collaborating with Paysafe. It is exciting to see it starting to develop into something much bigger.

What does each partner bring to the JAX Hub model?

L Marks provides the innovation engine. We developed the unique innovation lab model, which underpins JAX Hub, and we have now built over 120 of these labs across the world, across sectors such as finance, aviation, sport, health, and logistics.

The model is designed to support large or traditional businesses to identify, validate, and implement innovative solutions. When we first developed it, we saw that organizations recognized the value of innovation but did not have a process to validate ideas and implement them. So we built a system to discover solutions globally, validate them in real-world environments, and support deployment.

The City of Jacksonville is the location partner. They are helping us identify the priority sectors and areas of opportunity. Their involvement was instrumental in focusing the initiative on finance. They also play a key role as a convener, bringing together stakeholders across the ecosystem. We have also had support from the UK Department for Business and Trade and from the British Consul General in Miami.

Paysafe is the industry partner, which is central to the model. These initiatives need to be challenge-led. We work with them to define priority areas where innovation can deliver value and together we select which companies come into the program. Paysafe is currently piloting and validating those solutions, with the potential to deploy them commercially.

UNF is the academic partner. Alongside bringing global innovators into Jacksonville, it is also important that we deliver value to the local community. UNF is involving students in projects that use insights from JAX Hub and the industry partner, giving the students exposure to real-world challenges and industry engagement, while also helping build a strong local talent pipeline.

What results have you seen since the launch?

We are still in the early days. After the launch, we engaged with companies globally and narrowed that down. We received a lot of good media pickup, but the real outcome is what is happening now.

Paysafe started working with three companies: Parafin, Alpaca, and Paybotic. Whilst we attracted interest globally, interestingly all three selected companies are US-based. 

Because the pilot has just started, it is too early to speak about outcomes. Over the coming weeks, we will be able to see more clearly what comes from that work.

How can JAX Hub help Jacksonville become more attractive to technology companies and capital?

Around the world, many governments want to create innovation hotspots, but often the approach is short-sighted. Initiatives tend to focus on tax incentives or physical infrastructure, but that alone does not attract companies.

In reality, companies are driven by access to customers and talent. An innovator is far more likely to relocate to a city where they can secure clients and build a strong team.

This is where JAX Hub plays such a critical role. The industry partner provides innovators access to customers while the academic partner helps provide access to talent. If the pilots are successful, companies will have a clear reason to be in Jacksonville, working closely with clients and engaging with the local ecosystem.

Where do you see the greatest opportunity for JAX Hub and Jacksonville over the next three to five years?

The first opportunity is growth within finance. Paysafe is the founding partner, but there are more financial companies in Jacksonville. As the model proves itself, additional partners can get involved and take advantage.

I have seen this in other cities. It starts with one partner, then others join. The more industry partners there are, the more innovators come in, and that is how you build a self-sustaining ecosystem.

UNF can also continue to expand its role, strengthening the connection between JAX Hub and the industry partners.

Beyond finance, Jacksonville has strong potential in other sectors, including healthcare and logistics. Finance was the right place to start with, but there are clear opportunities to expand into adjacent areas. We have experience in those sectors in other parts of the world, and they could benefit from a similar model.

Over the next three to five years, I see JAX Hub scaling within finance and selectively expanding into other sectors, driven by demand and tangible opportunity.

Want more? Read the Invest: Jacksonville report.