Innovate
ARK Big Ideas Summit returns to St. Petersburg
Attendees will get to learn about new innovations and network with other community members.
ARK Invest founder and CEO Cathie Wood and her team are preparing for the 2026 edition of the ARK Big Ideas Summit.
The event, which will be hosted by incubator spARK Labs by ARK Invest (at the ARK Innovation Center at 1101 4th Street S.), will take place May 21 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
A key theme will be ARK Invest’s five innovation platforms: artificial intelligence, robotics, energy storage, multiomics biology and blockchain. According to spARK Labs by ARK Invest president and CEO Becca Brown, five member organizations will have an opportunity to showcase their work.
In March, the program reached office max capacity. The incubator provides company founders with one-on-one, customized support. Additionally, these leaders are encouraged to participate in group activities and network with fellow members.
“At ARK, we believe the next wave of breakthrough innovation will be driven by convergence across innovation, disciplines and communities,” Wood said in a statement prepared for the Catalyst. “The Big Ideas Summit is designed to bring those forces together. By convening builders, investors and thought leaders in St. Petersburg, we’re fostering the kind of collaboration that can accelerate innovation and shape the future in profound ways.”
ARK Invest has hosted Big Ideas Summit events for more than six years. The first at the ARK Innovation Center was held in 2024.
Brown said that the gathering will feature discussions with multiple national business leaders. These include Wood, Target Corporation executive chair and former CEO Brian Cornell, ARK Invest chief futurist Brett Winton and Draper Associates partner Andy Tang.
Winton and members of the ARK Invest research team will discuss some of the highlights from the company’s annual Big Ideas Report, she explained, which outlines disruptive technologies in the organization’s five innovation platforms.
“I think this type of event, where we will have 200 curated invitees, shows the power of collaboration and connectivity,” Brown added, “during this time when things are changing so rapidly driven by artificial intelligence.”
Attendees will get to learn about new innovations, hear insights from investors and network with other community members.
“With so much of our time being spent in front of a computer using AI tools, it’s the human to human connections that are becoming more premium,” she said. “We can talk about the challenges, fears, uncertainties and opportunities. There’s so many things happening. I think having those interactions are more important than ever.”
ARK Investment Management, LLC was founded in 2014. Wood relocated the company to St. Petersburg from New York City in 2021. This move led the entrepreneur to back the Tampa Bay Innovation Center, which was rebranded as spARK Labs by ARK Invest in November 2025.
To purchase tickets to the ARK Big Ideas Summit 2026, visit this link.
