6+ things to know in #MiamiTech: News about VC funding, Neomoon, EY Entrepreneurs of the Year, more tunnel vision, Baptist Health, Jobox & more

1 Funding slowdown? Not yet for #MiamiTech. $573 million logged in June

Refresh Miami logged $573 million in funding announced during the month of June, the largest quarter so far this year for fundraising. June’s activity for the Miami-Fort Lauderdale metro area included two mega-rounds – OppZo landed $260 million (debt and equity) and PayCargo secured $130 million. Scroll back through RefreshMiami.com/news and you will also find these other fundraises that we reported on in June: Profasee, Zilch, btt, Audience, Zigazoo, OnChain Studios (cryptoys), Aidaly, Rigor, Keo World, Dermasensor, Finnt and Teal. Many of these companies relocated since 2020, and startup founders are still coming.

In April and May combined, Refresh Miami reported on South Florida funding deals totaling about $719 million. In the first quarter, VC funding totaled $1.33 billion.

Refresh Miami doesn’t only cover fundings. Indeed, just over a quarter of our 46 stories published in June were fund-raising news. We also brought you 14 startup spotlights, plus news about relocations and expansions, acquisitions by Miami area startups, an exit, fund news, guest posts, Q&As, news roundups like this one – and more.

2 Neomoon, a digital bank based on stablecoin, raises $850K in seed funding

Neomoon, a Miami-based digital bank based on stablecoin and focused on the Latin American market, closed its $850k seed funding. The round was led by Borderless Capital with participation from Big Brain Holdings, Algorand Inc,, Algorand Foundation, Meld Venture, Optio Capital, and Algorand Miami Accelerator. Neomoon plans to use the funds to scale its solutions in the coming months.

Neomoon is a digital bank in US dollars, aimed at offering solutions to all Latin Americans who want to protect their money from devaluation, offering the possibility of making day to day transactions. The company, which launched in April, says it has attracted and kept an average of 570 new daily users and more than 50,000+ registered users to date.

“The latent economic recession has further served to highlight the need for Latin Americans to protect the value of their money, creating an ideal opportunity for the launch of Neomoon’s offerings,” said founder and CEO Fedor Saldivia, in a statement.

“Using Algorand blockchain based stablecoins (USDT & USDC) will accelerate this process and reduce the friction Latin Americans face with the new digital economy,” said David Garcia, CEO and Managing Partner of Borderless Capital.

3 Four South Florida companies receive EY’s Florida Entrepreneur of the Year awards

Leaders of four South Florida tech or tech-enabled companies were named EY Florida Entrepreneurs of the Year. The award program recognizes leaders of high-growth companies based in Florida and Puerto Rico.

Ian Aaron, CEO of Ubicquia, which offers smart city, small cell and smart grid solutions that aim to make cities smarter, safer and more connected. The Fort Lauderdale-based company raised $30 million in a Series C funding round led by Fuel VC in 2020. Ubiquia recently undertook 30 smart street lighting projects in cities across the United States and Canada with its partner, RealTerm Energy.
Jan Bednar, founder and CEO of ShipMonk, the provider of e-commerce fulfillment and technology solutions to help businesses grow. ShipMonk recently acquired a leading competitor, Ruby Has Fulfillment, doubling its global footprint and adding 700 more employees, bringing its workforce to over 3,000. ShipMonk also raised $65 million this year, bringing total funding to over $365 million.
Harry Hurst, founder and CEO of Pipe, , creator of the world’s first trading platform for recurring revenue. The Miami-based startup, valued at $2 billion after its $250 million funding round in 2021, made its first acquisition this year, expanding into media and entertainment. Pipe also offers the bitcoin industry a way to “min now, pay later.”
J.J. Kardwell, CEO, and David Aninowsky, co-founders of The Constant Company, a West Palm Beach-based cloud computing company. Constant serves over 1.5 million customers with its flagship product, Vultr.

Winners were evaluated based on demonstration of their long-term value through entrepreneurial spirit, purpose, growth and impact. The Florida award winners (four other men from other part of the state were also named winners) will be considered by the national judges for the Entrepreneur Of The Year 2022, which will be presented in November. The national winner will then move on to compete for the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year Award in June 2023.

Since its launch, the program has expanded to recognize business leaders in more than 145 cities in over 60 countries.

4 Elon Musk tunnels coming to Miami? City is studying it.

Miami is exploring the idea of a “Miami Loop”, a network of compact underground tunnels where electric vehicles would move commuters around the county’s urban core, the Miami Herald reported.

According to the Herald, consultants recently finished a study of potential routes underneath the city, and Miami administrators are likely to meet with Miami-Dade County officials to discuss the possibility of a tunnel project that crosses multiple municipalities. City officials see tunnels as a way to reduce congestion by moving commuters from surface roadways into underground electric shuttle vehicles that could someday be autonomous, and they could invite a proposal from Elon Musk’s Boring Co.

Miami isn’t the only city with tunnel vision. North Miami Beach is reviewing a Boring Company proposal submitted in February to develop a 6.2-mile tunnel underneath State Road 826 East from Northwest 2nd Avenue to Northeast 35th Avenue. Fort Lauderdale’s commission recently agreed to pay Musk $375,000 to study the feasibility of tunnels from its downtown area to the Beach.

5 Knight-Baptist innovation fellowship accepting applications

The 2022 Knight Foundation Fellowship in Healthcare Technology at Baptist Health Innovations is designed to attract, train and empower healthcare visionaries and entrepreneurs to develop a diverse and connected community of innovators at Baptist Health and in South Florida.

The yearlong fellowship has been adapted from distinguished programs that include the Stanford BioDesign program and graduate and professional courses taught by a world-renowned educator from Case Western Reserve University and Henry Ford Health System.

The application submission process is now open through Aug. 5, 2022. Find out about eligibility requirements and apply here.

6 Jobox partners with Stripe to offer business financial accounts

Jobox.ai, a software company that provides home service marketplaces with an AI-based infrastructure to directly connect their customers with skilled trades professionals, has partnered with Stripe to offer pros business financial accounts. With this feature, Jobox pros will be able to manage spending for their small business on the Jobox app, making it easier for them to keep track of expenses, predict future spending and budget for materials as necessary, the company said.

“As we scale at Jobox, providing pros with everything they need to succeed remains our North Star. This partnership with Stripe reflects another step we’re taking to lift the home services industry out of its antiquated ways, propel the industry forward with technology and offer pros all of the resources they need to thrive in today’s labor market,” said Jobox CEO Shay Bloch.

Jobox, an all-in-one-workplace provided through its app, powers business for more than 6,000 pros in 39 states across the U.S., and has processed more than $1B of transactions on its platform. About 50 of Jobox’s 60 person team, including Bloch, is located in the Miami area. Read more about Jobox on Refresh Miami.

PLUS

Opportunity Knocks

The deadline for applying to the upcoming Techstars Founder Catalyst Program in Miami is fast approaching. This experience will provide up to 20 Miami-Dade early-stage female entrepreneurs – focusing on elevating Hispanic and Latina women – valuable startup education, mentorship, community, and access to the Techstars worldwide network of entrepreneurs, mentors, investors, and corporate partners. The program will take place from August through October, 2022, where in-depth entrepreneurial sessions and resources will be provided to participants in a primarily virtual, part-time format. Apply here through July 13 or contact [email protected].
The FIU-Venture Miami Opportunity Program is recruiting for its second cohort of female founders of color to scale in the #MiamiTech ecosystem. With support from JPMorgan Chase, and in partnership with the City of Miami’s Venture Miami team, the FIU-Venture Miami Opportunity Program is a 14-week training program that focuses on talent, technology, social network, and access to capital. Cohort participants will get exclusive access to venture capitalist mentors, #MiamiTech conferences and events, and workshops that will help them prepare their businesses for venture-level funding. The deadline to apply is Aug, 1, 2022. Find out about eligibility requirements, application details and more here.
Applications to Endeavor Miami’s EndeavorLAB Cohort for Black Founders in partnership with Dell for Startups. EndeavorLAB is a two-month, audience-specific, accelerated growth program designed to support local early-stage, tech-enabled companies in establishing their business foundations post-revenue generation. Startups must be based in Florida, have achieved product-market-fit and be generating between $50K and $500K in annual revenues. Selected entrepreneurs will receive a scholarship provided by Dell for Startups to participate in the EndeavorLAB program. Find out more and apply by July 6 on the Endeavor Programs landing page.
Endeavor Miami’s six-month ScaleUP Program is taking applications for its Fall Cohort. Applying companies must be tech-enabled, have a minimum of two employees in addition to co-founders, must be based in Florida, have product-market fit, and be generating $800,000 to 2.5 million in annual revenues; the four-month program costs $6,000 (tax deductible). The deadline is Aug. 17. Find out more and apply here.
Black Founder’s Demo Day, Aug. 20: Pitch for up to $1M. Each of the 16 selected companies will receive $3,000 for travel, planning, and accommodations. All startups will be provided a demo booth to display their products or services, as well as a stage to pitch to nationally recognized brands and a panel of active venture capital investors. Learn more here.
NSU Levan Center of Innovation Accelerate Program is a 12-week program to increase your company’s funding, customers, and revenue streams. You will build upon your brand recognition and engage with a network of experts and stakeholders to support further innovation. Applications open July 6. Find out more here.

Happy July 4, everyone!

Got news? Email Nancy Dahlberg at [email protected] or submit your news through the Refresh Miami platform. Follow me on Twitter @nancydahlberg

Nancy Dahlberg

I am a writer and editor with extensive media experience and a passion for journalism and serving the community. Most of my career has been spent with the Miami Herald in business news, and my expertise is writing about tech and entrepreneurs. I love hosting this blog for Refresh Miami and we aim to be the go-to site for South Florida startup and tech news, features and views. Have news? Contact me at [email protected]. Thanks for reading!

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