6+ things to know in #MiamiTech: Techstars Miami inaugural cohort plus news from Taxfyle, Countdown Capital, Endeavor, WeWork, VC & more

1 Meet the Techstars Miami class

A dozen startups have been selected to participate in the inaugural class of Techstars Miami, an accelerator for early-stage tech companies.

In March, Techstars announced Miami would be one of the cities chosen as part of a partnership between Techstars and J.P. Morgan to invest $80 million in more than 400 companies through 37+ programs in 9 cities to create opportunities for wealth creation, often constrained by institutional, structural, and systemic barriers. About 75% of CEOs chosen for the program identify as Black, Hispanic/Latino, Indigenous American and/or Pacific Islander, TechStars said.

“Miami is the base and desired destination for founders across all industries,” said Andres Barreto, managing director of Techstars Miami powered by J.P. Morgan. “Although it’s known for the boom in web3 and fintech, we also found companies across industries as diverse as healthcare, logistics, robotics, and edtech.”

The Miami program sourced from a wide-range of early stage founders from idea to over $1 million n funding, and span verticals including Fintech, Proptech, Healthcare, SaaS, E-Commerce, Blockchain, Aerospace and Edtech. A spokeswoman said most of the selected companies are either based in Miami or Latin America or planning to relocate or scale here.

Here are the selected companies:

Aerialoop Replaces expensive middle-mile delivery and warehouses with drone flight loops. Aerialoop has already completed over twenty thousand deliveries.
Allison Makes launching fintech products easy by integrating with community banks and credit unions through their low-code platform.
Ambana – Offers fractional ownership of rental properties to the growing middle class in Latin America.
Docokids – Built by two pediatricians, Docokidsenables parents, caregivers, and schools to access pediatricians 24/7 through WhatsApp. Healthcare.
FynOps – Automates accounting for the millions of small businesses selling products across platforms online.
Medscrape – Shortens go-to-market for pharmaceuticals by connecting them with stakeholders across the ecosystem.
Mimedik – helps the two million healthcare providers in Mexico reduce patient onboarding times through automation.
Official– Enables consumers to earn shares of the Brands they Love.
Second Degree – Helps companies recruit remote engineers through a peer-to-peer referral network.
Talisman – Automates IT services for cloud companies allowing them to manage their tools and workflows without adding the extra headcount.
Topset – For the 150 million African students, Topset provides easy and affordable access to personalized online tutoring and e-learning.
Vaale – Offers a buy-now-pay-later solution that allows consumers throughout Latin America to buy groceries and daily essentials without worrying about predatory loans or living paycheck to paycheck.

Applications are open until Nov 8, 2022, for the upcoming February 2023 cohort.

2 Taxfyle expands HQ to accommodate new hires

Following its recent $20 million Series B funding round, Taxfyle has expanded into a 10,125 sq. foot headquarters office at 2911 Grand Ave. in Coconut Grove,with the addition of 70 new hires, making its core team 109 in total. Equipped with call pods and meeting spaces, the space will also give employees an opportunity to utilize break time with a recreational area pool table, a ping pong table, and old school arcade games.

Dubbed the “Uber for taxes,” Taxfyle set out to transform professional tax prep in 2015 with an easy-to-use platform that simplified the process of filing personal or business taxes. Taxfyle also offers robust B2B solutions — Taxfyle Outsourcing for CPA firms, and Worklayer for the enterprise segment. Among Taxfyle’s clients are a Big Four accounting firm and a cadre of top 300 CPA firms. Taxfyle ranked in the top 15% on the Inc. 5000 list for two consecutive years.

3 Countdown Capital closes $15M fund 2

Miami-based Countdown Capital announced that it had closed a $15M Fund II. Started in late 2020 by Jai Malik, Countdown backs hard-tech startups looking to “rebuild the American industrial base.” The firm invests at the pre-seed stage with an average chieck size of $300K and often writes the first check. Malik has backed nine startups so far. Read more here.

4 Endeavor names Emiliano Abramzon to its board

Endeavor Miami announced that Emiliano Abramzon has joined Endeavor Miami’s Board of Directors. This brings Endeavor Miami’s Board to 17 members, a group that includes high-profile leaders and business executives. Abramzon, who co-founded Nearpod in 2012 along with Felipe Sommer and Guido Kovalskys, was selected as an Endeavor Entrepreneur in 2018. Since then, he has been an active mentor to Endeavor Entrepreneurs, a panelist at Local Selection Panels (LSPs), and a part of the Endeavor Outlier Class since 2018. Abramzon is the fourth Endeavor Entrepreneur to become an Endeavor Miami Board Member.

5 WeWork and Miami renew partnership

WeWork announced that its partnership with Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has been renewed for 2022 as the need for flexible RTO solutions continues to stay at the forefront of business priorities as companies navigate the new world of work.

As part of the program, WeWork is offering businesses access to certain incentives, including:

50% off WeWork All Access monthly membership fees for 3 months for new members. WeWork All Access is a monthly subscription membership that provides access to hundreds of WeWork locations across the globe so that users can find a place and time to work; Terms apply or
WeWork Private office space (for up to 49 people in select locations) with 1 month free with a 3-month+ commitment, or 2 months free with a 6-month+ commitment. Terms apply.

6 $436.6M in venture capital in September – and it is only half over

On a roll: Led by the $180M funding round for the formerly bootstrapped PR platform Muck Rack, South Florida companies drew at least $436.6 million in venture capital in the first half of September alone. Deals included:

PLUS

Opportunity knocks

THIS WEEK: Our region’s GovTech prowess will be on full display Sept. 17 at Fort Lauderdale coworking space General Provision. This will be South Florida’s celebration of the National Day of Civic Hacking, bringing together local techies to work on projects tackling some of our thorniest public problems. Learn more and sign up here.
Data science and analytics training provider Metisis partnering with Florida International University to launch the FIU Data Science Bootcamp, a 24-week online immersive program that begins in October. Trainees can develop skills to help them advance or jumpstart a career in data science, according to the university’s website. Learn more and apply here.
The Tech Hub “Hack My City” Hackathon is a weekend event where participants form teams, vet ideas, create a project, and then present their work to an expert panel of judges. Winners walk away with $5,000 in cash and in-kind prizes. When: Oct. 7-9. More info here.
Founder Institute (FI.co) is accepting applications for their upcoming cohort launching on Sept 28. The deadline to apply is Sept 18th. The Fall 2022 cohort will be held virtually online allowing anyone to build a business alongside some of Florida’s top entrepreneurs and investors from the comfort of home. Apply 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.

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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