Year in Review: Read about South Florida’s hot tech sectors, relocations/expansions, VC trends, tech talent initiatives and other ecosystem newsmakers
By Nancy Dahlberg and Riley Kaminer
While venture capital tumbled in 2023, MiamiTech remained laser-focused on building companies and growing talent, continuing to lay the groundwork for a future Miami economy that is driven by tech. We’ve got a ways to go, but three years after The Great Miami Migration was kicked off by early movers like Keith Rabois and then amplified by Miami Mayor Francis Suarez’s How Can I Help tweet, the community continues to grow, including with the relocations/expansions of larger tech companies.
Indeed there was much to celebrate in 2023. In our year in review, we checked in with our leading sectors, took note of new accelerators and funds, and rounded up some of the biggest news shaping #MiamTech, from Miami-Dade through Palm Beach County, including a new US Climate Tech Hub designation. This 2023 review – not meant to be a comprehensive recap – is in no particular order, but with the rise of generative AI, the world is talking about artificial intelligence, so let’s just start with that.
There’s nothing artificial about Miami’s AI prowess
According to Carta, AI startups in South Florida raised enough funding to land us in the top 10 of all AI startups in US metro areas.
Artificial intelligence was one of the buzziest buzzwords of 2023 but for a good reason. You would be hard-pressed to find many startups the Refresh Miami team covered this year that did not have some AI component. But more than a trendy pivot, many Miami startups are truly innovating in the AI space.
Take DeLorean for example. The Palm Beach startup has raised $7.55 million to enable enterprise-sized businesses to leverage AI tech.
This was far from the only AI-related fundraise for #MiamiTech in 2023. CheckToBuild landed $1.3 million to fuel the growth of its AI-powered construction monitoring platform. SportsVisio raised $3 million for AI-powered basketball analysis. A chunk of ClassWallet’s $95 million raise will go towards developing AI to create efficiencies for customers of its digital wallet-based purchasing and reimbursement platform for public funds. Togal.AI raised a $5 million Pre-Series A to build out its AI-powered platform that streamlines the planning process for construction projects. Prescient AI landed $4.5 million to bolster its efforts in helping DTC brands advertise. Gamercraft {pictured below] raised $5 million to expand its AI-powered competitive gaming platform. And we could go on.
Of course, it wasn’t just about fresh fundraises. Tax workforce platform Taxfyle launched an AI solution to further optimize the tax prep process. LatAm healthcare payment platform Osigu also started dipping its toes into the sea of AI to bring more efficiencies to its customers. AngeLink, the women-focused crowdfunding platform that expanded to Miami this year, integrated a unique AI-powered system to protect users from fraudulent activity. Digital real estate transaction platform Propy doubled down on its work at the intersection of AI, web3, and real estate. Kriptos is leveraging AI to keep our digital files secure. Humantelligence is leveraging AI to help us foster more meaningful, thoughtful relationships at work. Testaify is revolutionizing quality assurance through AI. TeselaGen helps biotech R&D professionals to do what they do faster and at scale.
Is your head spinning yet? Ours certainly is. But buckle up for more to come in 2024 because the AI innovation train has just barely left the station. – Riley Kaminer
Welcome, Jeff Bezos!
MiamiTech cheered when Jeff Bezos announced that he (and his mega-yacht) would be moving to Miami. It’s a homecoming too.
The founder and now executive chairman of Amazon lived in the Miami area during high school and graduated from Miami Palmetto Senior High in 1982. Before announcing he was moving to Miami from Seattle, his home for 30 years, Bezos bought two homes in Indian Creek, a man-made barrier island in the larger Miami area known as the “Billionaire Bunker,” and had already been spotted around town.
Bezos said in November he is moving because he loves Miami and wants to be closer to his parents, who live in the Miami area now, and to his company Blue Origin, which is making giant leaps about 200 miles north on the Space Coast. – Nancy Dahlberg
Climate innovation continues despite global slowdown in investment
The climate is changing, and South Florida is at the forefront of the effects: rising sea levels, flooding, increasing temperatures, and even droughts – just to name a few. Yet South Florida’s entrepreneurial community is increasingly seeing this problem as an opportunity for tech innovation.
Despite a global context in which investment into climate tech startups has decreased by 40%, local founders have some news to be excited about: the Federal government this year designated South Florida as one of 31 Tech Hubs, with a focus on climate solutions. Being one of these Tech Hubs enables South Florida to apply for $50 million to $75 million in “phase two” funding, alongside technical assistance from the federal government.
Miami-Dade County expects that initiatives related to its Tech Hub will generate $9 billion in new revenue in the next decade and create around 23,000 local jobs. Of course, saving the planet is also a nice side effect.
Aspen Ideas returned to Miami Beach for another year of climate thought leadership. The three-day affair brought global changemakers together for its ‘solutions-focused’ event. Thanks to this focus, technology and innovation were center stage and a major topic of conversation amongst the 2,500 participants. Other innovative climate-focused events in Miami included Smart City Expo Miami and Hidden Worlds.
In September, Miami-born Kind Designs raised $5 million to deploy 3D-printed seawalls. Founder and CEO Anya Freeman [pictured below] attributes much of the successful fundraise to its opportunity to pitch as a finalist during the eMerge Americas startup competition. The problem Kind Designs aims to tackle is big – and growing. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers estimates that it will cost Miami-Dade County $200 billion over the next 20 years to deal with climate change-induced rising sea levels.
Boca Raton-based Carbon Limit also made major headway in 2023. The company’s primary product, CaptureCrete, has the ability to capture CO2 pollution directly from the atmosphere and store it permanently via carbonization. CaptureCrete also generates carbon credits. On top of having won a series of awards, Carbon Limit is now roughly halfway through a 3-year case study of its first major deployment – doing the testing and lab work to measure CaptureCrete’s performance.
Blockchain-based carbon credit marketplace ClimateTrade has already offset more than 5.5 million tons of carbon emissions, with millions more to come. – Riley Kaminer
A record-setting year for tech expansions and relocations
The Miami-Dade Beacon Council, the county’s public-private economic development agency, reported that the tech sector emerged as the dominant industry among companies expanding in Miami-Dade this year. “There’s a palpable energy that we’re still riding,” says Rodrick Miller, CEO of the Beacon Council, and he believes the region’s recent tech growth trajectory will continue. Leading the way was Kaseya, the Miami-based IT and security management software company that committed to add about 3,400 jobs over the next several years.
Sign of the times: Out with FTX! Kaseya acquired naming rights to Miami’s arena this year.
Other tech companies that are expanding include LeverX, a software company from Silicon Valley with more than 1,600 employees globally; Hiberus, from Spain, a software maker and consultancy strong in media, travel, retail and banking that planted its Americas HQ in Coral Gables; Paysend, the cross-border payment platform from the United Kingdom; Nowports, the Mexican unicorn in the logistics tech space; Rook, a wearables tech player in the healthcare sector; and Neocis, the homegrown venture-backed dental robotics company that will be adding 150 jobs.
But wait, there’s more. Amazon corporate said last month it is looking for 50,000 square feet of Miami office space. The 2,000-employee Silicon Valley software company Anaplan plans to relocate its HQ to Miami early next year. HR-tech unicorn Factorial, from Spain, already has some 40 people at its new Miami hub, and plans to grow to up to 150 here in coming years. Shipping-tech startup Ovrsea of France is also betting on its Miami hub to lead its US expansion.
It’s no coincidence many of these expanding companies are international. Read on. – Nancy Dahlberg
#MiamiTech goes global
As the world finally – and dare we say fully – emerged from its pandemic-induced paralysis, many #MiamiTech pioneers started pulling out their passports to forge international connections.
Our tech community was well represented at last summer’s South Summit conference in Madrid. Founder/investors Alec Oxenford and Martín Varsavsky both shed light on the factors that are making the Madrid-Miami nexus happen, including our prioritization of remote work, rapidly-growing startup scenes, and high quality of life. We dove deep into the connections between these two cities, highlighting entrepreneurs who are building bridges across the Atlantic – especially TheVentureCity’s Laura González-Estéfani.
Another point in common between Madrid and Miami is that both cities provide a welcome home for Latin American startups looking to internationalize. More broadly, Latin America continued to play a major role in our tech ecosystem as a ‘two-way street’ of US firms looking to build out capacities in LatAm – plus LatAm firms looking to expand to the US through Miami. This includes help from soft landing programs such as those offered by CIC and Mana Tech – plus enabling firms such as Lazo.
We had lots of news coverage on the LatAm front this year. Some examples included QUASH.ai’s $3.7 million seed round to expand its Latin American credit platform; crypto payment platform Triple-A’s expansion to LatAm through Miami; On.Energy’s $20 million Series B to expand in LatAm; Marco’s $200 million fundraise to grow LatAm-focused SME financing platform, to name a few.
Increasingly, we reported that Israeli startups are expanding to the US through Miami, and Miami companies are leveraging all that Israel’s diverse tech ecosystem has to offer. While the bonds between the ‘Startup Nation’ and Miami are not necessarily new but have grown closer as of late. There is a litany of startups working across both innovation hubs, such as food delivery platform Sauce, hospitality marketplace Reeco, POS system Tabit, and auto retail data platform AutoLeadStar. All of this and more was on display at mid-September’s Israel Venture Tech Showcase, through which 300 South Floridians came together to learn about the startup and investment links between our two ecosystems. – Riley Kaminer
The year in VC: Not best time to raise but it’s not all bleak
The year 2023 was “a time to build.” Along with the rest of the world, South Florida venture capital results plummeted, but we expected that. While final number crunching will continue as venture reporting lags, at this time Dealroom’s data on Refresh Miami’s Miami Tech Dashboard show that we are on track for about a $2 billion year. That would be a 66% fall from 2022’s record-setting levels but on par with 2020.
Still, we had some sizable equity raises - ClassWallet hauled in $95 million and QuickNode [pictured below] and Digibee each raised $60 million. SellersFi, Flex, Marco, Novo and others raised large credit facilities in addition to equity rounds. And in a year when exits also plummeted nationally, South Florida had a few, including Redzone of Miami Beach purchased by QAD for about $1 billion and Fort Lauderdale-based Playmaker acquired by a Denmark sports media company for $54 million. Other exits included Trend, Nue Life, Cycle Technology and YieldX.
A significant bright spot was in fund-building: Marcelo Claure and Shu Nyatta launched Bicycle Capital, a $500M growth equity fund with a LatAm focus. Softbank sold its Open Opportunity Fund to Claure and the fund’s Managing Director Paul Judge [pictured below], who through their Fund 2 aim to invest $200 million in Black- and Latinx-led startups. What’s more, Atomic has raised $320 million for its 4th fund; Syn Ventures announced a $75 million cybersecurity seed fund; and Fuel VC is raising a $300 million Fund 2. Jaclyn Baumgarten, founder of Boatsetter, is leading the US expansion of IDC Ventures as managing partner/Miami. The $3 billion raised by funds in South Florida during quarters 1-3 exceeds all of 2021 and 2022 combined, according to Pitchbook’s data.
Refresh Miami also made news in this category this year, unveiling the Miami Tech Dashboard. The resource is the place to go for Dealroom data on startups and funding rounds, investors, ecosystem organizations, academic institutions and more – and it is free to the community. Check it out. – Nancy Dahlberg
Big year for Brightline
Brightline starting the year with openings of stations in Aventura and Boca Raton, followed that up with the roll out of new technology to improve the customer experience, and closed out 2023 with the launch of its long-awaited high-speed rail service to Orlando. and strong ridership numbers. How do you follow that up, Brightline?
Web3: Down but not out
The web3 world has been clutching their jackets to ride out the crypto winter – and Miami’s no exception. But early signs paint a positive picture for web3 in 2024, and Miami’s HODL community finds itself well-positioned to thrive.
That’s exactly what we argued in our November article about the state of Miami web3. For instance, local web3 community The Chain is still going strong (and no, they haven’t pivoted to AI, thank you very much).
“Crypto and blockchain ecosystem in Miami remains strong,” proclaims Lin Dai, co-founder and CEO of Miami-based Superlogic (FKA OneOf). “While the speculation and fluff has washed out, true builders in Miami like Superlogic, Vayner3, and Moonpay are continuing to lay the foundation that will unlock value for consumers and enterprises alike in the next crypto bull market, which is widely expected to be 2024 with the convergence of Bitcoin Halving and imminent approval of spot BTC ETFs from financial giants like BlackRock and Fidelity.”
Until then, builders are still building. In August, Spearbit raised $7 million to improve security audits in crypto through its open marketplace. NFT Brand Pudgy Penguins inked a major toy deal with Walmart, while Cryptoys launched Star Wars and Mickey & Minnie digital toy collections. Passes – which now puts less of an emphasis on web3 but still uses underlying NFT technology – raised a $9 million seed. – Riley Kaminer
Fintech remains South Florida’s No. 1 sector
Fintech continues to be a core vertical in the Miami tech ecosystem. Brickell’s roots as a financial hub, especially connecting the Americas, continues to propel our fintech scene (and Citadel hasn’t even moved in yet).
Novo has established itself as a leader (and soonicorn) in the small business banking arena, thwarting competitors and successfully navigating the high interest rate environment. Meanwhile, in June MAJORITY secured $9.75 million to expand its suite of migrant-focused financial services. Onyx Private raised $4.1 million to become the next-generation UBS. Pre-revenue, pre-product startup CapStack got a $6 million kickstart from investors including top-tier Valor Equity Partners. And these are just to name a few.
A key trend to note in Miami’s fintech story is that this subsector has attracted top talent to Miami on a global scale: Ecuador, Colombia, the UK, Sweden, Ukraine… and the list goes on. This brain gain will pay dividends for years to come. – Riley Kaminer
Medtech is on the rise
Did you know that medtech is the second largest-sector as measured by venture capital dollars and deals in South Florida? And in 2023 the gap between medtech and the No. 1 buzzier fintech sector significantly narrowed, according to Dealroom data. On the venture front, Forward Therapeutics, an 18-month-old biopharma company, attracted one of the region’s biggest raises this year: $50 million. HealthSnap, a virtual chronic care startup now with 150 employees, bagged a $9 million Series A.
Our OGs know that medtech has been a leading presence in South Florida since the early days, fueled by strong university programs, a thriving health district, and some early exits that have fueled innovation; for example Mako Surgical’s 2013 exit spawned a handful of Miami area startups, including Neocis and Dermasensor. And there’s evidence that the movement is growing, championed by serial entrepreneur Maurice R. Ferre, CEO of Insightec, which was named 2023 Company of the year by BioFlorida.
Medtech will now be front and center at the next eMerge Americas conference. eMerge’s Healthtech Innovation Hub will include an expansive pavilion, interactive experiences, startup pitches and numerous speakers. “We’re just seeing that so much movement and activity within the sector,” says eMerge CEO Melissa Medina. New organizations were also born this year including the Miami chapter of Nucleate, a Boston-based biotech nonprofit that aims to empower the next generation of leaders. – Nancy Dahlberg
Proptech builds momentum
In Florida, it’s no secret that we love real estate. This year, we’ve noticed that this obsession has taken a turn for the digital as Miami entrepreneurs leverage tech to modernize this traditionally old-fashioned industry.
Flex (FKA Flexbase) is a great example of the potential for proptech. The company, which in September closed a $20 million equity and $100 million debt fundraise, first made its name by offering construction companies a suite of tools to better manage their cashflow. They have since branched out to offer these services to SMBs across all sectors.
SmartBarrel is changing the way workers interact with building sites – using AI, of course. Suffolk Technologies is unlocking VC dollars to usher in the next era of construction tech, with a major focus on South Florida startups. DigiBuild inked partnership deals with a handful of major construction companies, and Pro Platforms raised $4.7 million to build the future of payments for the home improvement industry. – Riley Kaminer
Building a tech talent pipeline; fueling the startup ecosystem
With AI, fintech, medtech and other sectors on the move, where will all the talent come from?
This year, a new community-wide initiative called Miami Tech Works, seeded with a $10 million grant from the US government and led by Terri-Ann Brown, got underway with the creation of the Miami Tech Talent Coalition focused on one goal: Growing the tech talent pipeline in South Florida. Workgroups of tech employers, academic leaders and other stakeholders began working on initiatives aimed at training, upskilling and matchmaking to create pathways for students and fuel that talent pipeline, making sure that underserved communities are part of it.
Miami Dade College opened its second AI Center, this time on its Wolfson campus, and it was the first college in the state to offer a bachelor’s degree in Applied AI. Florida Memorial University, South Florida’s only HBCU, opened an innovation center, funded in part by music executive and philanthropist Ted Lucas. The Miami-Dade Innovation Authority, the county initiative led by Leigh-Ann Buchanan to help solve the region’s pressing problems with technology, launched $100K public challenges seeking sustainable solutions for repurposing Sargassum and airport innovation.
Through Tech Equity Miami, JPMorgan Chase issued its first grants to BrainStation, CodePath, Rebrand Cities and YMCA. To propel more women into tech, entrepreneurship and venture capital – still woefully underrepresented — All Raise and GET Cities established Miami chapters. Recent FIU grads formed two organizations, INIT and GitStart, aimed at engaging young people in tech.
At the same time, accelerators did their part to support the startup ecosystem. Endeavor Miami celebrated its 10th year. In 2023 alone, Endeavor Miami added five Endeavor Entrepreneurs leading two high-growth companies to its portfolio, serviced 35 Endeavor companies, supported 76 program participants and published research on the entrepreneurial migration to South Florida. Meanwhile, Levan Center of Innovation in Davie hosted its 3rd cohort of its 12-week Accelerate program for startups ready to scale and Techstars Miami graduated its first two cohorts. Also new this year: Venture Miami, the Shrimp Society and Argent Strategies launched the 5-week “Builders Summer” [pictured below], the second phase of the year-long Built in Miami Startup Program, that successfully launched 30 new technology products in just five weeks.
Last but certainly not least, Miami’s community builders did their part to bring technologists, founders and funders together during the non-stop action of a record-setting Miami Hack Week, which also opened a new home base in Wynwood this year, Miami Tech Month anchored by eMerge Americas, and Tech Basel Week as well as with year-round events.
These efforts are starting to pay off: The Miami area rose 10 places to No. 23 in the world on Startup Genome’s ranking of global ecosystems. – Nancy Dahlberg
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At Refresh Miami, we were honored to bring you 475 paywall-free stories in 2023 chronicling another strong year for #MiamiTech, and like you, we’re excited for what’s ahead.
What were Refresh’s top-read stories of 2023? Glad you asked: Top-read #MiamiTech stories of 2023. Also check out our founder resolutions and predictions here.
From our team to you, Happy New Year!
READ MORE IN REFRESH MIAMI:
- Here comes the OpenStore Mafia? How one of Miami’s buzziest startups could be producing the next generation of #MiamiTech leaders
- Chutzpah meets hustle: Israel’s ‘Startup Nation’ connects with #MiamiTech
- It’s a record-setting year for tech sector expansion, according to Beacon Council report
- Cheers to 10 years for Endeavor Miami: A look back and ahead
- From Miami to Madrid: Charting the symbiotic relationship between these two high-growth tech hubs
- Miami web3 is dead! Long live Miami web3! Is Miami web3 still a thing?
- What happened in Miami tech in 2022? We’ve got the recap for you!
- And much more in refreshmiami.com/news
If you don’t receive our free weekly Refresh Miami newsletter every Tuesday, sign up here. Follow Nancy Dahlberg on X @ndahlberg and email her at [email protected]
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