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Seaworthy Collective wins federal funds to co-create bluetech accelerator
The Biden Administration awarded Seaworthy Collective and 15 other ocean technology accelerators $3.9 million to develop and advance new ocean climate technology. Seaworthy Collective and Tampa Bay Wave, which each received about %250,000, were the only Florida accelerators that received an investment.
Seaworthy Collective will co-create an accelerator in partnership with Braid Theory, Ocean Exchange and World Ocean Council, Seaworthy founder and CEO Daniel Kleinman said. The Phase 1 grant comes from the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration’s Ocean-based Climate Resilience Accelerators.
“We’re joining forces to co-create the Upwell Collaborative Accelerator, which encompasses our shared vision to break down barriers keeping startups from getting to market, while making support for ocean-based climate resilience solutions more scalable, efficient, and interconnected,” he said on LinkedIn. “We’re raising our ambitions for growing an accessible and inclusive BlueTech ecosystem, and couldn’t be prouder for our collaborative to further establish ourselves among the leading BlueTech and ClimateTech entrepreneur support organizations in the US.”
Phase 1 recipients will be invited to apply to Phase 2 of the Ocean-based Climate Resilience Accelerators program, which will award $55 million to five accelerators. The program is overseen by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
This was just one of four grants Seaworthy Collective received in the past year. The organization also received two from U.S. Small Business Administration Growth Accelerator Fund Competition and one from the U.S. Department of Energy.
“We’re further establishing South Florida nationally (and globally) on the map as a growing BlueTech hub that is both accessible and inclusive,” Kleinman said.
READ MORE: Seaworthy Collective charting new waters in BlueTech, from Miami to the seven seas
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Miami-Dade County announces Climate Week
Mark your calendar, there’s a new weeklong event coming to Miami-Dade. Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava this week that Climate Week Miami is set to take place from April 22-29 at locations throughout Miami-Dade and aims to bring together hundreds of local, national and international organizations, entrepreneurs, policymakers, scientists and artists to contribute to building a climate-resilient future. CC35, an organization that promotes climate integration in the Americas, will host the inaugural Climate Week Miami in collaboration Miami-Dade County and various partners.
“This week will help bring climate innovation to the forefront and further highlight the important role local governments play in accelerating carbon reduction efforts, transitioning toward a green economy, and promoting policies that maximize conservation efforts in the context of a changing climate,” said Levine Cava in a statement.
Climate issues such as livable cities, environmental justice, water scarcity, zero-emission mobility, and climatetech will be covered.
The event will also feature a significant initiative centered around fostering innovation and collaboration between cities, investment funds, and climate solutions in the hemisphere. This endeavor will seek to gather 500 impactful climate solutions, connecting them with cities and investment resources until the end of the decade.
3
Founder back at helm of Yuga Labs
Greg “Garga” Solano announced that he was returning to Yuga Labs as its CEO, replacing Daniel Alegre, who came over from Activision but lasted less than a year at the helm.
“We want to unshackle the BAYC team at Yuga as much as possible to execute against its vision,” Solano wrote in the announcement. Solano said he would reinvigorate Otherside and position it as ”the living room of Web3,” and he would lean more into gaming, from ”mass market,” fun titles like Dookey Dash to more “crypto native mechanics and platforms.”
“Looking at what’s ahead for Yuga, we need to execute with a more crypto-native focus across the entire company,” he said in the announcement. “We’re going on three years since Yuga was founded, and we couldn’t be more excited about some of the stuff we’ve got in the pipeline.”
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Tech salaries fall in Miami, other metros
Technology salaries slowed in Miami and other major U.S. markets in 2023, according to the 2024 Dice Salary Report.
In the US, average tech industry wage increases were 9% between 2019 and 2021, amid aggressive hiring. But last year, layoffs eliminated an estimated 211,000 jobs from the sector. In 2023, U.S. tech employees earned an average of $111,193, about $200 less than the previous year.
In Miami, the average salary was $100,093, down 4.3% from 2022. The city ranked No. 23 in a nationwide analysis of technology wages. The South Florida Business noted that salaries in Orlando grew 9.2% to reach an average of $106,693, and Orlando was among the U.S cities with the fastest-growing tech salaries last year, behind San Antonio, Texas and Philadelphia.
Nationwide, only 49% of tech professionals said they are satisfied with their compensation, Dice reports. Read more in the South Florida Business Journal.
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Black Ambition Prize Competition opens
The Black Ambition Prize Competition is back for its fourth year of positioning underrepresented founders to excel, uninterrupted, CEO Felecia Hatcher says. The grand prize is $1 million.
Founded by Pharrell Williams, the Black Ambition Prize will provide approximately $3 million in funding and resources to Black and Hispanic entrepreneurs. Recipients will also be mentored by top industry leaders and invited to exclusive network building events.
Applications are now open here.
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Opportunity Knocks
- Shine! Pitch Competition: In celebration of Women’s History Month, eMerge Americas is offering female founders an opportunity to showcase their startup. Six companies will pitch live on March 20th and the winner of the Shine! pitch competition will receive a $2,500 grant prize. Apply here by March 6.
- EndeavorLAB Black Founders Cohort: A cohort based program to support underrepresented founders in Florida in building a foundation for scale. Endeavor selects 10 companies following its global selection for high-impact entrepreneurs. Applicants submit an application online. Finalists are interviewed by Endeavor Staff. Apply by May 3.
- Applications are now being accepted for the FAU Tech Runway Venture Program, which provides the most promising companies and talented entrepreneurs with the resources, services and guidance to build and scale their startups. Applications are opened twice a year and seeks exceptional entrepreneurs and startups with high-growth potential and disruptive technologies. Apply by April 7.
He said it
ICYMI
- February’s top-read story: Miami: The Dubai of the Western Hemisphere
- Lucy Guo’s Passes raises $40M Series A to turn top content creators into tomorrow’s big brands
- Gaming monetization marketplace Scuti secures $10M
- HealthSnap closes $25M Series B amid triple-digit growth
- Carewell bags a $24.7M Series B round to transform the caregiving experience
- Web3 wunderkind Felix Hartmann on the future of crypto, metaverse, and why you should strap on some VR goggles
- Myko, an AI startup for sales and revenue teams, attracts seed round led by Khosla Ventures
- And more on Refreshmiami.com/news
Got news? Email Nancy Dahlberg at [email protected] and follow her on X @ndahlberg.
