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6+ things to know in #MiamiTech: News from Greenlight Fund Miami, UM, HorizonAI Global Hackathon, FAU,  ParkMobile, Terran Orbital & more

Nancy Dahlberg
Nancy Dahlberg
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1

$6.5M fund launches to support Miami’s toughest challenges

Greenlight Fund, a national nonprofit funder, has launched in Miami with a $6.5 million fund backed by over 100 local investors aimed at tackling some of Miami’s most critical unmet needs tied to economic disparities. Miami will be the 14th city in the GreenLight Fund’s network, which was co-founded in Boston in 2004 by venture capitalist John Simon and nonprofit executive Margaret Hall.

“We are deeply grateful to local investors and philanthropic organizations whose generosity and belief in our mission have made it possible to bring GreenLight to Miami,” said Simon, Board Chair of GreenLight Fund. “Their commitment to tackling Miami’s most pressing challenges ensures that together, we can drive meaningful, additive, measurable change and create new opportunities for individuals and families experiencing poverty.”

GreenLight Fund Miami will take specific action each year to bring an evidence-based program to Miami to break down barriers to prosperity. By engaging the community throughout the process, leveraging partnerships, providing ongoing collaborative support and complementing the work already happening locally, these programs will deliver measurable social impact and be sustainable for the long term. Some of the Miami fund’s investors include Bain Capital, Bank of America, Deloitte, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan. The fund also boasts support from Starwood Capital Group’s Barry Sternlicht and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott.

Valeria Perez-Ferreiro will be the Miami fund’s Founding Executive Director.  Before joining GreenLight, she spent nearly a decade at Citi as Vice President and Community Development Senior Manager, where she partnered with community organizations to launch impactful programs such as FutureBound Miami, a universal children’s savings account program that empowers children and their families to save for post-secondary education and training, StartUp FIU Food, which helped lower income entrepreneurs launch food businesses, and the Office of New Americans of Miami Dade-County, a nonprofit embedded in Miami-Dade County’s government that promotes naturalization. She was also Founding Executive Director of La Cocina, a kitchen incubator that helps lower-income entrepreneurs turn their nascent food businesses into livelihoods.

“By listening to our residents, investing in proven programs, and measuring impact, GreenLight Miami will help us break down barriers and create lasting change. Together, we’re building a more inclusive, equitable, and prosperous future for all Miami-Dade families,” said Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. Read more here.

2

UM wins $1.9M healthtech grant backed by Chan Zuckerberg Initiative

A new $1.9 million grant led by researchers at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, will fund a project to increase the diversity of biological datasets used to study prostate, breast and gynecological cancers. Data from the project, funded by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), will be used to improve artificial intelligence tools that model tumors and will be shared with study participants and researchers from Africa, the Caribbean and the U.S. will be trained in specimen collection, processing and analysis.

The output will be “one of the largest AI-ready, single-cell datasets capturing the genomic diversity of African ancestry populations,” said Vasileios Stathias, Ph.D., assistant director for data science at Sylvester. Read more from the UM report here.https://news.med.miami.edu/czi-grant-will-diversify-cancer-and-normal-tissue-research/

3

Students, startups can compete in HorizonAI Hackathon at UM

HorizonAI Global Hackathon 2025 at the University of Miami on Feb. 22-23   is an innovation marathon that is part of the AI Summit of the Americas. It will bring together students from any university or school to ideate, design, and develop AI-powered solutions with meaningful societal impact. The hackathon is sponsored by Rothberg Catalyzer Fund and José Milton Foundation Digital Tech Initiative Fund.

Partners include Miami-Dade County, eMerge Americas, UHack, Miami AI Hub , The Lab Miami, and HackInMiami, and the Hackathon  invites local startups from the Miami area to participate and compete for prizes in a hackathon  track of their own.

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This year’s theme: Develop an AI-powered solution that addresses a need or challenge in today’s society. The solution can target any industry, demographic, or issue, but it should showcase AI’s potential to innovate, transform, and elevate.

$42,000 in prizes will be awarded in the seven tracks, with the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place receiving $3,000, $2,000 and $1,000 respectively. In addition there will be a $5,000 Solve for Miami Prize ($5,000) sponsored by eMerge Americas.

Learn more and register here.

4

100+ compete in FAU biotech hackathon

Speaking of Hackathons, Florida Atlantic University’s Center for Molecular Biology and Biotechnology held it’s first-ever BioTech Bridge Hackathon Jan. 31-Feb. 1 with over 100 students, educators, and industry professionals in attendance. The BioTech Bridge program connects science and other applicable majors with industry. offering certificate programs that prepare versatile graduates for successful careers in biotech and pharmaceutical industries.

The inaugural theme, “Beat the Clock: Innovating for a Longer, Healthier Life,” brought interdisciplinary teams together to create innovative solutions that sought to answer the question: How do we extend health span and slow the effects of aging? All Florida Atlantic undergraduate and graduate students were invited to participate, regardless of their major. The hackathon brought out students from biology, mathematics, chemistry, computer science & engineering, neiroscience and more. Read about the winners here.

5

ParkMobile to launch in Miami

Miami Parking Authority announced that ParkMobile, a provider of mobile parking payment products, will launch in Miami March. With a longstanding record in other cities in South Florida, ParkMobile will be added as an additional parking payment option alongside PayByPhone.

ParkMobile provides parking solutions in the U.S. Located in eight of the top 10 cities and aims to provide both cities and drivers a more efficient way to manage and pay for parking digitally. In 2021, ParkMobile was acquired by the Easy Park Group, a Sweden-based mobility solutions company. Currently, ParkMobile is recognized as a brand under the EasyPark Group name. For customers who park in Miami, ParkMobile and PayByphone users can pay for parking using the same location number. In addition, Miami residents will continue to enjoy the resident discounted parking rate when they register with MPA.

6

New leadership at Terran Orbital

Terran Orbital, a global leader in satellite-based solutions for aerospace and defense,  opens the year 2025 with a new president and senior VP.

Peter Krauss, formerly Terran Orbital’s Chief Operations Officer, successfully led the company’s business operations, significantly strengthened its operational framework, and set the company on a path of improved processes and operational efficiencies. Since assuming the role of President and CEO in October, Krauss’s focus now lies on creating a new era for Terran Orbital, including by advancing innovation and expanding capacity. “I am deeply honored to step into the President and CEO role at Terran Orbital,” Krauss said. “Together, we will continue to drive innovation, strengthen our strategic initiatives, and build a collaborative culture focused on the missions of our customers and achieving new milestones for the company.”

Michael E. Young was appointed Senior Vice President of Business Development. He brings over 28 years of experience in the communications and technology sectors, and most recently served as Vice President of Business Development at Hanwha Phasor, where he led a go-to-market strategy that generated a $1.5 billion sales pipeline within 18 months. He also held leadership roles at Ultra Intelligence & Communications, Envistacom, and General Dynamics SATCOM Technologies.

PLUS

Opportunity knocks

  • GET Champions Miami, run by Radical Partners, is an initiative that helps leaders create workplaces that attract, retain, and support diverse tech talent. This 4-month program is designed for forward-thinking tech leaders to reshape their companies’ hiring, retention, and support systems for women, trans, and nonbinary employees, and offers free virtual training, exectuve coaching and invitations to hiring events for accessing top talent.
  • Emerge Americas Celebrate! Pitch Competition for Black founders in the Miami community is now open for applications. The winner of the Feb. 26 competition will receive $2,500 and standard passes to eMerge Americas. Apply by Feb. 10 here.
  • Endeavor Miami  is accepting applications for its next ScaleUp Program. Apply for the ScaleUp program here. Endeavor Miami is also taking applications for two of its upcoming 2025 EndeavorLab programs for earlier state startups. Apply here by May 9th for the EndeavorLab Black Founders cohort and apply here by August 22 for the EndeavorLab Women Founders cohort.
  • Applications for the next 35 Mules Accelerator Program open on Feb 17th. If you’re a Pre-Seed to Series A startup looking for expert mentorship, $100K in no-equity funding, and access to top-tier coaching and VC connections, find our more and apply here.

ICYMI

Have news to report? Email Nancy Dahlberg at nancy@refreshmiami.com and follow her on X @ndahlberg. Subscribe to Refresh Miami’s free weekly newsletter here featuring startup news, tech job opportunities and events. Thank you for supporting Refresh Miami.

Nancy Dahlberg
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