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6+ things to know in #MiamiTech: News about LoanPass, Flow, Securitize, Comvest Partners, Karina Duquesne, coworking & more

Nancy Dahlberg
Nancy Dahlberg
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1

LoanPass raises $5 million to support expansion

Miami-based LoanPass  recently announced that the company raised a Series E Preferred Stock financing of $5 million to support its expansion efforts and new sales initiatives. LoanPass offers a no-code, SaaS application for loan decisioning technology that gives lenders control over loan product, pricing and underwriting decisions.

The five-year-old company “is now being recognized as the industry’s leading PPE for mortgage and all lending products,” said Bill Roy, LoanPass founder & CEO. ‘While some of our competitors often tout larger sales budgets, we are resolutely focused on leveraging our core foundational strength in building superior software – a commitment which is now resonating within the markets we serve, evidenced by recent LoanPass client wins from once leading competitors,” he said in a statement.

LoanPass also said Sy Jacobs, founding and managing member of Jacobs Asset Management (JAM), joined the board as part of the transaction.

2

Flow plans apartments, office building in Worldcenter

Flow, the apartment startup founded by billionaire Adam Neumann and backed by a16z, is underway with three projects in various stages of development at Miami Worldcenter, the $6 billion master-planned mixed-use community in downtown Miami. The buildings are valued at $450 million, the Real Deal reported.

Flow’s properties include the completed 444-unit Caoba rental tower and  the 422-unit phase of Caoba that is under construction; 1,000 parking spaces; and a proposed 40,000-square-foot office building that could include co-working.

Flow plans 28,000 square feet of retail along the Worldcenter promenade. About 9,000 square feet of that has been completed.  

Andreessen Horowitz invested a reported $350 million into the company in 2022, valuing Flow at $1 billion. Neumann has already reportedly purchased 3,000 apartment units in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Atlanta and Nashville. Read more in the Real Deal.

3

BlackRock launches 1st tokenized fund, partnering with Securitize

BlackRock unveiled its first tokenized fund issued on a public blockchain, the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL), to provide qualified investors with the opportunity to earn U.S. dollar yields by subscribing to the fund through Securitize.

“Tokenization of securities could fundamentally transform capital markets. Today’s news demonstrates that traditional financial products are being made more accessible through digitization. Securitize is proud to be BlackRock’s transfer agent, tokenization platform and placement agent of choice in digitizing and expanding access to its investment products,” said Securitize co-founder and CEO Carlos Domingo, in the announcement.

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Tokenization remains a key focus of BlackRock’s digital asset strategy. Through the tokenization of the Fund, BUIDL will offer investors important benefits by enabling the issuance and trading of ownership on a blockchain, expanding investor access to on-chain offerings, providing instantaneous and transparent settlement, and allowing for transfers across platforms. BNY Mellon will enable interoperability for the Fund between digital and traditional markets. Read more here.

4

DuQuesne joins Caldera Law to lead Technology & Innovation Practice

Karina DuQuesne joined Miami-based Caldera Law as a partner and practice leader for the firm’s new Technology & Innovation Practice. At Caldera Law, DuQuesne specializes in representing high-growth and early-stage companies and their investors in connection with the full lifecycle of their investments. With a background as an attorney, executive, investor, and entrepreneur and highly experienced in representing both issuers and investors in the financing of private companies, she also assists both buyers and sellers in mergers and acquisitions. DuQuesne has extensive experience representing clients outside the US, including emerging companies and venture capital funds operating in Europe and Latin America.

DuQuesne is also the founder of Valia Partners, an AI-powered advisory firm servicing high-growth companies and startups in the realms of legal, operations, and human resources. Prior to joining Caldera Law, DuQuesne held key roles at prominent law firms such as Arnstein & Lehr (now Saul Ewing LLP) and DLA Piper LLP, where she was involved in supporting high-growth technology companies through the Nest Program. She also was General Counsel and Chief People Officer at Mi9 Retail, ThryveAI (a division of Mi9Retail), and Ironhack, where she played pivotal roles in legal and operational restructuring, mergers, and international expansion efforts.

“The deep expertise and breadth of experience at the firm is ideal for serving the unique needs of emerging technology companies,” said DuQuesne. “I’m excited to help lead strategic growth at the firm in this area, to ensure our clients can focus on their own growth and innovation.”

5

Miami metro area No. 3 in US for coworking

CoworkingCafe is out with its most recent analysis of the top U.S. metros for coworking spaces in 2024. For this report, researchers at CoworkingCafe leveraged proprietary data from February 2024 and divided the ranking into three population brackets: large, mid-sized and small.

Here are its finding for South Florida:

  • The Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach metro area registered the 3rd highest number of coworking spaces among large MSAs – 272 such spaces – upstaged only by the New York MSA with 606 flexible workspaces and Los Angeles MSA with 357 locations;
  • Among the cities in the metro area, Miami stands out with the highest number of coworking spaces, totaling 85. Fort Lauderdale follows at a distance with 26 flexible workspaces and Boca Raton ranks 3rd with 23;
  • Zooming out at a state level, Florida ranks 4th nationally with 516 coworking spaces. The top three spots are held by California with 864, Texas with 627, and New York with 532 spaces, respectively;
  • In the other population brackets, Salt Lake City, UT has the highest number of coworking spaces among mid-sized MSAs – 38. Meanwhile, Boulder, CO ranks 1st among small MSAs with 25 spaces.

Read the full report here.

6

West Palm’s Comvest Partners closes $881M fund

Comvest Partners, a West Palm Beach middle-market private equity and credit investment firm, closed its sixth flagship private equity fund, Comvest Investment Partners VI, at $881 million. CIP VI received commitments from a diverse global investor group that includes foundations, insurance companies, pension funds, asset managers, consultants and family offices.

The fund seeks to deploy up to $150 million of equity per investment in targeted industries including consumer, healthcare services, infrastructure and field services and professional and managed services. CIP VI’s approach supports founder and family transitions, leveraged recapitalizations, corporate divestitures, buyouts, complex situations, and public-to-private transactions.

Today, Comvest manages $10.4 Billion in assets, and has invested over $12.4 Billion since inception.

PLUS

Opportunity knocks

  • Ready to jumpstart your tech career? Plan to attend the Venture Miami Hiring Fair on April 4th, from 4 pm to 7 pm at Miami Dade College’s Wolfson campus, where you’ll have the chance to meet face-to-face with tech employers, brush up on your professional skills, and perhaps snag your dream job. Jobseekers should register here.  Tech employers can register here.
  • Venture Miami invites you to the Miami Tech Week Kick-Off Event from 10 am – noon on April 8 in partnership with Miami Hack Week with a vibrant public gathering at the historic City Hall. With remarks by Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, Keith Rabois, Jack Abraham and Delian Asparouhov, this event also promises some major tech announcements from Miami Tech’s leading figures. Find out more and register here.
  • 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.
  • Ironhack + eMerge Americas Community Tech Catalyst Scholarship is open for applications through March 29. This scholarship is designed for those who want to learn tech skills and build a career in technology in Miami, but may not have the financial means to pursue their dreams. Individuals who pass the application process will be awarded partial scholarships ranging from $2,500 to $10,000 to cover a portion of tuition costs for any of Ironhack’s US bootcamps. Learn more and apply here by March 29.
  • Miami-Dade Innovation Authority launched its third Public Innovation Challenge: MDIA seeks proposals from local and global early-to-growth stage startup companies with innovative approaches to enhancing cargo visibility at PortMiami, with a focus on public data-based solutions.  Together with PortMiami and Miami-Dade County, MDIA will select at least three startups and provide $100,000 in funding to each company to support pilot testing at the Port so that they can be scaled to others globally. The deadline to submit seaport-related proposals for the third challenge is April 26, 2024. To submit, visit mdia.miami/port.

ICYMI

 Have news to share? Email Nancy Dahlberg at nancy@refreshmiami.com and follow her on X @ndahlberg

Nancy Dahlberg
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