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8+ things to know in #MiamiTech: News from Cast AI, Knight Foundation, Florida Venture Forum, FLF, SignalFire, Boca Raton, WeWork & lots of opportunities

Nancy Dahlberg
Nancy Dahlberg
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1

Cast AI launches 1st autonomous database optimizer

Cast AI, the Miami-based cloud performance automation platform that recently raised a $108 million Series C, this week announced the launch of Database Optimizer (DBO), an innovative approach to caching that improves cloud database performance. Cast AI’s autonomous caching – the first autonomous database optimizer ever created – also takes cost savings to the next level, the company said.

Traditional caching solutions are difficult to manage, often requiring extensive manual work and human-driven decision-making on each query. DBO solves these problems with an agent that runs a fully autonomous caching layer as a plug-and-play solution that requires zero application changes or manual tuning. DevOps, platform engineers, and cloud database administrators can now simplify operations and eliminate wasteful database spending, the company said in its product announcement.

With DBO, customers have seen a 10x performance boost; cached data is delivered almost instantly. Among early users, which include Akamai Technologies and Flowcore Technologies, DBO has been well-received. “Our services were already pretty fast, but DBO shaved off an additional 100 milliseconds, which makes a noticeable difference,” said Julius á Rógvi Biskopstø, Flowcore’s co-founder and CTO.

Because databases are one of the most expensive components in the cloud, DBO was a natural addition to Cast AI’s Application Performance Automation platform, said Cast AI Co-Founder and President Laurent Gil.

“Our DBO agent increases performance and reduces cost by caching any queries for which it detects a repeat pattern. DBO radically simplifies caching, slashes expenses, and requires no changes to how your apps are built,” said Gil. “APA is the future of autonomous computing – high performance, zero overhead.” Read more from Cast AI about the new product here.

READ MORE: Cast AI turned cloud chaos into opportunity, and just raised $108M to do even more

2

Cesi de Quesada Covey joins Knight Foundation as VP

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation announced three new leadership appointments in the areas of community engagement, technology including AI  and information. 

Knight’s new VP of Community Impact is a familiar name in Miami Tech. Francesca de Quesada Covey. De Quesada Covey most recently served as chief innovation and economic development officer for Miami-Dade County, leading initiatives across a $12 billion government serving nearly 3 million residents. In that role, she co-founded the Miami-Dade Innovation Authority (MDIA) that invests in startups that address civic and public sector challenges.  

In her new role, De Quesada Covey will manage an active grant portfolio of over $250 million across 26 cities where the Knight brothers once owned and operated newspapers. Each city’s portfolio is guided by a locally tailored strategy focused on building stronger communities. 

“Knight Foundation has long been a trailblazing advocate of community development, and I’m honored to carry that legacy forward,” said de Quesada Covey. “My career has focused on technology and government, working to scale products that deliver economic benefit and build stronger, more resilient communities. I look forward to working with the exceptional team at Knight.”

Additionally, Knight Foundation announced that Kelly Jin, who joined Knight Foundation in 2021, will be as vice president for AI and Insights, along with her role as chief of staff at Knight. This cross-cutting function aims to rethink how Knight uses AI and data to assess grantmaking and unlock institutional knowledge to guide future investments. John Sands, who joined Knight Foundation in 2019, will serve as vice president for Knight’s new Information and Society program, a reimagining of the former Learning and Impact program. The program’s new name emphasizes the importance of information as a throughline across Knight’s work, in highlighting agency, resilience and connection in a democratic society, Knight said in a press release.

“The appointments underscore our commitment to adapting with purpose and ensuring our work continues to strengthen democracy and empower the communities we serve,” said Maribel Pérez Wadsworth, president and CEO of the Knight Foundation, in a statement.

3

Three Miami startups to pitch at Florida Early Stage Venture Conference

The Florida Venture Forum, a statewide support organization for investors and entrepreneurs, today announced that 22 startups and 6 colleagiate teams have been selected to present at the 2025 Florida Early Stage Venture Conference taking place June 2-3 in Orlando.  “The selection committee was excited by the breadth of technology showcased by the applicants and is confident that, independent of their thesis, all seed and early stage investors will find interesting presenting companies,” said Ben Patz, Managing Partner at DeepWork Capital and Florida Venture Forum Selection Chair.

The three startups selected from South Florida are:

  • Calculum: The Miami startup enables corporates to gain a competitive advantage by using advanced analytics and AI to improve payment terms (working capital) and gather more insights into trading partners all on one platform. [Read more here].
  • Titl: The Miami startup is innovating real estate transactions by using A.I. and Blockchain technology. They are cutting out the paperwork, legal hurdles, and costly delays that make buying, owning or selling a home difficult. They make home title verification, monitoring, and transfer effortless. [Read more here.} 
  • Zulu Pods: Coral Springs, the company is a defense and aerospace company pioneering next-generation components and subsystems. Founded in 2020 by former Pratt & Whitney engineers, they created the world’s first self-contained lubrication unit — the ZPod — which integrates the reservoir, pump, and nozzle into a single lightweight package. Their products to date reduce complexity, weight, and maintenance demands, making them ideal for attritable jet engines, UAVs, rotorcraft, and fleet sustainment.

Read about the other presenters – from around the state and country – here.

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From Florida Atlantic University, the collegiate team behind FireCodes AI will also competing against teams from the  University of Florida, Stetson University, University of Central Florida, Florida Gulf Coast University and University of South Florida. FireCodes AI is an AI-powered tool for fire protection specialists to navigate state-adopted fire codes with ease.

Since 1984, more than 2,000 companies have presented at Florida Venture Forum events, collectively raising over $30 billion in equity capital.

4

Florida Funders rebrands

Florida Funders, the Southeast’s most active venture capital firm, has rebranded to FLF.  “We will always be Florida first.  But now the message is: We’re way beyond Florida, too,” Managing Partner Tom Wallace said in the Tampa Bay Business Journal’s report.

FLF Partner Saxon Baum said the name change and the broader rebrand are part of the Tampa-based firm’s larger evolution. “In the next 10 years, we want to become one of the premier players in venture capital in the United States, so this is a pivotal time for us,  where we felt as though our company, our portfolio, our assets under management had outgrown the initial brand,” said FLF Partner Saxon Baum.

FLF’s portfolio contains over 100 companies, with over 60% based in Florida. The firm has $268 million in assets under management. The firm invests in early-stage B2B SaaS companies, with themes around artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, fintech, digital health, edtech and the future of work staying consistent. The firm has deployed over $300 million into early-stage companies like Betr, Flex, Passes and HealthSnap. Read more here.

READ MORE IN REFRESH: Florida Funders optimistic about the year ahead – and their portfolio companies shared the reasons why

5

Report finds Miami gaining ground as a tech hub

Miami is gaining ground as an up and coming tech hub, according to a report from venture capital firm SignalFire.

San Francisco and New York remain the go-to’s for businesses and technology talent as employees return to the coasts post-pandemic, but cities including Miami and San Diego are also on the rise while Texas cities are losing ground, the report said. Miami’s low taxes and quality of life continue to lure startups, helping to fuel a 12% increase in AI-related jobs the report said.

SignalFire’s analysis of major U.S. cities found that only San Francisco, New York, Seattle and Miami experienced startup employment gains between 2023 and 2024, when Miami’s startup employment rose nearly 4%.  That’s the good news but local employment in the nation’s largest tech companies lags. Find the SignalFire report here.

This is not the only report assessing Miami’s place among tech hubs. READ MORE: Miami ranks 28th globally in ecosystem ranking and is growing faster than other US hubs, new report shows

6

Boca Raton to test autonomous shuttle service

Boca Raton has joined a growing number of cities worldwide to test an autonomous shuttle service in its downtown, using vehicles developed by an Estonian company and advanced sensor technology and vehicle piloting systems from a company with its headquarters in Boca Raton.

The start of the service is still several months away, as the equipment must be acquired and programmed, and permitting must be approved by the federal Department of Transportation and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Boca Daily News reported. Officials said the service will likely begin with a simple loop around Mizner Park with six to eight stops, which would be expanded over time with service to connect Mizner Park with Royal Palm Place. The goal is to quickly expand the service to a more functional route between points downtown.

Boca Raton officials, through the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency, are planning to utilize the MiCa for the service. MiCa is an electric-powered small shuttle bus first developed by engineers at the University of Tallin, in Estonia’s capital city, and now manufactured by Estonian company Auve Tech. The same service is being utilized in Jacksonville and West Palm Beach. Read more here.

7

WeWork reopens downtown Miami location

WeWork has reopened its downtown Miami coworking location on the 20th and 23rd floors of the  Southeast Financial Center at 200 S. Biscayne Blvd., for a combined 45,000 square feet of coworking space after a large single user moved out, the South Florida Business Journal reported.  WeWork also has locations in Brickell, Wynwood and two in Coral Gables.

According to WeWork, bookings for its All Access monthly coworking subscription in the Miami market increased 27% from September 2024 to April, and  bookings for its On Demand hourly or daily users jumped 48% in the Miami market over the same period.

8

Jobs, jobs, jobs

Boats Group – CRM & Automation Lifecycle Manager
Chewy – Technical Operations Manager – Workfront
Chewy – Senior Product Manager
Doorloop – IT Technician
Kandji – Manager, Customer Success
Kandji – Senior QA Engineer
Restaurant Brands International (RBI) – Principal Software Engineer
Restaurant Brands International (RBI) – Lead, People Analytics
Royal Caribbean Group – Product Owner
Vultr – Junior Software Engineer, Core Cloud Engineering
Vultr – Frontend Engineer

FIND MORE JOBS ON REFRESH’S JOB BOARD HERE

PLUS

Opportunity knocks

  • Hackathon alert! The Miami AI HUB and Hugging Face are fusing AI with robotics live from the 305 and synched with hackers worldwide June 14-15 for Le Robot Hackathon Miami. Along with coding, creativity and neon-lit Miami vibes, the 36-hour event also comes with a panel with Hugging Face’s  CEO and prizes. Learn more and register here.
  • SPARC South Florida (Startup Pitch Accelerator Regional Competition) is accepting applications to compete for a $1 million prize in the Startup World Cup Global Pitch Competition and receive broad exposure for your startup and access to coaching and mentorship. Apply by July 1 here.
  • The Ventures Global Startup Award 2025 is now open for applications, and there are no costs to founders. The Ventures is an international startup awards and venture club, originally launched in Silicon Valley, and it has a Miami chapter. The contest is your chance to pitch in front of top-tier investors, network with fellow founders, and join the global network. Soth Florida’s early stage founders – from pre-seed through Series A – are welcome to apply. Learn more and apply by June 5 here (UPDATED).
  • Seaworthy Collective, a Miami-based non-profit BlueTech (ocean innovation) entrepreneur support organization and community, has opened applications for Cohort 6 of its updated flagship Startup Program, The Continuum Ocean Enterprise Studio and Incubator. This year, the Studio and Incubator will exclusively support US-based startups developing ocean data technologies and services, in alignment with the priorities of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Ocean Enterprise Initiative. The Continuum partners include Braid Theory, Ocean Exchange, Seaworthy Collective, St. Pete Innovation District, Tampa Bay Wave, World Ocean Council, and the University of South Florida. Learn more and apply here by June 26.
  • Endeavor Miami  is accepting applications for its next ScaleUp Program. Apply for the ScaleUp program here.  Apply here by August 22 for the EndeavorLab Women Founders cohort.
  • The Cade Prize for Inventivity,  named after Dr. Robert Cade, lead inventor behind Gatorade, celebrates inventors and entrepreneurs, who, through an innovative invention, demonstrate a creative approach to addressing problems in their field of expertise. Each year, Cade Prize winners receive over $100,000 in cash prizes and legal services with no strings attached. Find out more and apply here by July 10.
  • Are you a pre-Series A startup founder looking to make your mark on a global stage for a $100,000 equity-free priae? Applications for TechCrunch Startup Battlefield 200 are now open. Go to the  Startup Battlefield 200 page to learn more and apply by June 9.
  • The  Veterans Florida Entrepreneurship Program’s Facilitated Growth Cohort at Florida International University offers training to help you grow and expand your business. You are not required to have any employees but should have a business generating revenue. You will create a Business Model Canvas with mentorship and will determine if your business is validated/marketable and if it is scalable/expandable. Find out more and apply here.

ICYMI

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