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More details on South Florida collaboration including Stephen Ross
A new partnership aimed at establishing South Florida as the entry point and hub for global technology, capital, and entrepreneurship was announced at eMerge Americas last week. The initiative will aim to bridge international investors, high-growth industries, and Florida’s regional markets, building upon the momentum that has attracted firms primarily focused in the financial services industry.
Founded by Florida Council of 100, eMerge Americas, and Related Ross, the initiative aims to enhance access for entrepreneurs, providing crucial support through strategic infrastructure developments and accelerator programs. The initiative, which includes Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties, will coordinate with the Business Development Board of Palm Beach County, Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance and Miami-Dade Beacon Council, along with public and private sector partners throughout the region.
There’s already a strong base to grow on among Florida’s fastest-growing industries, including finance and fintech – South Florida represents 38.7% of Florida’s finance GDP. The new initiative will also support medtech, a $114.6 billion industry, with over 419,000 jobs in Southeast Florida alone, as well as aerospace, cleantech and logistics tech. South Florida’s tech sector continues to surge, with Southeast Florida already capturing 65% of all venture capital raised in Florida.
“Great cities are not simply built; they emerge from the synergies between talent and partnerships,” said Stephen Ross, CEO and chairman of Related Companies, in the announcement, which was also discussed at the eMerge Americas conference on Friday. “As we navigate an era of rapid change driven by technological advances, South Florida is poised to become an innovation hub. With initiatives like this, we can link educational institutions, entrepreneurial programs, and sources of capital to create a new environment for American businesses.”
Specifically, The Florida Council of 100 will ensure a seamless entry into Florida’s broader business landscape, eMerge Americas will leverage its international network to bring in venture capital, startups, and corporate partners, and Related Ross is creating world-class commercial spaces and innovation hubs to support long-term growth in Palm Beach County, the partners said. The new partnership will track the metrics in investment, job creation, and economic expansion. The existing ecosystem will be enhanced as Vanderbilt University is planning a graduate school campus and Cleveland Clinic has announced plans for a hospital and cancer research center, to name a few plans in the works.
“We’ve seen firsthand how South Florida has become a global hub for investment and innovation,” said Melissa Medina, CEO & Co-founder of eMerge Americas. “This new partnership harnesses this momentum, positioning Florida as the destination for tech-driven global business.”
READ MORE: Global innovation meets local opportunity at eMerge Americas day 2
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CentralReach to be acquired for $1.65B
Roper Technologies of Sarasota is acquiring CentralReach, a Fort Lauderdale-based cloud-native software platform for applied behavioral analysis, from New York private equity firm Insight Partners for approximately $1.65 billion, according to a statement.
CentralReach is expected to add $175 million in annual revenue to Roper’s top line once the deal closes, which is expected in April or May, according to the statement. CentralReach is a workflow and administrative software platform for applied behavior analysis therapy for autism and related intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Insight Partners first invested in CentralReach in February 2018. Since then, the company has multiplied in size through 14 acquisitions.
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Aestro AI launches debt recovery solution in US and LatAm
Miami-based Aestro AI, a company leveraging artificial intelligence to transform the litigation-based debt recovery, has announced it has launched in the U.S. and Latin American markets. Designed to solve the growing challenge of hard-to-recover debt, Aestro’s AI-driven platform provides fintechs and community banks with an intelligent, automated, and cost-efficient solution for last-mile debt recovery.
Fintechs and financial institutions are facing increasing pressure from non-performing loans, which negatively impact their balance sheets and raise the cost of capital. Traditional debt collection methods are slow, inefficient, and often fail to recover critical funds. Aestro integrates AI-powered legal strategies that optimize litigation-based recovery, ensuring higher success rates while reducing operational costs, the company says.
“We are redefining the future of debt recovery by bringing cutting-edge AI to the legal process. Our platform enhances efficiency, accelerates collections, and provides fintechs with a strategic advantage in mitigating financial risk,” said Hernando Barreto, CEO of Aestro AI. “By launching at Emerge Americas, we are showcasing how AI-driven litigation can be the game-changer for financial institutions struggling with uncollected debt.”
Aestro AI’s platform is designed to seamlessly integrate with fintechs and community banks, leveraging advanced AI models to assess debt recovery likelihood and prioritize cases with the highest potential for recovery, as well as automate legal workflows, and manage end-to-end litigation processes.
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Coming soon to a gym near you: a massage robot
AIBotics, a Miami-based tech company, is set to help transform the South Florida wellness industry with its artificial intelligence-powered massage robot, Phill. The company recently announced it plans to launch a pilot program in the second quarter in collaboration with a local fitness center. While the name of the fitness center has not yet been revealed, AIBotics confirmed that negotiations are in the final stages, the South Florida Business Journal reported.
AIBotics signed an agreement last month with GMF Ventures, LLC, a Fort Lauderdale-based firm, to develop the user interface and user experience for the Phill Robot. The device features a foldable arm with a 35-inch range and 15-pound massage force. Phill will utilize machine learning and robotics to personalize each session. According to the company, Phill’s technology allows it to adapt in real time to the user’s body type, muscle tension and preferences, creating a tailored massage that mimics the expertise of a human therapist. Read more here.
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Miami AI Agent Summit coming April 5
Miami will take center stage in the global artificial intelligence conversation on April 5 as it hosts the Miami AI Agent Summit, presented by Miami AI Hub and CrewAI. This half-day event will explore the accelerating role of autonomous AI agents in transforming industries, streamlining operations, and reshaping how businesses and societies function. Miami AI Agent Summit is part of CrewAI Enterprise AI Agent Week, a global celebration of AI agent innovation happening in cities worldwide, and will take place at The Lab Miami.
Miami AI Agent Summit is designed for builders, founders, enterprise leaders, investors, and researchers, and over 200 attendees are expected. Discussions will center on how intelligent agents are deployed in real-world environments, automating workflows, making complex decisions, and augmenting human capabilities.
Opening remarks will be delivered by João (Joe) Moura, founder and CEO of CrewAI, a leader in enterprise AI agent orchestration, and Burhan Sebin, founder of Miami AI Hub. Burhan Sebin, who has been building Miami AI Hub to bring together startups, corporate partners, and technologists in a collaborative space designed to unlock AI’s potential across disciplines and industries. The event will open with a fireside chat with Clem Delangue, co-founder and CEO of Hugging Face, a global pioneer in open-source AI and collaborative machine learning, and Greg Isenberg, founder and CEO of Late Checkout, a builder of digital communities and product strategy at the intersection of technology and culture. Additional speakers from Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, boldstartVC, J.P. Morgan, and leading AI startups will join throughout the afternoon. Programming will include expert panels on enterprise implementation and startup innovation within the AI agent ecosystem. Find out more here.
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NIST selects FAU to quantum encryption project
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has selected Florida Atlantic University’s Hamming Quasi-Cyclic (HQC) for standardization in its Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) project. After a thorough evaluation process, NIST selected HQC to be part of the new generation of encryption standards, for its ability to meet its criteria for security, efficiency and practical implementation.
HQC is a cryptographic algorithm designed to ensure secure key exchange between two parties, enabling them to share a common, secret key that can be used to encrypt and decrypt messages. This key exchange is a critical aspect of securing communication channels, ensuring that both sides have the same encryption key without the risk of interception. HQC is a next-generation cryptographic solution that aims to safeguard sensitive digital communications, offering robust protection both today and against the emerging threats of quantum computing in the future. FAU is the only U.S. university involved.
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FlipaClip ceator joining Developers Alliance
The Developers Alliance in Washington, DC announced that Adri Ofman of South Florida-based FlipaClip is joining its advisory board to help shape the Alliance’s advocacy on several issues, including proposed changes to the app ecosystem, data privacy legislation, tax issues, and artificial intelligence regulation. The Developers Alliance advocates on behalf of developers, the companies they lead, and the industries that depend on them.
“I’m honored to join the Developers Alliance advisory board and use my voice to educate key stakeholders on what app developers need to succeed,” said Ofman, chief operating officer and partner at VisualBlasters, the creator of the popular animation app FlipaClip. “Small app developers are too often left out of important policy conversations, so I am ready to hit the ground running and advocate for a more developer-friendly app ecosystem.”
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Jobs, Jobs, Jobs
Akkodis – Product Manager
Akkodis – Supply Chain Manager
Boats Group – OEM Sales Consultant
Boats Group – Security Operations Engineer
Danti – Sr Frontend Engineer
Kaseya – DevOps Engineer
Kaseya – Sr Director of Product Management
Neocis – Manager of Software Engineering
Neocis – Staff Software Engineer
OpenStore – Customer Success Manager
Pipe – Data Scientist
Papa – VP of Product
Visit our job board here to see hundreds more opportunities!
PLUS
Opportunity knocks
- 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.
- Miami founders, are you ready to take your startup to the next level? Reefside Ventures is launching its Spring 2025 Incubator program designed specifically for post-product companies based in South Florida. Learn more and apply here.
- Applications for Florida Power & Light’s the next 35 Mules Accelerator Program opened 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 by April 1.
- Applications are open for 776 Foundation’s 4th cohort. Alexis Ohanian’s foundation is looking for 20 young people with big ideas for fighting climate change. They will get grants of up to $100,000 to build their solutions over the next two years. Apply at 776.org
- Thinking of starting a business? The LaunchLab: Making Your Business Idea a Reality workshop on April 8 from 10 am- 2 pm can provide you with knowledge, tools and resources. Find out more and register here.
- 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.
ICYMI
- Latest funding news: Galatea Bio secures $25M to help transform global genomic research and precision medicine
- WunderGraph raises $7.5M to scale its open source API platform with help from eBay
- eMerge Americas is back, with its biggest conference to date plus Day 2 coverage here.
- Betterness kicks off platform launch with immersive wellness festival
- Blockchain Rx! Solum Global’s cure for healthcare’s payment headaches
- Special Report: Miami metro’s startups raised $2.77B in 2024, ranking South Florida as a top 10 VC hub, eMerge Insights finds
- Special report: Miami’s women in VC are rewriting the investment playbook
- And much more #MiamiTech news here.
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.
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