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Built in Miami’s second cohort pitches startups they built in 18 weeks

Krysten Brenlla
Krysten Brenlla
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‘These startups have done the work, and they’re building real companies’ – Chris Daniels

By Krysten Brenlla

The name says it all: Over the past 18 weeks, 300 startups, part of City of Miami and Venture Miami ’s Built in Miami program, were literally built right here. 100 of those startups went from idea to product launch, and during Built in Miami’s Demo Day, eight startups were chosen by the program’s mentors to share a four-minute pitch on their vision to a room full of investors, mentors and the Miami Tech community.

The mission? To empower aspiring entrepreneurs and tech professionals in Miami by providing them with the tools, resources, knowledge, and opportunities they need to scale and build their startups during a free, 18-week incubator program.

“Months ago, we made a call and said ‘it’s time to build’ – and the best city to build is Miami,” said Burhan Sebin, Venture Miami’s head of research and program lead of Built in Miami. The Built in Miami program supports entrepreneurs building local tech companies “to foster economic development in this beautiful city,” Sebin told the crowd gathered at Flamingo Theater Bar in Brickell for the Built in Miami Demo Day Tuesday night.

 “In 2024, we knew we wanted to build something bigger and better with Built in Miami,” said Chris Daniels, Built in Miami’s lead program instructor and founder of The Shrimp Society. “Over the last 18 weeks, we took 300 local Miami entrepreneurs and turned that into 100 launched startups. These startups have done the work, and they’re building real companies.”

After an hour of dynamic pitches, Built in Miami judges came together to vote on the best startups – a runner-up, and winner. The judges were Olivia Gaudree, from Fuel Venture Capital; Jared Schwitzke, from Miami Angels; Aditi Joshi, from Google Cloud; Darien K. Smith, from D.K. Smith & Co; and Rich Robert, from JustWorks.

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The winning startup won a New York trip, powered by JustWorks; $5,000 in Google Cloud credits; the opening pitch at the Marlins game; and $1,000 in Delta Airlines credits. The runner-up won a dinner with top executives and venture capitalists in Miami and $2,000 in Google Cloud credits.

And, the winners are… (drumroll please)

  • In second place, Smart Aerosol Technologies, which promotes precision and sustainable agriculture through smart Nano fertilizer technology.  Smart Aerosol Technologies was founded by Sruti Choudhary [pictured below], a PhD candidate at the University of Miami; Ramesh Railya, a scientist and University of Miami graduate; Pratim Biswas, the dean of University of Miami’s College of Engineering; and Sujit Modi, a PhD student at Washington University. They have already established a partnership with Illinois Farm Bureau Association.
  • In first place, Investrio, a debt payoff platform that provides tools, guidance, and community to help young professionals pay off debt. Their personalized approach includes a self-service tool, a humanized platform for advice and plans, and a support community, and their platform will also include analytics and data. Investrio was founded by Joyce Medeiros [pictured below], a former trader at Goldman Sachs, and Laura Muriel Texidor, a former program manager at Outlier Ventures. [Stay tuned for more on this startup in Refresh Miami]

“These founders came in with an idea and a dream, and now they’re leaders, CEOs, visionaries, storytellers and dreamers,” said Daniels. “I’ve had the privilege to watch them grow into great leaders who will continue to lead the Miami Tech ecosystem.”

Meet the rest of the Built in Miami entrepreneurs who pitched at Demo Day:

Photos provided by Venture Miami

READ MORE IN REFRESH MIAMI:

Krysten Brenlla
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