Top Miami entrepreneur plans annual tech conference in push to make South Florida a tech hub
Author: Doreen Hemlock
Publisher: SunSentinel
Date: April 10, 2013
One of South Florida’s most successful tech entrepreneurs Wednesday announced plans to develop an international tech conference
yearly, part of a push to make the region a tech hub.
Manny Medina, who sold his Terremark data services company last year to Verizon for $1.4 billion, helped form the months-old nonprofit Technology Foundation of the Americas to spearhead the tech campaign.
The nonprofit plans its first eMerge Americas conference in May next year, aiming to attract more than 5,000 people — thought leaders, IT vendors, financiers and more, many from Latin America and Europe.
Medina figures the inaugural conference in Miami Beach will cost at least $6 million to produce, and he’s already kicked in $500,000. He’s received early support from the Miami-based John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, which has been funding tech startups and incubators in the area. Read more here.
Entrepreneurs to pitch their companies at FAU
Author: Marcia Heroux Pounds
Publisher: Sun Sentinel
Date: April 8, 2013
Entrepreneurs will pitch healthy frozen food, youth fitness centers, a sports drink, purified ice, a social media app for videos and other products in Florida Atlantic University’s 2013 Business Plan Competition this week.
Sixteen finalists will compete for $215,000 in cash and prizes in FAU’s fifth business plan competition, making their pitch to judges from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. April 12 in Room BU 120 in the College of Business and in Room OD 101 in FAU’s Office Depot Center. The winners will be announced at the end of the event.
The finalists range from first-time entrepreneurs to experienced business executives. Read more here.
Fort Lauderdale startup makes mobile game apps that benefit nonprofits
Author: Doreen Hemlock
Publisher: Sun Sentinel
Date: April 6, 2013
Coming to your mobile phone or tablet this month: A game app that supports South Florida’s Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation and its mission of marine conservation.
Fort Lauderdale-based startup GoodWorldGames.com is launching a musical-bingo game app that will deliver messages on ocean conservation. The company also gives half the profits on money spent on the game to the Guy Harvey nonprofit and the University of Miami’s marine science group.
It plans to launch the Musingo game app at a booth during the Tortuga Music Festival set for April 13-14 on Fort Lauderdale beach, which is headlined by entertainers such as Kenny Chesney and Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Players can download the app for free, and then can spend money to buy different music playlists to challenge others to guess songs the quickest and from their correct guesses, score bingo. Read more here.
Wanted: Cleantech startups for mentoring, awards
Author: Doreen Hemlock
Publsiher: SunSentinel
Date: March 16, 2013
A popular program to find, fund and foster clean-tech startups is coming to South Florida.
The nonprofit Cleantech Open plans a launch event March 28 in Miami for entrepreneurs interested in its eight-month business accelerator program that culminates late November with national awards. Winners can earn prizes valued from $10,000 for regional awards to $200,000 for national honors.
“Clean, green and sustainable business is a concept that hasn’t taken off as much as we’d like,” said Sean O’Hanlon, area director of Cleantech Open for Florida, the Caribbean, and Latin America and a specialist in bio-energy. “This is a partnership that can help cleantech startups grow and help the economy develop.” Read more here.
Florida ranks third in clean energy jobs
Author: Marcia Heroux Pounds
Publisher: Sun Sentinel
Date: March 8, 2013
Florida ranked third in 2012 in clean energy jobs, with more than 8,600 jobs created through more than 500 projects, according to a new report by Environmental Entrepreneurs.
And the Southeast led the nation in manufacturing-related clean energy job announcements, with more than 13,700 jobs announced last year, about 80 percent of the nation’s total, according to a report.
Environmental Entrepreneurs is a nationwide network of business leaders who advocate for policies that benefit the economy and environment. Read more here.
Biotech deals growing at faster pace in Florida
Author: Marcia Heroux Pounds
Publisher: Sun Sentinel
Date: February 26, 2013
New data from University of Florida’s Sid Martin Biotechnology incubator shows that Florida’s life science sector continues to grow at a faster pace than the nation’s.
Biotech deals grew by 27 percent in 2012, to 19 deals from 15 in the previous year, and venture capital dollars rose to $103.5 million, a 19 percent increase over 2011.
Separately, Palm Beach County said Monday it has a contract with Kolter Homes to develop the 800-acre Briger tract in Palm Beach Gardens, adjacent to Scripps Florida research institute in Jupiter. Besides housing, 170 acres is reserved for biotech that could include lab space, biotech companies, a teaching hospital and medical offices, said Shannon LaRocque, assistant county administrator.
“This is a milestone,” she said, saying the county’s vision was to build a cluster of development around Scripps. Read more here.
Forbes names 3Cinteractive “America’s Most Promising Company”
Author: Miriam Valverde
Publisher: Sun Sentinel
Date: January 25, 2013
3Cinteractive, a Boca Raton-based company that helps its clients engage with consumers via mobile platforms, was chosen by Forbes as “America’s Most Promising Company,” topping a list of 100 companies from around the country.
“We are thrilled. This is really big for us,” said Jeff Michaud, 3Cinteractive’s vice president of marketing. “This type of credibility and recognition from a publication like Forbes brings a great amount of credibility to the mobile industry and 3Cinteractive.”
Last year, 3Cinteractive ranked 12th on the same Forbes list. The jump is a reflection of a maturing mobile industry, growth in world-class clientele and hard teamwork, Michaud said. They were notified Wednesday of the selection. Companies apply or are nominated for the recognition. Read more here.
Duffell: Florida must encourage creativity, technology
Author: Andrew Duffell
Publisher: Sun Sentinel
Date: December 31, 2012
More than in recent years, 2013 is a time for fresh starts. An historic presidential election is settled, the U.S. is slowly recovering from the Great Recession, and now we have to heal after the unspeakable events at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.
Florida should lead the way in making 2013 a year of progress and possibility. Comprehensively examining how we educate our youth, and investigate the unknown would be a good start, but only a start unless we also make the changes found to be necessary.
If we can accomplish that task, it will help us lead in economic development as well, an area that has been much talked about but not well understood. Read more here.
Incubators grow with demand
Author: Marcia Heroux Pounds
Publisher: Sun Sentinel
Date: November 11, 2012
New organizations that nurture start-up businesses are in the works for South Florida, and they’re reinventing the traditional “incubator” concept to meet the changing needs of today’s entrepreneurs.
Jane Teague, who ran Florida Atlantic University’s incubator in Boca Raton for 10 years, said entrepreneurial programs and incubators have to be updated with the kinds of businesses being developed. Entrepreneurs who are working on mobile apps, for example, don’t need the same kind of office space as software makers, she said.
Incubators may offer lower-cost or free rent, flexible commitments, shared space, high-profile networking and small-business expertise, as well as resources for off-site entrepreneurs. Read more here.
Biotech industry aims for growth
Author: Marcia Heroux Pounds
Publisher: Sun Sentinel
Date: November 3, 2012
Build it and they will come.
Gov. Jeb Bush took the first step, selling the state Legislature in 2003 on the promise of a biotech industry in Florida with an investment in Scripps research institute.
Nearly 10 years later, they are coming: the venture capitalists, specialists in technology transfer, researchers and entrepreneurs. That was evident by this past week’s Southeast Bio Investor Forum in Palm Beach, which attracted about 300 attendees despite the storm in the Northeast.
“We will not fail,” said David Day, who heads the University of Florida’s Office of Technology Licensing and envisions Florida as one day competing with world-class biotech centers.
Venture capital is half of what it was before the recession and there are fewer government grants available. Still, Florida is generating new bioscience companies at a faster pace than most states. Read more here.
