Not rendering correctly? View this email as a web page here.
|
|
|
News, highlights and events throughout the Americas
|
New Chamber Matches US Investors With Sustainable Businesses In The Amazon Rainforest
|
Miami is home to the first business chamber devoted to connecting the U.S. private sector with entrepreneurs from the Amazon rainforest. Called the Amazon Chamber, the organization officially launched this month at an event attended by Miami Mayor Francis Suarez and representatives from the Brazilian states of Acre and Rondônia and Peruvian states of Huánuco, and Loreto. The chamber matches historically underrepresented entrepreneurs from the Amazonian regions of Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru with investors and capital in North America. That begins with Miami, its first foothold in the U.S. The city's proximity to Latin America and connections with countries like Brazil makes it a key outpost for the group.
- Miami Inno
|
|
|
SoftBank Launches New Fund To Invest $150M In Black + Latino-Led Startups
|
SoftBank has launched a second fund under its Opportunity Growth Fund to raise and invest $150 million in Black and Latino-led startups. The Japanese conglomerate is also rebranding the effort, calling it “Open Opportunity Fund,” and has appointed Paul Judge as the fund’s chairman. Judge, who was part of the investment committee at the fund before the rebrand, will become a co-owner of Open Opportunity Fund (OOF) alongside SoftBank and some affiliates. The second fund aims to exceed the initial scope of the first effort, which invested $100 million in 75 companies led by Black and Latino individuals, including Greenwood, Career Karma and Praxis Labs. The new fund hopes to deploy the $150 million within three years. SoftBank will be a limited partner in OOF. “The key point in changing the name is that we’re opening access for others to invest in the fund and to grow more scale,” Judge told TechCrunch. “The lack of funding for Black and Latino founders is still tens of billions away from parity; this is another step in making sure we bring more opportunity to those talented founders.”
-Source: TechCrunch
|
|
AngeLink Expands To Miami, Scales Its Female-Focused Crowdfunding Platform
|
In her more than two decades in the finance industry, Gerry Poirier was frequently the only woman in the room. Fast forward roughly 20 years, and Poirier is now leveraging technology to help female entrepreneurs on a global scale. Poirier founded AngeLink, a social crowdfunding platform built for women. The vast majority of AngeLink’s 15 full-time equivalent employees are also women. Through AngeLink, users create campaigns to raise capital for everything from starting a business to supporting their families through tough times. Since its launch, AngeLink has scaled to 50,000 active users and raised $5.75 million as part of a seed round that Poirier plans to close at $10 million. Now AngeLink, which was founded in Naples, FL, has opened an office in Miami. Poirier underscored the excitement about Miami’s tech scene and our rapidly-growing talent base as the motivating factors for expanding the company’s presence in the Magic City. She cited recent conferences such as eMerge Americas and the Florida Venture Forum as events that are putting Miami on the map as a global tech hub.
-Source: Refresh Miami
|
|
|
Kaseya CEO Fred Voccola On Building One Of Miami's Flagship Tech Firms
|
In the last year, Kaseya has grown from a little-known company to one of Miami’s flagship technology firms. And it’s easy to see why. With multiple Brickell offices and plans to hire 3,400 new employees in South Florida alone, the IT management business is poised to become one of the region’s largest private employers. In April, it made national headlines when it secured the naming rights for the Miami Heat’s home arena in downtown Miami. Now known as the Kaseya Center, the venue is introducing the brand to basketball fans worldwide. CEO Fred Voccola has been instrumental to Kaseya’s transformation. It’s grown from about 500 employees to more than 4,500 since late 2015, when he took on the chief executive role. Voccola is also passionate about giving back to the community through the Cooper Voccola Family Foundation. Named after Cooper, his 14-year-old beagle-Pekingese mix, the nonprofit has partnered with organizations such as the Humane Society of the United States, Disabled American Veterans and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to help vulnerable animals and people.
-Source: South Florida Business Journal
|
|
How Seedcamp's Networked Approach Helped It Secure New $180M Fund
|
European early-stage investor Seedcamp has announced the close of its $180 million “Fund VI.” It’s a long way from a London university lecture hall 15 years ago in September, when founding partner and co-CEO Reshma Sohoni stood up and introduced the first Seedcamp cohort. Seedcamp’s Fund VI is almost double the size of Seedcamp Fund V, raised some 2.5 years ago ($95 million, raised in 2020), and thus the largest fund to date. The new fund will back about 100 companies. Although the fund is sector agnostic, Seedcamp tends to steer clear of capital-intensive startups in areas like mobility, preferring to stick to software platforms in areas such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, open source software, health tech and fintech. Seedcamp’s portfolio now consists of over 460 companies, including nine unicorns: UiPath (NYSE: PATH), Wise (LON: WISE), Revolut, Pleo, Hopin, Grover, Viz.ai, wefox and Sorare.
-Source: TechCrunch
|
|
|
Volunteer Scout Allows High Schoolers To Fulfill Community Service Requirements
|
Many eleventh graders like Xavier Koepf spend their free time playing video games or catching up on TV. But Koepf isn’t your average eleventh grader. In his free time, Koepf is a builder. Specifically, Koepf is developing Volunteer Scout, a Miami-based startup that is on a mission to connect students with volunteering opportunities. The initial idea for Volunteer Scout came when Koepf was faced with a problem: how to get enough volunteer hours to fulfill his high school’s requirement. Through Volunteer Scout, students can find volunteer opportunities – all of which are pre-vetted. “We make sure that they’re not scams or just companies looking for free labor,” noted Koepf. The platform makes it easy for students to apply for these volunteer positions, or save them for later. There are already over 120 opportunities on Volunteer Scout, with 50 students actively using the platform. In the future, Koepf wants to enable students to create profiles on Volunteer Scout so that nonprofits can reach out to them directly. “That will help nonprofits since they really need volunteers,” he shared. Another feature on the horizon is the ability for students to apply for jobs with just one click.
-Source: Refresh Miami
|
|
ChatGPT Has An Official App Now. You Can Even Talk To It.
|
For many who gab with ChatGPT, their conversations mainly live in browser tabs on their phones or computers. Now, there's another way to talk to OpenAI's clever large-language model. Last week, OpenAI released a ChatGPT app meant for use on iPhones and iPads. (An Android version will be released later.) It’s free and syncs with your chat history, and you can even talk to it — sort of. While you can blurt out things for the app to transcribe and respond to, the experience is pretty basic; in other words, don’t expect it to talk back at you like Siri or Alexa. As with any launch, this one comes with some caveats: There’s no access to OpenAI’s latest and greatest large language model — GPT-4 — which requires a monthly subscription. (If you’re just trying to get a feel for how these AI-powered bots work, don’t even think about paying.) But for many people, the lure of a free, simple app offering access to a seriously sophisticated chatbot will be hard to resist. Our advice? Have fun with it, but keep these questions in mind before you download anything.
-Source: The Washington Post
|
|
|
The #MiamiTech Happy Hour
May 23rd|Natalia Martinez-Kalinina + Chris Adamo
This is a casual recurring happy hour for new and old Miamians interested in connecting with fellow entrepreneurs, investors, tech folks, and a diverse group of awesome people. Come grab a drink and catch up!
|
Shift Conference
May 23rd |Infobip
Shift, one of Europe's most popular developer conferences, is coming to the USA. For the first time ever, Infobip's Shift Conference will cross the Atlantic and get even closer to the global tech community. Dear developers, software engineers, product owners, founders, startups, and all kinds of IT professionals and enthusiasts - we are here to Shift Your World.
|
Google I/O Connect
May 24th |Google
Calling all professional developers! Join us at Google I/O Connect Miami on May 24. We're bringing the magic of Google I/O to help you learn how to apply new technology to your workflow through technical sessions, hands-on experiences, live demos, and more. Register at no charge today to see what we’re doing to help you build smarter and ship faster.
|
Brickell Tech Tuesday
May 30th | Brickell Tech
Brickell Tech Tuesday has grown to be a staple for the local tech community. Do you spend time in github, jira, slack, figma, google drive, etc from your home or office in Brickell? Developers, founders, investors, designers, growth hackers, product experts. Meet others in the Miami Tech community without getting in a car.
|
Starting + Building A Career In Tech
June 8th |BrainStation
Connect with UX design, product management, and digital marketing experts at GameStop and Pigmento, explore in-demand skills and common career paths, and network with other ambitious professionals.
|
PRIDE: A Diversity, Equity + Inclusion Series Event
June 14th |eMerge Americas
We're celebrating the LGBTQIA+ community and sharing the story of diversity in the Miami Tech Ecosystem! Join us as we merge with Chris Adamo & Natalia Martinez-Kalinina’s “Miami Tech Happy Hour” for a night of networking, music, light bites & drinks.
|
Women That Build Awards
Nominations Due June 6th | Globant
The Women that Build Awards of Globant are back! As the demand for STEAM jobs increases, we have a unique opportunity to create a more equitable industry. Join us in recognizing women who are making a difference and addressing persistent workplace challenges such as gender bias and unequal pay. Let's work together to build a brighter future for all. Nominate that woman in STEAM who inspires you.
|
TEALS Volunteer Program
Recruiting Now | Microsoft Philanthropies TEALS Program
TEALS is a Microsoft Philanthropies program looking for volunteer computer science professionals that wish to use their skills to inspire the coders and creators of tomorrow. Volunteering with TEALS helps to make a difference in our community and schools that stand to gain the most from computer science knowledge and expertise. Volunteers help TEALS provide high school students with equitable access to CS education and create a pathway to economic opportunity.
|
Learning Engineering + Data (LEaD) Program
Rolling Applications | Millennium Management
Millennium is a large global alternative investment manager with a strong commitment to leveraging innovations in technology and data. As a member of our Miami based Learning Engineering and Data (LEaD) program, LEaD engineers can expect to get comprehensive training and work alongside technology mentors and leaders to develop and maintain applications and tools spanning front-office, middle-office and back-office functions in a dynamic and fast paced environment.
|
|
|
eMerge Americas 2222 Ponce de Leon Blvd Miami FL
You received this email because you are subscribed to Newsletters from eMerge Americas
Update your email preferences to choose the types of emails you receive.
You can unsubscribe at any time.
|
|
|
|