Not rendering correctly? View this email as a web page here.

News, highlights, and events throughout the Americas

New Latino Media Startup Launches With Historic $80M Raise

Latina activists and entrepreneurs Jess Morales Rocketto and Stephanie Valencia have raised $80 million to launch a new Hispanic media company called the Latino Media Network. It's one of the largest capital raises for a Latina-owned and operated startup in the nation. Latino Media Network said it will focus on media content creation and distribution across all mediums, with a specific focus on audio to start. Radio has the highest weekly reach among Hispanic adults in the U.S. at 96%, compared to 92% of the total population, per Nielsen. "So often our stories have been erased or invisible. In some ways, you wouldn’t know that Latinos will be the principal part of the U.S. population in our lifetime," Valencia said. "Us being able to bring a sense of belonging, influence and power to this community is incredibly important."

 

- Source: Axios

Mark Cuban, Kevin Hart Invest In South Florida Startup

It's a deal for Wellington startup The Transformation Factory. The health supplement brand won a $600,000 investment on a recent episode of "Shark Tank" after CEO Alexiou Gibson struck a deal with judges Mark Cuban, the billionaire owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, and actor Kevin Hart. The Transformation Factory sells edible sea moss gel, a substance that Gibson said helped him lose 300 pounds. On "Shark Tank," Gibson told the judges he wanted to get his product stocked at major retailers and asked for $500,000 in exchange for 5% of the startup. After rejecting bids from "Sharks" Kevin O'Leary and Barbara Corcoran, Gibson accepted Cuban and Hart's offer for $600,000 for a 20% stake.

 

- Source: Miami Inno

Knight Foundation Tracks Miami Tech Ecosystem On Growth Trajectory

Throughout 2021, Miami made headlines for cryptocurrency, blockchain and the efforts of Mayor Francis Suarez to attract Silicon Valley to Miami. To some, it may have appeared that the city was an overnight success. However, for at least ten years, many had been setting the table so that as this moment arrived, Miami was ready. Knight Foundation, a longtime investor in Miami’s tech entrepreneurship ecosystem, commissioned the Center for American Entrepreneurship (CAE) to investigate how Miami’s tech entrepreneurship community has evolved over the past decade, the role the foundation’s grantees played in that evolution and what investment is needed for future success.

 

-Source: Knight Foundation

Jeanine Suah Launches Rezilyent Capital To Empower Underestimated Founders

Last Wednesday marked the launch of the Miami-based investor syndicate Rezilyent Capital. Led by Jeanine Suah, an X in Residence at fintech Brex, the syndicate will focus primarily on investing in early-stage companies led by nontraditional and diverse founders.  Startups tackling issues related to the future of work and community-building will be of major interest. This also includes the human capital, human intelligence, and EdTech sectors. With checks starting at $50k, Rezilyent Capital plans to invest in companies between the pre-seed and seed+ stages.  Suah told Refresh Miami that she is excited to leverage her network to give diverse founders a leg up.

 

- Source: Refresh Miami

Boldstart Ventures Has Two New Funds To Plug Into Teams With An Idea

Boldstart Ventures, a seed- and early-stage venture firm that markets itself as a “day one partner for developer-first, crypto-infrastructure and SaaS founders,” has closed on two new funds roughly 14 months after announcing its last two funds. The firm — which began in New York with a $1 million proof-of-concept fund in 2010 — has closed its sixth flagship fund with $192.2 million. Not much has changed otherwise, unless you count the move of firm co-founder Ed Sim to Miami, which is notable given that Boldstart’s early focus was largely regional, including a focus on New York, as well as on underfunded Canadian talent. The firm will still writes checks as small as $250,000, it says; it is also willing to invest up to $30 million in a single portfolio company.

 

-Source: TechCrunch

Women in Miami Tech Happy Hour

June 7th| Women in Miami Tech + BrainStation

 

Join us for our June Happy Hour, brought to you in partnership with Brainstation! Come enjoy drinks, light bites and great conversations at their beautiful Wynwood offices!

#MiamiTech Happy Hour

June 8th| #MiamiTech 

 

This is a casual recurring happy hour every other Wednesday 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 at FREEHOLD Miami!

Miami Climate Happy Hour

June 9th| Miami Climate Happy Hour

 

Bringing community together taking on the greatest problems facing Miami & South Florida; catalyzing knowledge, resources, & opportunities. We'll be going to CIC Miami on June 9th for the SDG Consortium launch! Join our monthly happy hour to network local leaders and organizations, share asks and offers, and learn more about how anyone can help drive impact towards solving climate change.

NAU Fest

June 10th-22nd| JA Americas

 

NAU Fest is a full-week virtual event created by JA in collaboration with Latin-American young adults, seeking to reconnect 50,000 underserved youth from 26 countries of the Americas with their future and the future of work. Our goal is to foster learning, inspiration, innovation and promote social inclusion and diversity of thought. NAU Fest is scheduled from June 10 to 22, 2022. 

Think Tank Thursday (Anniversary Edition)

June 16th| The LAB Miami

 

It's our anniversary! Who would have thought it's been a whole year since we started TTT! To celebrate we partnered with bartaco who is going to be our neighbor. Come network, learn, and immerse yourself in programming curated by you, the Miami Startup Ecosystem! Every month we host a Pitch Competition and thoughtful conversations with successful founders and investors. 

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.