Miami Herald Performing Arts How Houston September 24 2017
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fourteen posts from September 2017
Cody Simmons is CEO of DermaSensor, a Miami-based wellness-tech startup that is developing a medical device that aims to detect the chance of skin cancer. A user would browse a mole or lesion with the device and the engineering science within the device would determine whether the lesion is potentially cancerous, based on its data and algorithm. A prototype of the handheld device that Simmons is holding is a piddling larger than a pen, but the device started out at as a thirty-pound desktop auto that sits next to him. The technology has been miniaturized to be contained in a hand-held device. Emily Michotemichot@miamiherald.com
By Nancy Dahlberg / ndahlberg@miamiherald.com
Chances are you have looked at a mole or irregularity on your pare and thought that maybe you lot should run across a doctor about it. And, chances are, yous didn't.
Yet, there are more new cases of skin cancer every year than the combined incidences of cancers of the chest, prostate, lung and colon, co-ordinate to the American Cancer Society. And ane person in the U.Southward. dies every 52 minutes of melanoma, the most-mortiferous form of pare cancer, which can afflict whatever age group, gender or race.
DermaSensor, a Miami-based health-engineering startup, has been quietly developing a hand-held device that uses artificial intelligence to help users evaluate pare lesions for cancer. The device, undergoing clinical trials, would allow physicians and eventually consumers to perform simple peel checks in doctor offices and patient homes at the first sign of a potential problem.
DermaSensor recently completed a $two million financing deal, comprised primarily of Southward Florida and New York angel investors with medical device and finance expertise. This financing round brings the visitor's full funds that accept been raised to $4.45 million. The company is now raising a Series A financing round to further grow its squad and fund continued production development, clinical development and commercial efforts.
"We are excited about this novel spectroscopy technology and its potential to transform pare cancer intendance and save lives around the world," said Cody Simmons, CEO of DermaSensor.
The company'due south recent clinical developments leap from the rapidly growing medical device and wellness-tech industry in Due south Florida. The industry benefits from the region'southward big hospital district and access to universities and inquiry institutes, the area's history with successful medical device and pharmaceutical companies, and admission to Latin American markets. A number of companies have sprung from Mako Surgical's auction, for example. Others are incubating at wet labs and offices at Cambridge Innovation Center, in partnership with the University of Miami. Some have benefited from the services of Startupbootcamp Miami, an accelerator for health-tech startup that focuses on eradicating healthcare disparities in the Us.
[READ MORE: A health organization bets big on Miami's time to come in health-tech]
DermaSensor was founded in 2009 by healthcare investor and serial entrepreneur Dr. Maurice Ferré, who was previously the CEO of MAKO Surgical, which sold to Stryker for $one.65 billion. Ferré, son of the former Miami mayor, is also chairman and CEO of Insightec, a brain health company founded in State of israel; co-founder of Miami-based Fastrack Found; and on the board of Try Miami, an organization that supports high-impact entrepreneurship.
"What we've learned is that this is a public health consequence," Ferré said about DermaSensor'due south journey. "The upshot is communicable these things early, and what we find is not enough people get see dermatologists."
DermaSensor'due south patented technology was pioneered at Boston University and Academy College London, and the device has been undergoing development since 2011 through clinical studies and collaborations with dermatologists in Florida.
The device itself is evolving, from a 30-pound desktop system to a hand-held device that is now simply a little larger than a pen.
The device itself includes the technology, which records the skin lesion and runs a machine-learning algorithm that was developed using a trove of spectroscopy data on lesions. Within seconds, the technology evaluates the chance and recommends further evaluation from a dermatologist, if necessary. Clinical validation of the prototype is underway in Florida clinics, Simmons said.
Simmons came aboard in 2016 to lead the company through its clinical trials and into commercialization. Before joining DermaSensor, Simmons led commercial efforts for a Silicon Valley mobile health device startup and held business evolution and commercial strategy roles at biotech company Genentech.
Christian Seale, founder of Startupbootcamp Miami, originally introduced Simmons to Ferré, a mentor and advisor for Startupbootcamp, with the thought that they might piece of work together to build DermaSensor. Seale is a member of DermaSensor's advisory lath, which also includes Dr. Stewart Davis and other Miami entrepreneurs in the healthcare and tech industries. "The Miami ecosystem is working," Ferré said.
DermaSensor is undergoing clinical trials in the United States, working toward FDA clearance, a procedure that tin can take years. DermaSensor's product will likely hitting the marketplace first in Europe, where the regulatory process is further forth, Simmons said.
The ultimate goal is to be able to sell the device at an affordable price, for a few hundred dollars, Simmons said.
Once cleared by regulators, the get-to-market strategy is to sell the device first to clinicians, and eventually consumers. To save lives, he said, "we want to brand it very easy to use."
Nancy Dahlberg: @ndahlberg
By Nancy Dahlberg and Rene Rodriguez / ndahlberg@miamiherald.com
Detect Seattle on a map. Now find the farthest U.S. urban center from it.
The Miami metro surface area wants to be on Amazon's map as the dwelling for its second headquarters, a planned $5 billion, eight-million-square-foot, l,000-employee campus for Amazon executives, staff and high-tech professionals (Read: high-paying jobs).
But while economical development agencies in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Embankment counties are putting together a rare, tri-county proposal to lure the Seattle-based online shopping giant to the region, 1 South Florida city is flying solo with its pitch to bring Amazon hither.
READ MORE: "Jeff Bezos: A rocket launched from Miami's Palmetto High"
The city of Doral, in conjunction with developer Codina Partners, is offering Amazon 47 acres of prime infinite in downtown Doral for the start phase of its HQ2 expansion. Future growth infinite for the Amazon project would include role of the 250-acre White golf course, which Codina and Lennar Homes bought in 2016 and had earmarked to use for single-family home development.
"When nosotros looked at Amazon's [request for proposal], nosotros felt like we met all the requirements to exist the domicile of their second headquarters," said Doral Mayor Juan Carlos Bermudez. "I may be a piffling bit biased, but I think Doral is a very good fit."
For its planned HQ2, Amazon seeks a major metropolitan area of more than ane million people within 45 minutes of an airport and nigh quality universities. Its checklist for its planned HQ2 includes a business organization-friendly climate, low taxes, cultural amenities, proximity to mass transit, affordable cost of living, a diverse population — and a package of economical development incentives.
Bermudez said Doral fits all those requirements, including proximity to Miami International Drome and Florida International University; a booming (and growing) downtown area of restaurants, shops and entertainment; a large housing stock of condos, apartments and unmarried-family unit homes; an educated and multilingual workforce; an ethnically diverse population, and a modern infrastructure with public spaces, bicycle paths and other live-work-play conducers.
The mayor said Doral even fulfills Amazon's desire for "proximity to mass transit" with its three routes of gratuitous trolley service, which connects to the Palmetto Metrorail Station in Medley. At Wednesday night's Doral Urban center Council meeting, the quango unanimously approved a resolution to endorse and support the Miami-Dade Transportation Planning System's Miami Area Rapid Transit Smart Programme, which intends to reduce the county's traffic congestion woes — a especially grave problem in Doral.
"If we were going to submit our proposal with the existing status quo transportation, information technology would probably be deficient," said Ana Codina, CEO of Codina Properties. "But we're coupling our proposal with some ideas we accept to enhance and improve the bus and trolley system and so that there would exist more transit options than there are now. I see it as a challenge, just non something that can't be overcome."
Doral is the fastest-growing city in Florida and 11th fastest in the U.Due south., according to Florida International University's Metropolitan Center. Its population is 58,000, and the median household income in 2015 was $72,933, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Simply the competition to become the home of Amazon'southward HQ2 will exist vehement — and rich with incentive offers. Since Amazon put out its request in early September, the Super Bowl of Economical Development has already drawn interest from several hundred metro areas. Orlando, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Brooklyn, Chicago, Boston, Denver, Toronto, Ottawa, Washington, D.C., St. Louis, Las Vegas, Detroit, Tulsa, Tucson and even Frisco, Texas, a suburb of Dallas, are a few that have already said they volition have or will be submitting proposals by the Oct. 19 borderline. Tucson even sent Amazon a 21-pes cactus.
But none of those cities can boast that Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos graduated from ane of their loftier schools. Bezos was valedictorian at Miami Palmetto and was a Miami Herald Silver Knight recipient.
The Miami-Dade Buoy Council, the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance in Broward Canton and the Concern Development Board of Palm Embankment County are working on a proposal of their own to lure Amazon.
"In that location is a existent opportunity to evidence off the region's transit and other assets," said Susan Greene, spokeswoman for the Miami-Dade Beacon Quango, adding that the timing of Brightline "couldn't be ameliorate." Brightline's inter-metropolis train service is expected to connect the downtown centers of the three counties before the terminate of the year.
"We are in conversations with Mayor Bermudez about potential sites in Doral," she added. "We've heard from lots of people with sites in Miami-Dade to consider."
Bermudez said that he learned about the tri-canton effort terminal week while talking to Beacon Council president and CEO Michael Finney.
"In the long run, it would behoove South Florida to offering Amazon several opportunities," Bermudez said most the unexpected competition. "But we began this process before nosotros even knew the Beacon Council was involved. The majority of Miami-Dade County residents live west of I-95. I run across no reason why nosotros can't offering different options as a community."
At stake for Due south Florida: Thousands of high-paying engineering jobs in an economy that is now highly dependent on low-wage service jobs.
"Amazon HQ2 will be a complete headquarters for Amazon — not a satellite office," Amazon said in its news release. "Amazon expects to hire new teams and executives in HQ2, and will also let existing senior leaders across the company decide whether to locate their teams in HQ1, HQ2 or both. The visitor expects that employees who are currently working in HQ1 can choose to keep working at that place, or they could accept an opportunity to move if they would prefer to be located in HQ2."
Amazon's headquarters in Seattle covers more than 8 meg square anxiety of infinite beyond 33 buildings and houses about 40,000 of Amazon's global workforce of near 380,000.
The exercise of cities and states lavishing millions of dollars in revenue enhancement breaks, relocation perks and other credits on companies to lure them is widespread, yet even so controversial. The media often doesn't hear nearly these kinds of incentive-laden deals being negotiated until a deal is done — or at to the lowest degree in the concluding stretches. Only Amazon'southward very public call for proposals changed all that.
Timothy J. Bartik, a senior economist at the Westward.E. Upjohn Found for Employment Research in Kalamazoo, Michigan, told the New York Times that the average incentive package from a country unremarkably adds up to 2 percentage to three percent of wages. Recently, he said, there has been a spate of mega-deals, such equally the $three billion in country tax credits that Wisconsin offered Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn. Boston's deal to nab GE was another. Such outsized offers could end up being a "winner'south expletive" where costs outweigh the benefits, he said.
A former governor went further.
"Competition for jobs should not be seen to swivel on which authorities can write the biggest check to an employer, simply on the kinds of things that officials in Delaware and other states spend then much time on to brand their communities places worth living in: the quality of schools, workforce evolution programs, the transportation filigree and other infrastructure, and the overall quality of life," Jack Markell, quondam governor of Delaware, wrote in the New York Times.
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Arcview Forum Palm Beach brought in a crowd of over 100 high net-worth investors who gathered to observe 20 cannabis-related companies competing for investment at the Eau de Palm Beach Resort during the September 19-xx upshot. The Arcview Investor Network includes more than 600 accredited investor members who have put more than $152 million behind 162 cannabis-related companies. Nine of the companies competed "Shark Tank" style to a panel of judges and investor attendees with the hope of coming out on pinnacle and bear the title of about investible concept.
Judges agreed that springBIG, a Boca Raton based company pictured in a higher place, was the best. SpringBIG takes home the "Best Pitch" trophy and the $fifty,000 "Winner's Fund" award as well (pending due diligence).
SpringBIG is a customer date and marketing platform for cannabis dispensaries and brands. Their data-driven approach includes loyalty and rewards, personalized messaging and analytics. The team has extensive experience in the loyalty sector and launched their platform in January of this year.
"Nosotros've been working difficult to solve some of the marketing and sales challenges that these new cannabis firms are facing. It feels great to know that the true insiders that are placing capital in this space have validated that we are on the right track and are putting their faith in us to deliver the best loyalty marketing and communications solution for this burgeoning industry," said Jeffrey Harris, CEO of SpringBIG.
An employee details a car at Rising Tide Car Wash in Parkland in 2013. Miami Herald File Photograph
By Nancy Dahlberg / ndahlberg@miamiherald.com
Ascent Tide Motorcar Launder, a unique social venture with a mission to employ adults with autism, opened its 2d S Florida location on Thursday.
Rising Tide has operated in Parkland since 2013. The new Margate location, located at 2970 Due north. Land Road seven, is estimated to create almost 50 new jobs in the community.
"By opening the Margate location, we are not only giving more than young adults with autism opportunities to realize their capabilities, proceeds conviction, brand friends, proceeds financial independence, and have a place to telephone call their own, but we are besides providing S Floridians with some other top-notch automobile wash experience," said John D'Eri, CEO of Ascent Tide.
When John and his son Tom D'Eri learned that eighty pct to 90 percent of adults with autism are unemployed, they set out to alter that statistic. The D'Eris researched options and determined a machine launder would be the ideal business for creating jobs for people with autism, like Tom'due south blood brother Andrew, who likes structure and performing repetitive tasks and follows safe guidelines to the alphabetic character.
Rising Tide'south innovative, scalable model breaks the automobile-washing process into 46 singled-out steps. Employees work in a mirror image of each other, and are able to thrive off the repetitive structure to produce boggling results, John D'Eri said.
Rise Tide is also one of the largest employers of people with autism in the U.S. Since its inception, Rising Tide has created 85 jobs in the Southward Florida area.
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Past Nancy Dahlberg / ndahlberg@miamiherald.com
How-do-you-do, Magic Leap.
On its road to the big reveal, the secretive S Florida tech company has refreshed its website as another teaser of what's to come. This all arrives fresh off reports that Magic Leap is raising some other $500 million in funding, give or take a few million, and that insiders have said that its product launch could be within six months.
Go to MagicLeap.com today and there is no more than 3-D whale flying through a gym. Gone are all the videos, blog posts and other distractions. Now its mascot greets you with a elementary "Hi" and a message that reads, in part: "Nosotros're taking you with u.s.a. on this journey to launch. More to come ..." It invites you to submit your email for its mailing list.
The only other element on Magic Leap'due south revamped website is a careers folio, advertising 253 jobs, most of them in Plantation, where Magic Leap is based. Magic Jump's social media pages take besides been updated and simplified.
Magic Leap is reportedly edifice a wearable computing device based on its "mixed reality" technology called "Digital Lightfield." The company has already raised almost $1.four billion from Google, Alibaba, Qualcomm and other venture firms, valuing the company that has yet to launch its get-go product at $four.5 billion.
The Bloomberg report earlier this calendar month said that Temasek Holdings, an investment company owned by Singapore, may take part in a new financing round of more than than $500 million, valuing Magic Leap at shut to $6 billion. Magic Leap and the investment firm take declined to annotate.
Co-ordinate to Bloomberg's sources, the headset device — bigger than a pair of spectacles simply smaller than VR headsets on the market at present — could cost between $one,500 and $2,000. People would have to comport a second device about the size of a smartphone to power the glasses, the sources told Bloomberg.
On the sally Americas stage in Miami Beach in June, Magic Leap's CEO and founder Rony Abovitz shared his thoughts on the future of technology, his vision for more natural calculating and the tech ecosystem in South Florida.
To experience the world more naturally, he said and so, "we're trying to build a computer that acts like people, so you don't have to look at your phone all the time."
Abovitz said so that Magic Leap had more than 1,000 employees, with about 800 in South Florida. "We are bringing in people from all over the world. This encephalon trust will at some point spin out their own startups," he said.
What happens adjacent is pure speculation, and it'due south out there. Unnamed sources told a Bloomberg reporter before this month that the company's showtime product could ship in the adjacent six months. Since the revamped website launched Midweek, Reddit commenters with time on their hands have uncovered what they say are hints within the website — including Morse code messages and Alpha Ceti symbolism within the coding pointing to a Dec launch.
Stay tuned.
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Rebecca Fishman Lipsey, heart, is founder and CEO of Radical Partners, a social bear on accelerator.
By Nancy Dahlberg / ndahlberg@miamiherald.com
What are some of the most pressing issues facing our region, and how tin can we solve them?
Ask the alumni and new cohort of Social Entrepreneurship Bootcamp, an accelerator programme for social-impact ventures based in Due south Florida.
The program, led by Radical Partners, announced its fourth cohort on Wednesday, selecting 11 leaders at the helm of some of the most innovative organizations seeking to amend our region. From expanding opportunities for diverse food entrepreneurs to providing a support network for transgender locals, the accomplice of both for-turn a profit and non-profit companies is committed to strengthening communities, increasing equity, and improving the quality of life for those in our city.
Each participant is offered a full scholarship to enable participation in the 12-week accelerator programme focused on scaling the impact of their ventures. Upon completion of the programme, participants are welcomed into an agile alumni network, where they volition go along to focus on strengthening Miami alongside some of the most historic social innovators in the region.
In an endeavor to diversify the investor base in the social innovation sector, Radical Partners sought to fund the entire program through support from female person investors and philanthropists. All scholarships for this fourth cohort were made possible by female investors who are committed to the futurity of Miami, including Tere Blanca of Blanca Commercial Real Estate, Leslie Miller Saiontz of Attain Miami and Teach For America, CL Conroy of The Conroy Martinez Group, Ruth Admire of The William J. and Isobel G. Clarke Foundation, Dr. Elizabeth Leight, Stephanie Ansin, and Michelle Huttenhoff, amid others.
The cohort will also benefit from skillful advice from financial advisors, branding experts, and lawyers through partnerships with Desnoyers CPA, Fiscal Management Associates, and Milkcase Creative. Participants will too receive legal health checks from Akerman and have admission to the AkermanX/Radical Partners innovation space housed at the Cambridge Innovation Centre for all 12 weeks of the program.
Here are the 2017 Social Entrepreneurship Bootcamp cohort members (list provided past Radical Partners):
Communities In Schools of Miami
Elyssa Linares, President and CEO
Nonprofit providing wraparound resource to help students succeed, whether that'due south clean wearing apparel, help with school work, or emotional support to cope with or recover from a traumatic effect.
Melanites
Jennifer Pierre, Founder and CEO
Toy company that creates diverse toys, storybooks, and games that celebrate dark-brown adolescence and inspire children of colour to dream big.
Mind&Tune
Cristina Rodriguez, President and Co-Founder
Nonprofit that creates novel music programs at healthcare facilities to amend the quality of life for individuals with neurological impairments like dementia.
Moonlighter
Tom Pupo, Co-Founder
Due south.T.E.A.M. Learning Center, Fabrication Lab, and Co-Working Space that encourages artistic collaboration amidst artists, designers, engineers, students, educators, and innovators in guild to catalyze meaningful solutions through didactics, applied science, and community.
O, Miam i
Scott Cunningham, Founder and Director
Annual festival with the goal of every single person in Miami-Dade Canton encountering a poem.
Open Referral Initiative
Greg Bloom, Founder and Leader
Open up-access platform that enables people in need (and related organizations) to get accurate data most the health, human, and social services available in our region.
The New Tropic
Ariel Zirulnick, Director
Local media startup that connects people to their cities through storytelling and events.
TransSOCIAL
Ashley Mayfaire, Co-Founder and Director of Operations
Trans-led nonprofit working to build LGBTQ+ unity and aggrandize community resources and back up.
Unconventional
Jordan Magid, Founder and CEO
Art production agency beautifying neighborhoods, strengthening relationships and inspiring citizenship.
The Wynwood Chiliad
Della Heiman, Founder and CEO
Culinary incubator and community hub designed to foster the evolution of innovative Miami-based food, culture, design and fitness entrepreneurs.
Young Musicians Unite
Sammy Gonzalez, Co-Founder, President and CEO
Nonprofit giving students a voice through music by providing underserved communities with costless, comprehensive music programming.
A scene from Radical Partners Social Entrepreneurship Bootcamp Cohort 2 workshop
Mary Biggins, correct, and Katie Ghelli founded MealPal, a restaurant lunch subscription service, in Miami. It'southward at present international. MealPal
By Nancy Dahlberg / ndahlberg@miamiherald.com
MealPal, the Miami-based startup offering a subscription restaurant lunch service, announced it has raised a $20 million Series B investment, led by Silicon Valley firm Menlo Ventures.
The circular brings MealPal's total funding to $35 million since its Jan. 2016 launch. In February, MealPal raised a $xv million Series A round; Miami-based Krillion Ventures is an investor. MealPal aims to make lunch choice-up from restaurants convenient and affordable. MealPal offers its service in Miami, as well as New York, Boston, San Francisco, Toronto and a number of other cities effectually the world.
Along with the funding, the company recently appear it expanded its tiffin pickup service to include dinner, starting in New York City, its largest market place.
"MealPal has helped thousands of people upgrade their tiffin interruption by skipping long eating place lines and getting lunch for as fiddling equally $6. At present we're excited to bring this quality, affordability and efficiency to dinner," said CEO Mary Biggins, who co-founded MealPal with Katie Ghelli.
MealPal has serviced more than 3 meg lunches and expended to 12 markets, most recently Manchester in the United Kingdom and Melbourne, Commonwealth of australia, said Biggins, who previously co-founded ClassPass, which offers fitness classes by subscription.
Previous MealPal investors, including Bessemer Venture Partners, Comcast Ventures, Haystack Partners and Side by side View Ventures, all participated in this new round.
The new funding will support further team and market expansion in the United states of america, Uk Canada and Australia, as well equally new markets throughout Europe in the adjacent several months.
Follow @ndahlberg on Twitter.
READ MORE:
MealPass rebrands as MealPal, unveils 'Pal' characteristic, launches in Chicago, Washington, DC
Tech Talk: From ClassPass to MealPass, the Big Apple to the Magic City
Past Nancy Dahlberg / ndahlberg@miamiherald.com
Salim Ismail, founding executive managing director of Singularity University and chairman of the new Miami-based Fastrack Establish, has joined Rokk3r Fuel, a venture majuscule firm based in Miami, every bit a general partner.
With the add-on to Ismail, Rokk3r Fuel is besides renaming its flagship fund Rokk3r Fuel ExO.
"For the last decade, Salim has been a visionary and has defined how we as an manufacture think about exponential organizations. We view his decision to join Rokk3r Fuel as a strong validation of both our delivery to identifying and investing in exponential technology, and our proprietary approach to working with our limited partners to optimize the way that venture is working to meet their investment objectives," said Jeff Ransdell, founding partner of Rokk3r Fuel ExO, in a news release.
[READ MORE Nearly ROKK3R FUEL Here.]
Ismail is co-founder and chairman of the Fastrack Establish in Miami, as well as chairman of ExO Works, which he founded. He is also a public speaker and authored the business concern best-seller Exponential Organizations. He is now a global ambassador for Singularity, based at NASA'due south Ames Research Center with a goal is to "educate, inspire, and empower a new generation of leaders to employ exponential technologies to address humanity's grand challenges."
Said Ismail: "Today there are eight billion Cyberspace-connected devices in the world. By 2020, in that location will be 50 billion. Will computer-driven cars be a reality in iii years? Will we see a dramatically diffuse lifespan and delayed retirements in a matter of i to two decades? What does this mean for investment, growth, and wrinkle in key industries? As the world becomes more digital, advancements in engineering are skyrocketing. Rokk3r Fuel ExO is tracking the trajectory of fascinating projects and investing in the ones that are sure to change our lives and challenge societal norms equally we know them. Our insight on how to invest and where to deploy capital letter is driven around our exponential outlook on the world as we know it today."
Before his piece of work at Singularity, Ismail was a vice president at Yahoo, where he congenital and ran Brickhouse, the company's internal incubator. He co-founded and operated seven early-stage companies, including PubSub Concepts, which laid some of the foundation for the real-time spider web. His last company, Ångströ, a news aggregation startup, was sold to Google in 2010.
Ismail is existence honored by Endeavor Miami at its annual do good gala Oct. 21.
Rokk3r Fuel was launched in March 2017 with the goal of investing in exponential technologies at a global level. Information technology has said its goal is to raise a $150 one thousand thousand fund. "The addition of Salim Ismail as full general partner advances Rokk3r Fuel'due south goal of globally sourcing and funding the all-time entrepreneurs who are building companies at the intersection of exponential technologies," said Nabyl Charania, general partner at Rokk3r Fuel and CEO of Rokk3r Labs.
[READ More than: INTERVIEW WITH SALIM ISMAIL]
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By Nancy Dahlberg / ndahlberg@miamiherald.com
A straw that helps find date rape, advances in breast pump technology, a dinner party in a box. These are products and services in evolution by just a few of the 17 companies selected by Babson Higher to participate in the 2017-2018 Women Innovating Now (WIN) Lab Miami.
WIN Lab Miami, an eight-month accelerator program entering its second twelvemonth in the region, aims to catalyze the long-term success of female entrepreneurs by fostering creativity and collaboration, increasing visibility, providing mentorships, identifying branding and marketing tactics, and leveraging funding opportunities and competitions.
Effectually the earth, female entrepreneurship is on the rise. According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor'due south 2017 survey of 63 economies, Total Entrepreneurial Activity amid women increased by 10 percent in the past ii years, and the gender gap (ratio of women to men participating in entrepreneurship) narrowed by 5 percent. WIN Lab seeks to accelerate the tendency by offering a supportive rather than a competitive environment of traditional accelerators. It'due south program is part-time over a longer period to ameliorate work with entrepreneurs at their own stages of growth.
"Nosotros have selected a group of incredibly impressive women entrepreneurs to join WIN Lab Miami's next cohort," said Babson'due south WIN Lab Miami Director Carolina Pina (pictured higher up). "I team won the Miami Herald Business concern Plan Claiming, some have already fabricated strides every bit participants of the Idea Middle'southward CREATE program at Miami Dade College; 1 has just recently won an American Entrepreneurship Award; and ii have been selected to pitch their businesses at the upcoming Demand Solutions competition. We look forrad to helping farther develop and advance their businesses, and existence witness to all of their accomplishments to come."
WIN Lab's Advisory Board will be chaired by Ballad Faber, Partner at Akerman LLP. Faber was recently named one of Real Estate Forum'due south 50 Women of Influence in Real Estate, and is also the Chair of Akerman's Women'south Initiative Network and Co-chair of its Distressed Holding Do Grouping.
WIN LAB has too named its Entrepreneurs-In-Residence and Investors-In-Residence for the 2nd cohort.
Entrepreneurs-In-Residence are Johanna Mikkola, Co-Founder, Wyncode Academy; RJ Joshi, Co-Founder and COO, Bodhi Tree Asset Management; Silvina Moschini, Co-Founder and CEO, SheWorks!; and Ze'ev Feig MBA'03, CEO, Zensah.
Its Investors-In-Residence are Adam Smith, investor; Blaire Martin, Co-Founder and Executive Manager, Florida Angel Nexus; and Raul Moas, Managing Manager, AGP.
WIN Lab Miami was founded with support from John South. and James L. Knight Foundation, FedEx, and Akerman LLP, and sponsor HSBC. The Miami plan's countdown accomplice of 'WINners' raised nearly $2 million in funding in the first year, WIN Lab said, and celebrated with a grand finale pitch competition in April 2017.
Hither are the 2017-2018 Miami WINners (list provided by WIN Lab), which were to be announced Tuesday night at its kickoff event at CIC Miami, where WIN Lab is based.
Caribu
Maxeme Tuchman, Co-Founder and CEO
Communication and collaboration platform that helps parents, extended family unit, and mentors read and draw with children when they are not in the same location. Caribu is one of two WINners selected by the Inter-American Development Banking concern to compete at Demand Solutions. It also won tertiary place in the Miami Herald Business Plan Claiming.
ETC
Karley Chynces, Founder and CEO
Mobile app that will allow students to buy and sell books and dorm supplies locally.
Ginger Straps
Leana Loh, Founder and CEO
Add-on ankle strap for high heels and flats to transform shoes from strapless to strappy.
Imalac, LLC
Noreen Gordon Sablotsky, Co-Founder and CEO; Rachael Sablotsky Kish, Co-Founder and COO
Healthcare technology company focused on increasing the efficiency and practicality of breast pumping.
Impetus Social
Sonia Hinestrosa, Founder
Education applied science company providing critical skills in areas like digital literacy, Stem, leadership, and fiscal literacy.
Lean Orb
Anastasia Mikhalochkina, Founder
Establish-based, biodegradable catering supplies. Lean Orb has also been selected to compete at Demand Solutions this autumn.
Luxe Fête Social
Nathalie Anne Buck-James, Founder
Service company that provides a dinner political party in a box.
MADSTUDIOS, Inc.
Jennifer Nicole Hardcastle, Co-Founder
Platform that provides resources and access to all creatives with the tools needed to be successful.
Major Marketplace
Leyanis Diaz, Co-Founder and CEO
Online market place for minority businesses and those who want to support them. Diaz too participated in Miami Dade Higher Idea Eye'due south 10-week get-to-market program chosen CREATE. She recently won an American Entrepreneurship Award.
PEX+
Jessica Coane, Founder and President
Travel search engine for using miles and points.
Prizm Art Fair, LLC
Mikhaile Solomon, Founder and Director
Cutting-edge fine art off-white that expands the spectrum of exhibiting international artists from Africa, the global African Diaspora, and emerging markets.
Sayblee
Ashley Sebok, Founder and CEO
100 percent natural, organic, handmade pilus intendance organisation formulated to repair damaged hair, and maintain healthy pilus.
Smart Straws
Susana Cappello, Victoria Roca, Carolina Baigorri, Co-Founders
Straw that detects the most mutual date rape drugs, GHB and Ketamine, institute in alcoholic and not-alcoholic drinks. Cappello, Roca, and Baigorri won this yr'southward Miami Herald Concern Program Challenge High School Track.
SpeechMED Inc.
Susan Alanna Perry, Founder and CEO
Patient engagement platform that makes healthcare information accessible to all patients regardless of age, language, or literacy levels.
TeaRado Tech
Nicole Tirado, Founder
Tech-infused tea cup that allows users to consume tea hands-gratuitous.
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Ana Maria Carrano, Co-Founder and CEO
Active and collaborative transcription platform that allows users to transcribe audio and video content fast, with high accuracy and affordable rates, using machine learning and crowdsourcing.
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Madeline Daryadel, Founder and President
Extranet software program featured on venue sites that expedites the search and sales process providing users with an instant reply to an online inquiry.
Massachusetts-based Babson College has also recently announced an expansion of its graduate programs to Miami. The new effort builds on the ongoing success of WIN Lab Miami, too as its Goldman Sachs ten,000 Small Businesses programme hosted at Miami Dade College, which empowers local small business owners to help their companies grow. The application period for the graduate programs is open up and classes are set to brainstorm in Fall 2018.
A scene from an event, shown in a higher place, for WIN Lab Miami'south first cohort, shown below.
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From left, Endri Tolka, Abi Mandelbaum and Taher Baderkhan are co-founders of YouVisit.
YouVisit incorporates virtual reality and other technologies in its 360 experiences for brands and organizations.
By Nancy Dahlberg / ndahlberg@miamiherald.com
An immersive engineering role player is the latest S Florida company to be selected to join the global network Try.
Endeavor Miami announced this week that YouVisit is at present the 16th Try Miami visitor to be selected for the network of high-touch on entrepreneurship. It was selected during Attempt'south 74th International Selection Panel in New York City Sept. 11-13. Try companies receive mentorship and admission to capital, global markets and talent.
While international students at Brandeis Academy in Massachusetts, Abi Mandelbaum, Taher Baderkhan and Endri Tolka were frustrated past the lack of affordable options for international and out-of-state students to get a better sense for what it is like to live and study at different college campuses. They launched YouVisit in 2009 to enable prospective students and families to tour colleges and universities effectually the world for gratuitous from the condolement of their ain homes. In 2012, their proprietary Virtual Guided Walking Tour technology had proven so effective on college campuses that institutions in other industries, including hospitality, started request YouVisit to build immersive experiences for them.
Today, the Miami-based YouVisit, at present with almost 100 employees, is powered by its honor-winning production studio and Aria, its proprietary enterprise platform that enables brands and organizations to interact with and convert audiences through 360-degree experiences incorporating virtual reality and other technologies.
The visitor, which also has a big office in New York City, engages consumers across mobile, desktop and virtual reality for more than 800 clients, including the U.S. Army, Hewlett-Packard, Cisco, Hilton, Yale, Harvard PwC and the cities of Houston and Philadephia. Some clients use the YouVisit'due south 360 experiences for talent recruitment, while others utilise them for atomic number 82 generation and marketing.
"At present our biggest verticals are corporate and travel an of course education," said Mandelbaum, CEO of YouVisit, in an interview Friday. "We have invested over 200,000 evolution hours in Aria and it is a platform that all of our clients benefit from. That's been a big reason why our client renewal rate is higher up 95 percent. We continually make improvements to our platform so that our clients stay at the forefront of this changing technology. ... Now we are starting to implement augmented reality."
He said the average date rate of YouVisit'southward 360 content is ix minutes -- an eternity in online time. YouVisit clients' average conversion rate is an impressive 20 per centum.
"That's what differentiates united states in the space. Well-nigh people in the virtual reality and 360 content space are very caught up in the technology, while for u.s.a. it is how we use this technology to enable actual business results rather than just PR," Mandelbaum said.
To that end, YouVisit is starting to piece of work with some retail clients to enable purchasing through the Aria platform. "We've continued to abound and solidified our leadership position," Mandelbaum said. "We all feel strongly that joining the Endeavor community is only going to accelerate that."
YouVisit has won several awards, including first place at VR Fest 2016 and 2017, also as the Science and Technology Samsung Creator Honor.
YouVisit was chosen during Endeavor'due south International Selection Panels, a culmination of a rigorous selection process involving interviews with global business concern leaders.
"Nosotros see Abi, Endri and Taher as innovative tech leaders transforming consumer date through virtual reality and immersive technologies," said Laura Maydón, managing director of Try Miami. "Having accomplished impressive growth and traction, these 3 entrepreneurs will exist inspirational role models for our Miami tech ecosystem. Every bit Attempt helps YouVisit calibration, I hope their success will bring attention to the quality of the work that's beingness done in Due south Florida tech."
Endeavor Miami launched its operation in September 2013 with the back up of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Information technology now supports 28 entrepreneurs from 16 companies; contempo selections have included Powerful Yogurt and, Pincho Factory and Citizen. For more information on Endeavor Miami or to nominate Miami entrepreneurs, visit www.endeavormiami.org.
To date, Endeavour Global has selected more than a thousand individuals leading over 800 high-growth companies that take created over 600,000 jobs. Headquartered in New York City, Endeavour operates in 27 countries throughout Europe, Latin America, North America, Africa, Asia, the Middle East and the U.Southward.
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Source: https://miamiherald.typepad.com/the-starting-gate/2017/09/index.html
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