Year: 2021

For SaaS companies, not having a gig economy strategy as we start 2021 is like missing the internet trend in 1990 or failing to get ahead of the mobile revolution in 2010.

Leading SaaS are now using on-demand experts to revolutionize the customer experience. They’re growing revenue and post-sales retention and even using the insights to build better products. According to Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA), the global gig economy is approaching $5 trillion as project-based staffing continues this digital transformation.

SaaS superstars like Amazon AWS and Qualtrics have been investing in on-demand expertise for years, and in 2019, market research firm Million Insights published a market report that predicted tech services will be a trillion dollar market by 2025. Much of this growth boils down to some simple facts about the increasingly emotional act of consumption.

A 2013 Gallup report found that customers who had a strong attachment to a brand spend a full 23% more than an average customer of the same brand.

Conversely, more than eight in 10 executives interviewed in a 2015 report from The Economist Intelligence Unit believed their companies lose sales each year because of a failure to engage properly with the customer.

By bringing human experts into their software solutions, companies can engage with their customers to solve problems more efficiently and in a more personalized manner while simultaneously gathering important insights about how to make their products more intuitive.

It’s a win-win for both sides, but it involves putting aside the notion that new product features will solve your customers’ every need. They won’t. In fact, more than 80% of new product features are never used.

The world’s SaaS leaders are well onboard the gig economy train. Need some help drafting that big companywide memo? Hire a Grammarly Expert to help you mind your p’s and q’s. Does filing your tax return give you anxiety? TurboTax Live is here to the rescue with actual on-demand CPAs to review your return before you turn it in.

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Software companies race to release new products and features because they want to provide the very best technologies to their customers and edge out the competition. Yet no matter how well-intended their decisions, too many SaaS features fail to drive real customer engagement. Why? Because no matter how advanced the software is, it can only do so much.

And when it comes to understanding and solving the customer’s problem, too often the new features simply aren’t enough.

There are four core drivers for why on-demand experts are a critical requirement for any business:

Need for increased customer retention

In today’s time-starved world, most of your customers are not able to learn and understand the full capabilities of your offering on their own. In fact, most of your customers are using less than 20%, and possibly as little as 5% of your feature set. Their underutilization directly impacts the retention and growth of your service, because customers don’t value capabilities they don’t use or even know about. From a financial perspective, the ROI of retention cannot be overstated. The Harvard Business Review reported that a mere 5% increase in retention can increase profits between 25% and 95%.

Landed, a startup aiming to improve the hiring process for hourly employers and job applicants, is officially launching its mobile app today. It’s also announcing that it has raised $1.4 million in seed funding.

Founder and CEO Vivian Wang said that the app works by asking applicants to fill out a profile with information like work experience and shift availability, as well as recording videos that answer basic common interview questions. It then uses artificial intelligence to analyze those responses across 50 traits such as communication skills and body language, then matches them up with job listings from employers.

Landed has been in beta testing since March of last year — yes, right as the COVID-19 was hitting the United States. Wang acknowledged that this was bad news for some of the startup’s potential customers, but she said businesses like grocery stores and fast food restaurants needed the product more than ever.

“That’s why we continuously grew through 2020,” she said.

After all, Landed allowed those businesses to continue hiring without having to conduct large group interviews in-person. And even beyond health concerns, she said managers struggle with rapid turnover in these positions (something Wang saw herself during her time on the corporate team at Gap, Inc.) and with a hiring process that’s usually “only a small part of their job.” So Landed saves time and automates a large part of the product.

Landed CEO Vivian Wang

Meanwhile, Wang said job applicants benefit because they can find jobs more easily and quickly, often within a week of creating a profile. She also argued that Landed can improve on existing diversity and inclusion efforts by allowing managers to see a broader pool of candidates, and because its AI matching isn’t subject to the same unconscious biases that employers might have.

Of course, bias can also be inadvertently built into AI, but when I raised this issue, Wang pointed to Landed’s partnerships with local nonprofits to bring in underrepresented candidates, and she added, “AI can be scary when there are no human checks in place. We partner directly with our employers to ensure the matches that we’re sending them are the right matches, and there are calibration periods.”

Landed is free for job applicants, while it charges a monthly fee to employers, with customers already including Wendy’s, Chick-fil-A and Grocery Outlet franchisees. In fact, Grocery Outlet Ventura owner Eric Sawyer said that by using the app, he’s gone from hiring one person for every 10 interviews to hiring one person for every three interviews.

“My time spent on scheduling and performing interviews has been cut in half by utilizing the Landed app for most of my communications,” he said in a statement.

The new funding was led by Javelin Venture Partners, with participation from Y Combinator, Palm Drive Capital and various angel investors. Wang said this will allow Landed to continue expanding — the service is currently available in seven metro areas (Northern California, Southern California, Virginia Beach/Chesapeake VA, Phoenix/Scottsdale AZ, Atlanta GA, Reno NV and Dallas-Ft. Worth TX), with a goal of tripling that number by the end of the year.

Wang added that eventually, she wants to provide other services to job applicants, such as loans (at a lower rate than payday lenders) and job training, turning Landed into a “lifestyle stability platform” that combines job stability, financial stability and educational “upscaling” for blue collar workers.

The Los Angeles-based commerce and content platform StackCommerce has been acquired by the Integrated Media Company, a holding company set up by the massive private equity fund, TPG, to acquire new media businesses.

StackCommerce’s affiliate buying platform has distributed more than $175 million on its platform by going directly to merchants. Through its platform publishers can make between 15% to 20% of gross compared with 5% on an affiliate marketing site. Stackcommerce takes 30% to 40% of the transaction, according to a person with knowledge of the company’s operations.

As a part of Integrated Media, StackCommerce will join properties like Fandom and Goal.com. With the firepower of TPG behind the combined entity, Integrated Media could bolt on other media companies and then monetize them using the sales engine developed by StackCommerce.

“Josh and the team at Stack have already built a large and important company in the e-commerce ecosystem with almost no outside investment,” said Andy Doyle, Operations Director at TPG. “And yet we’re still in the early stages of the market’s evolution. We feel fortunate to partner with a team that has such deep expertise in commerce and technology. We look forward to supporting Stack’s rapid growth as it serves more publishers and influencers and provides an even better shopping experience for audiences.”

It’s a business that’s been incredibly profitable for the Los Angeles company, which raised $1 million from the LA-based accelerator and incubator, Amplify and a few angel investors. That $1 million round took the company to a business that employed around 90 people and was generating $80 million in revenue in 2020, according to a person familiar with the company.

StackCommerce has partnered with over 1,000 publishers and 5,000 brands including CNN, CNET, Verizon Media, Hearst, Mashable, NY Post, TMZ, MarketWatch, and more, according to a statement.

“We founded StackCommerce nearly a decade ago to reimagine affiliate commerce for publishers by enabling them to own the customer data and user experience top to bottom. We’ve been pioneering the commerce and content space ever since, helping publishers to build and scale this new revenue stream at a higher rate and with access to content creation services, user acquisition, and more,” said Josh Payne, the founder and chief executive of StackCommerce, in a statement. “Today is not just an important day for Stack, but for the future of shoppable content. TPG’s in-depth media expertise will make for a brighter future for our partners through further investment in our industry-leading commerce tools and services.”

StackCommerce was advised by investment bank CG Petsky Prunier, part of the Canaccord Genuity Group. Cooley LLP acted as legal advisor to StackCommerce.

Babbel, the Berlin-based language-learning platform, today announced that it is now going well beyond its core app-based learning service and is introducing live classes.

Capped at six students, these conversation-driven classes will be taught by certified teachers, using Babbel’s existing methodology. Learners can add live classes to their existing Babbel subscription for an additional fee, starting at $110 for five classes/month, or subscribe to them as a standalone product (though they’ll also get access to the Babbel app as part of their live subscription).

That’s not all, though; Babbel is also introducing language-learning games in its app for the first time, as well as short stories to help learners use their new vocabulary, short snippets of fun facts about various cultures and a new set of videos about different places and languages.

Image Credits: Babbel

This launch follows what was a banner year for Babbel. Besides crossing a milestone at 10 million subscriptions sold, the company also realized $150 million in recognized revenue, Babbel’s U.S. CEO Julie Hansen told me. She also noted that while the company saw growth across markets, the U.S. saw especially strong growth, with revenue and subscriber numbers up 100%.

Image Credits: Babbel

“In the U.S. […] when we ask people why [they want to learn a language], the ones that say ‘for travel’ are the highest converters normally,” Hansen told me. “So I was in such a panic by mid-March, thinking that our business is going to go to zero. No one’s traveling. And it was just the exact opposite. People found in language learning — as they did in bike riding and sourdough bread baking — a creative outlet, self-improvement or a rewarding investment in themselves.”

As for the live classes, the set of available language combinations is still limited as the company starts to scale the program. For now, English speakers can sign up for Spanish and German classes, while German speakers can get lessons in English and Spanish. The plan is to add additional language pairs over the course of the year.

The overall goal for Babbel, Hansen noted, is to meet the needs of language learners across a wider spectrum, be that videos and podcasts, or these new live lessons. “It’s about embracing a more holistic view of the user’s language-learning experience and meeting their needs at more points along that journey,” Hansen said.

She also noted that providing a live experience is, in many ways, about quality control. “We’ve put a lot of work into teacher recruitment, teacher training, teacher reviews,” she said. “We are giving them the tools to be successful. We’re not just saying: ‘hey, there’s the app, go figure it out.’ There’s materials for every lesson. There’s guidance.”

Currently, Babbel is working with about 100 teachers and, after a quiet beta rollout, the company is now seeing thousands of students in class every week. “The end game for this year should be on a couple hundred teachers and tens of thousands of students in class every week,” Christian Hillemeyer, Babbel’s director of communications, noted.

Image Credits: Babbel

While there are plenty of language-learning apps as live tutoring services, Babbel may be the first service at its scale that aims to combine both. And beyond the live classes, Babbel is leaning into its overall content production beyond the core app features, with more podcasts and the short stories and culture snippets it is now adding to the app and — maybe even more importantly — as free videos and podcasts on YouTube and elsewhere.

In addition to all of the new features, the team also took a look at its existing lessons, and over the course of the last year, its teachers spent a lot of time making the course content more concise and the overall lesson length shorter, based on feedback from its didactics team. The team also introduced a new onboarding flow that includes a placement test so that learners can start using the app at the right level.

Nearly a year ago, the spread of COVID-19 ended the daily commute for millions of Americans, an abrupt change that sent the ridesharing industry into a free fall.

Hip, which connected commuters with third-party bus and shuttle operators via an app, was just one of the many mobility-as-a-service startups that watched its clientele and revenue dwindle. Instead of cutting costs and waiting out the pandemic and the disruption it delivered, Hip expanded.

Hip added a business-to-business offering to its platform, a move aimed at companies and manufacturers preparing to bring back workers.

“Instead of holding back we actually doubled down and increased our platform,” CEO Amiad Solomon said in a recent interview, adding that the decision was prompted by discussions they had with large corporations that were struggling with how to safely bring employees back to the office.

The bet has paid off, Solomon said. The company, which employs 20 people at offices in New York City and Tel Aviv, has not only landed new customers, it has also raised $12 million. The funding round was led by NFX and Magenta Venture Partners, with participation by AltaIR Capital and former Uber, Booking.com and Google executives. The funding will be to hire more workers and expand its engineering, sales and operations.

Hip works with companies, in any location, to determine their needs. The company developed an internal tool that companies can use to upload thousands employees and their home addresses. That information is then used to help companies determine their needs and control costs.

On the most basic level, the Hip platform connects companies to the bus and shuttle providers. It offers route planning and has a contact-tracing tool to help companies track COVID-19 infections. Companies can also use the platform to set vehicle capacity controls and add customized features within the app, such as health and consent forms. Employees can use the app to book tickets, reserve seats and track their transportation in real time.

Employee shuttles are not new. The difference, Solomon said, is the flexibility that this platform provides.

“It’s not the same route, it’s not the same people and it’s not the same frequency,” Solomon said. We built out the entire infrastructure, both in terms of technology, but also in terms of our distribution. We now support over 200 cities with our partners in the U.S.”

Hip locked in its first corporation in late October and now has a handful of active customers. There are dozens more companies that are ready to use the platform once they decide to bring workers back, Solomon said.

“Now that we’re working on the corporate side, we see how much opportunity there is,” Solomon said. “I think that we’ll move more and more into this direction of providing modern software systems and the connection between that software and the transportation providers — to be that glue that connects corporations and their ground transportation needs to the world of our vetted partners and providers.”

Cloud hosting company Scaleway is adding a new type of instances today — Mac minis powered by Apple’s M1 chip. The new instances cost €0.10 per hour, around $0.12 at today’s rate — there’s a minimum commitment of 24 hours.

Scaleway is hosting those new computers in its DC4 data center in Paris — it’s a former underground nuclear fallout shelter. Right now, the Mac minis aren’t available in the company’s other data centers in Amsterdam or Warsaw.

When you boot up a Mac mini from the console, you get an entry-level Mac mini with 8GB of RAM, 256GB of SSD and macOS Big Sur. And of course, it uses Apple’s first Arm-based chip, the M1.

After that, you can connect to the instance using VNC — you’ll see the desktop environment and you’ll be able to use it like a normal Mac. You can also connect to the instance using SSH directly in case you only need a command line interface.

Scaleway isn’t the first company to offer Mac mini instances. Amazon Web Services recently launched its own Mac mini instances, but they rely on Intel i7 CPUs and costs $1.083 per hour — or $26 for 24 hours. The company will likely roll out M1 minis at some point in the future.

There are also several Mac-focused hosting companies out there, such as MacStadium, MacinCloud, MacWeb and Mac Mini Vault. An M1-powered Mac mini with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage currently costs $109 or €109 per month on MacStadium — that’s slightly more expensive than Scaleway. If you keep a Mac Mini instance for 30 days on Scaleway, it costs €72 (or $87 at today’s rate).

You can use Mac servers for development purposes, and specifically for continuous integration and delivery. Building an iOS app requires a Mac. You can’t just build the app on an Ubuntu server. So if you want to build your app on a server, you have to rent a Mac.

But you may have different use cases for a Mac server. You might want to use it to test your macOS app on Apple silicon before releasing it. Or you might just want to play around with the M1.

The exodus out of San Francisco and New York is making a big impact on Miami, a city that’s been steadily growing into a tech hub over the last 15 years. We’re seeing a “moment” in Miami, but many are hoping — and working — to turn it into a movement.

In late January, Softbank Group International announced a $100 fund directed at Miami’s exploding tech scene. As explained in this article, this is the latest validation that Miami is booming. Softbank Group Intl. told TechCrunch this ahead of his announcement. “Miami is quickly evolving to accommodate increasing demand as it becomes a growing startup destination. From emerging ‘elder tech’ to biotech, Miami is an attractive investment market that offers unique opportunities for immigrants and minorities to pursue entrepreneurship opportunities.”

The pandemic has been the catalyst for change, and Miami locals are embracing newcomers and helping them feel at home, hoping that by bringing their talents to South Beach, their bank accounts will follow. For this survey TechCrunch spoke with the following Miami investors to get their input on where the city is now, and where it may be going.

• Marcelo Claure, CEO, Softbank Group Intl.
• German Fondevila, investment manager, Clout Capital
• Tigre Wenrich, CEO, LAB Ventures
• Rebecca Danta, managing director, Miami Angels
• Kevin Cadette, executive director, Black Angels Miami
• Mark Kingdon, founder, Quixotic Ventures
• Ana González, head of partner funds, 500 Startups
• Tom Wallace, managing partner, Florida Funders (Tampa)

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Marcelo Claure, CEO, Softbank Group Intl.

Where do you see Miami’s startup scene five years from now?

Miami is quickly evolving to accommodate increasing demand as it becomes a growing startup destination. From emerging “elder tech” to biotech, Miami is an attractive investment market that offers unique opportunities for immigrants and minorities to pursue entrepreneurship opportunities. Between 2012 and 2018, Miami-Dade saw a 40% growth in the tech sector, indicating a healthy business trajectory. We anticipate that this trend will only continue in the years to come.

We also know the biggest challenge is getting started, with talent acquisition as the first step toward building a viable headquarters location in any new city. Miami offers a number of attractive benefits including cost of living, lifestyle and opportunity to grow. It’s a natural bridge from Latin America that allows businesses and entrepreneurs to expand seamlessly to the U.S. with an active cultural base. This is a time of exponential opportunity and at SoftBank, we are committed to supporting the technology ecosystem in the Miami market.

Miami has always been close to our hearts — our $5 billion Latam Fund was born in Miami and is headquartered here.

Remote work is pushing and pulling the global workforce. This means that offices will disappear from Miami, even with more companies moving in, but also more locals who work remotely for companies elsewhere. How do you see these factors impacting the city’s tech evolution?

The accelerated global shift to remote work as the new normal means that talent and entrepreneurship have no geographical boundaries. Miami has significant advantages over competitive markets, including no state income taxes, a commitment to arts and culture, and beautiful weather that encourages an active lifestyle. Florida has seen an insurgence of talent from the technology and finance sectors — in September of 2020 it was reported that roughly 1,000 people were moving to the state every day. That’s incredible.

While remote work is part of the future fabric of business, there’s no replacement for face-to-face interaction in building company culture. We believe that businesses may decrease their traditional office footprint slightly, but will continue to seek space in co-working spaces or rental spaces that are prime destinations for headquarters. We think there will be continued significant net growth in the number of offices located in the city.

What industry sectors do you focus on within Miami (and beyond)? What is happening in Miami now that you are most excited to fund?

At SoftBank, we invest in technology-focused companies in various sectors — from fintech, to agritech, to education. We invest in the entrepreneurs and companies that are leading the digital transformation of these sectors. Over the last year, we’ve recognized a dramatic shift in where these entrepreneurs call home. For years it was mainly Silicon Valley and New York City — today, it’s also Austin, Dallas, and (of course) Miami. Due in large part to the tireless efforts of Mayor Suarez, Miami has been positioned at the forefront of innovation and the tech industry.

Many of the businesses we’re seeing pop up in Miami are natural fits for what we’re looking to invest in. Through our Latam Fund, we invest in companies focused on the Latin American region. In an effort to address the long-standing diversity and inclusion issues within the VC community we also launched a $100 million Opportunity Fund, focusing on companies founded by Black, Latino and Native American entrepreneurs. So far, we’ve evaluated over 700 companies and have made ~20 investments totaling $20 million. These investments span multiple sectors (healthcare, SaaS, fintech, gaming and more) — sectors we’ve seen growing in Miami.

What are some of the local challenges you have encountered or seen founders struggle with? More generally, how should people looking to hire in, invest in or relocate to Miami think about doing business in the city?

Any market poses natural challenges, but there are far fewer barriers to entry in Miami and Florida as a whole. Access to a robust, diverse local professional network is an incredibly valuable resource for companies. Top names in technology and VC are moving to Miami and urging others to do the same.
Take the example of Keith Rabois, who decided to make it his 2021 resolution to rally support for a mass pilgrimage from Silicon Valley to Miami. We are seeing many such examples that are driving the perception of Miami as a hotspot for tech networking. At SoftBank, we have deep roots in Miami and we’re excited to encourage other entrepreneurs to join us here.

Who are key startup people you see creating success locally, whether investors, founders or even other types of startup ecosystem roles like lawyers, designers, growth experts, etc. We are trying to highlight the movers and shakers who outsiders might not know.

Emil Michael (ex-Uber), Shervin Pishevar (ex-Uber, Sherpa Capital), Martin Varsavsky (ex-Jazztel, FON), Alexis Ohanian, Reddit co-founder.

German Fondevila, investment manager, Clout Capital

Where do you see Miami’s startup scene five years from now? The city has attracted a wide range of people over the years, including more tech and finance companies very recently. How will it add up to something more than the sum of the parts? 


I moved to Miami in 2016 from Barcelona, Spain and I decided to stay because I realized the potential the city held. The first thing to note is that it’s an ecosystem in the making, so it’s still maturing. I believe in the coming years Miami will solidify its identity in the broad startup scene. More talent will relocate here and I hope we will see more companies redomicile here as well. Miami is culturally rich, vibrant and people seem to smile more often than in other cities.

It’s important to state we should avoid jumping on the “hype wagon” right away. There’s a lot of potential for this city, but Rome wasn’t built in a day. There are different layers to building a strong startup community. It’s a messy multivariable problem with no exact recipe. This is a long game we’re playing, so expectations need to be adjusted in that sense. I think it’s funny when people compare it to San Francisco or New York. Had they been in those cities 30 years ago while they grew to become what they are today … surely a lot was missing. I think people with an entrepreneurial mindset will gravitate toward places “in the making.” Here, one can take on an active role in shaping the city’s future and your own.

We also need to come together, talk to each other more and be more deliberate in helping Miami grow. When I moved here I wore the entrepreneur hat. Something that shocked me then was seeing how different players of the ecosystem didn’t collaborate that much with each other. Everyone seemed to be doing their thing. I’ve always thought we should have a “Startup Council” of some sort. To gather every relevant and legitimate stakeholder at the table and work organized to leverage Miami’s strengths. Mayor Francis Suarez has been doing a great job recently, but he’s going to need help to discern the noise from the signal.

Remote work is pushing and pulling the global workforce. This means that offices will disappear from Miami, even with more companies moving in, but also more locals who work remotely for companies elsewhere. How do you see these factors impacting the city’s tech evolution?


I have been a defender of remote work for several years. Specifically, the idea of a distributed workforce and the infrastructure that supports it. People think remote work means working in your pajamas from home or at a beach somewhere in the Caribbean (I have done both, I confess). People want flexibility, it’s inevitable. We are finally shifting from the Industrial Revolution model toward the knowledge worker type of organizations.

I don’t think offices will disappear from Miami, but what will change is the density of office space near downtown and the way we develop cities. My guess is that the co-working space model will come back stronger with larger adoption. People will go to work in an office space, it just won’t always be with people from their same company. These will be more evenly distributed around residential areas, cutting commutes; freeing up peoples’ time will lead to a higher sense of well-being that will revert back into productivity.

Startups with distributed teams will be more normal. Capital, however, will take longer to get accustomed to the idea of investing beyond the city limits. A lot of investors like to be in the same city where the founders are. It will take some time to normalize capital dispersion in that sense. Investors have a herd mentality so it will take some top investors to question this status quo publicly to get the ball rolling. A good recent example of this is the recent move of Keith Rabois from Founders Fund to call Miami home.

What industry sectors do you focus on within Miami (and beyond)? What is happening in Miami now that you’re most excited to fund?

With our new $60 million fund, we’re looking to partner with entrepreneurs raising their Series A in Latin America and Florida. Occasionally we participate in seed deals as well.

We tend to gravitate toward product-driven companies. It’s always stimulating to find companies that are not just trying to build a “copycat” but have a genuine IP or value-add in their product or business model. We primarily focus on SaaS, enterprise software, proptech, fintech and insurtech, although we look at many companies outside of that scope. Ultimately, we aim to partner with amazing teams.

There are several great teams in the city and naming only a few wouldn’t be fair. I’m personally excited about investing in collaboration tools that empower the future of work, applied AI and AI infrastructure, payments and e-commerce enablement. I am also becoming increasingly curious about consumer subscriptions. I find the merge between the recurring revenue model of a SaaS and the large market of a B2C business quite powerful.

What are some of the local challenges you’ve encountered or seen founders struggle with? More generally, how should people looking to hire in, invest in or relocate to Miami think about doing business in the city?

The main challenges we hear about are the access to qualified talent (technical or not) and access to capital. The former should be less of a barrier now that people are relocating here and the increasing trend of hiring from a distributed workforce. The access to capital has improved over the last few years with more firms opening in South Florida, covering a wider range of a startup’s lifecycle. Yet, we still need more smart capital. I am hopeful that this will be the case in the coming years.

Miami attracts people of all kinds, so there are all kinds of Miami/s that you can experience. I always like to say that you have to pick the one that works for you. There are a lot of very intelligent people with interesting backgrounds and life stories here, they’re also probably not hanging out at Wet Willies or talking about “popping bottles.” I recommend that people avoid having preconceived judgments about the city, especially at the beginning. You have to come with an open mind, take it for what it is, both the good with the bad. I’m always happy to connect with people that have just relocated here and show them what Miami truly can be.

Who are key startup people you see creating success locally, whether investors, founders, or even other types of startup ecosystem roles like lawyers, designers, growth experts, etc. We’re trying to highlight the movers and shakers who outsiders might not know.

Like any developing ecosystem, there are a lot of important players. Some of the stakeholders that have been committed to helping Miami’s ecosystem include The Knight Foundation, Miami Angels, CIC, Refresh Miami, Wyncode, Next Legal, PAG Law, The LAB, Secocha Ventures, Animo Ventures, Las Olas VC, The Venture City, among many others. I highly encourage outsiders to go beyond the surface of a quick Google search. I have found that it is often the least “flashy” that tends to be worth connecting with.

Tigre Wenrich, CEO, LAB Ventures

Where do you see Miami’s startup scene five years from now?

All of the recent buzz sounds a lot like 1999 to me. It wasn’t so much immigrants from California then, but rather from Latin America. I wasn’t living here (I was in Mexico), but I remember the press started going wild about Miami becoming “Silicon Beach” and a lot of startups opened expensive offices on Lincoln Road. After the dot.com bubble burst in 2000, most of them went out of business or (like MercadoLibre, who became wildly successful but with no Miami presence) went back to Latam.

I am cautiously optimistic that this time is different. It’s great to have big name VCs moving to Miami to save on state taxes, and I applaud Mayor Suarez for the very active promotional role he has been playing. Some of these people are being very vocal about wanting to contribute to the local community, which is awesome. But this is not what gives me conviction about Miami’s future as a tech hub.

The real reason I am optimistic is the slow but steady growth of the local tech community over the past 8 to 10 years. We now have several very large tech companies based in South Florida (e.g., Chewy, Magic Leap, Reef), a much larger pool of local talent, important regional offices for companies like Google, Facebook, Uber, etc, and other large corporations have been opening tech offices here (e.g., JetBlue, Blackstone). And most importantly, we have a small but growing pool of entrepreneurs who have realized successful exits and are giving back by investing in and mentoring new startups.

This is not a recent phenomenon, but rather a trend that has been building since at least 2012 when we opened The LAB Miami. The growth in co-working spaces, accelerators, incubators, university entrepreneurship, and computer science programs, coding schools, and other kinds of organizations offering support to entrepreneurs has been a long-term project that has enabled the recent Twittermania about Miami as the next Silicon Valley. The success of major tech centers like Silicon Valley is based on having a community of different actors that feed off of each other and reinforce each other, thus the overused metaphor “ecosystem.” Miami wasn’t at critical mass 20 years ago (or even 10), and so its tech movement in 1999 was just a tech moment. But today we are approaching critical mass, and I expect that in another five years Miami as a tech hub will become an accepted reality and no longer a topic of debate.

Remote work is pushing and pulling the global workforce. This means that offices will disappear from Miami, even with more companies moving in, but also more locals who work remotely for companies elsewhere. How do you see these factors impacting the city’s tech evolution?

I don’t believe that offices will disappear from Miami, but the way we use offices will certainly change. While many jobs can be performed remotely forever, many service professions rely on an apprenticeship model, which is very hard to maintain over Zoom (lawyers, accountants, management consultants, etc.). Corporate culture can be maintained with remote work over the short term, but it’s very hard to transmit to new hires. I also believe there is a huge pent-up demand for people to socialize and that there will be a rush back to offices once the vaccines have been rolled out and it’s safe to go back.

The office of the future will likely look very different, however. There will be more shared spaces and areas for people to collaborate. Permanently assigned offices will become much less common as more people transition to a rotational schedule that includes a couple of days a week at the office and the others work from home. Whether this means that demand for commercial office space will decrease or not is unclear. Very dense downtown markets may struggle, but demand will likely surge in suburban markets. I also expect to see a rush back into co-working spaces in the second half of 2021, both as a base to host fully remote workers and as an option on the days when people don’t want to go all the way downtown to their “regular” office. Some people can work very productively from home, but many of us find it quite distracting!

The number of fully remote workers in this country has permanently increased by the pandemic, and if you can live anywhere, then Miami is obviously a compelling option. But all that does for us is drive up housing prices. Those people will be relatively less connected to the local community and less likely to stay long term. The real opportunity is if more companies choose to set up operations here, bringing permanent job growth with them — that has to be the goal. If we succeed, then Miami may very well need more office space, not less.

What industry sectors do you focus on within Miami (and beyond)? What is happening in Miami now that you’re most excited to fund?

At LAB Ventures, we focus on proptech (tech companies that serve the real estate and construction industries). Our focus is not just on Miami, it is global.

We are quite excited about the opportunities in residential real estate, especially with the booming single-family market. Our local portfolio companies with the most traction are focused here, including Beycome — a digital real estate agent that helps consumers to buy or sell their home by themselves, saving thousands in commissions, and Expetitle — a title agency that enables fully remote real estate closings. Both raised seed rounds during the pandemic and have been growing strong throughout.

Construction tech is another area we believe is poised for very strong growth. We’ve invested in a number of companies that provide solutions for the construction industry, including on-site labor tracking, project management software and offsite modular construction. Miami is a great place to pilot these technologies because there is so much construction activity here, and you have very large local players that are actively trying to innovate. We are also the gateway to Latin America, and we are seeing opportunities to bring technology from the region into the U.S., as well as to help Latin American construction companies to deploy innovative new technology from the US.

What are some of the local challenges you’ve encountered or seen founders struggle with? More generally, how should people looking to hire in, invest in or relocate to Miami think about doing business in the city?

Access to capital and the local talent pool are two challenges that everyone mentions, and they are very real. But I think we are making huge progress on both fronts. A third one that I would add is Florida’s reputation as a haven for con men and weirdos. While we do objectively have more than our fair share of fraud, it is also true that the cultural diversity and immigrant ethos that permeates Miami brings a deep pool of creative and hardworking people. We are also a very open community — since almost all of us are from somewhere else, we tend to be more welcoming to newcomers. The local tech community is still small too, so it’s really not very hard to figure out what’s what pretty quickly.

Who are key startup people you see creating success locally, whether investors, founders or even other types of startup ecosystem roles like lawyers, designers, growth experts, etc. We’re trying to highlight the movers and shakers who outsiders might not know.

There are many great founders doing important things in Miami. Here are just a few of them at the top of my mind:

• Aaron Hirschhorn — Aaron is building Gallant, a stem cell banking business for pets, and has raised a ton of money already from big-name VCs (and on Shark Tank). He moved here a couple of years ago after selling his startup DogVacay to Rover.
• Andres Moreno — In addition to still running Open English, Andres is the co-chair of Endeavor Miami and is actively involved in two other early-stage startups (Longevo and Escala).
• Maurice Ferré — He is the capo of the Paypal Mafia for Miami health tech; he sold Mako Surgical and is now investing in and mentoring a slew of really legit startups.
• Jose Rasco and Juan Calle — Sold .CO in 2014 and are now involved in many other projects, including the co-working space building.co.
• Ariel Quinones at IronHack — He’s based in Miami, but they are the market leader in Europe and just raised another $10 million last month; they are building something big.
• Felipe Sommer and Emiliano Abramzon. They built Nearpod but recently stepped back from day-to-day management. I’m sure they’ll do something else big soon.
• Marco Giberti — Marco is an entrepreneur turned angel investor and a pioneer in “company building,” or what we call the “venture studio” model. He is a co-founder at LAB Ventures and also an expert on EventTech (about which he literally wrote the book).
• Lawyers: PAG.LAW — They represent a huge share of Miami startups, as well as startups from Latin America that have or want to have a U.S. presence or U.S. legal entity.

Rebecca Danta, managing director, Miami Angels

Where do you see Miami’s startup scene five years from now?

I believe people will continue to move here more than ever before. Some of the current buzz may fade, but we will continue to see people actively choosing to live and do business here. Before 2020, living in Miami was sometimes seen as a lifestyle choice, but something that set you back careerwise. We’re already starting to see that is no longer the case. We’re now solidifying ourselves as a real place for tech companies and investors to thrive. We will see the startups that began a few years ago mature and hire more talent at a faster rate as they grow, and we will see more employees of those companies leave to start their own companies.

Remote work is pushing and pulling the global workforce. This means that offices will disappear from Miami, even with more companies moving in, but also more locals who work remotely for companies elsewhere. How do you see these factors impacting the city’s tech evolution?

I see hybrid work environments being essential in a post-pandemic world and we’re already seeing that with Pipe’s recently announced microhubs, for example. I don’t think all tech jobs and companies will be 100% remote (many will), and I definitely don’t think they’ll be 100% location-based and in-person five days a week. Founders have more options than ever before on where to headquarter their companies, and although employees won’t have to relocate for a job, founders will choose cities that are attractive when it comes to quality of life and a supportive work environment. And if Miami is one of those options, it won’t be hard to attract talent here.

What industry sectors do you focus on within Miami (and beyond)? What is happening in Miami now that you’re most excited to fund?

We are industry agnostic (within early-stage software) at Miami Angels. We’ve been investing in Miami companies since 2013, but we don’t only invest in Miami companies. Some industries that have always been exciting for Miami are edtech and healthcare tech because of our large school and hospital systems. We also have a lot of local expertise and innovation in these areas, which has also been accelerated by the pandemic. At Miami Angels, we’ve invested heavily in these areas over the years; we believe in honing in on areas that are already key for a geography.

What are some of the local challenges you’ve encountered or seen founders struggle with? More generally, how should people looking to hire in, invest in or relocate to Miami think about doing business in the city?

Although we’ve had a few notable success stories, we’re still in our infancy as a tech ecosystem. The majority of startups here are still small and have less than 50 employees. This means most companies do not have large product, design and engineering teams. We have good, local talent graduating from our universities but we will continue to see that talent leaving to other cities until we have a larger mass of startups that are able to hire 20+ junior engineers each year, for example. The best product, design and engineering talent is simply not concentrated here right now. Luckily, we can absolutely attract this talent, but it is important that founders know this.

Who are key startup people you see creating success locally, whether investors, founders or even other types of startup ecosystem roles like lawyers, designers, growth experts, etc. 

A successful ecosystem is all about the founders, so it’s absolutely the founders who built startups here a few years ago and really took a bet on Miami that deserve special attention. They consciously chose to build here, believing in Miami, even when outside investors told them it wasn’t a great idea. Some of these Miami founders we’ve backed include Alex Nucci of Blanket, Chris Sopher, Rebekah Monson, and Bruce Pinchbeck of WhereBy.Us, Emiliano Abramzon and Felipe Sommers of Nearpod, Maxeme Tuchman of Caribu, and Jason Dettbarn of Addigy. We also have our eye on Emma Harris of Kiddo, Evan Leaphart of Kiddie Kredit, and Emil Hristov of Domaselo.

Kevin Cadette, executive director, Black Angels Miami

Where do you see Miami’s startup scene five years from now?

Miami will expand as an ecosystem for innovators, builders and investors as each community will experience rapid growth and greater interconnectivity. And, if I have a say in this matter, Black Angels Miami will be a critical foundational piece to this community. There are many angel investors that call Miami and South Florida home and that trend will continue on the back of general regional population growth. Black Angels Miami will continue to galvanize the opportunity for investors, educating those new to investing with our Black Angels U programing, in addition to creating opportunities to be Limited Partners in funds.
Miami is a very diverse city and there are many active organizations working to ensure that it remains diverse as the ecosystem grows. The groundwork for what Miami Tech is today has been laid for many years. The Knight Foundation has been at the forefront of supporting organizations in the ecosystem, and that infrastructure is bearing the fruits of today.

As I believe we are scratching the surface of tangible success stories coming out of Miami, I anticipate Miami to be nationally recognized in the next five years as one of the most important entrepreneurial metro regions in the country.

Remote work is pushing and pulling the global workforce. This means that offices will disappear from Miami, even with more companies moving in, but also more locals who work remotely for companies elsewhere. How do you see these factors impacting the city’s tech evolution?

Remote work will ignite our technology evolution that is already simmering. Miami’s designation as a city where people enjoy spending time will be a major boon for remote work. People want to be here! Offices may disappear, just as they are in all metro areas, but companies are also moving into Miami. Miami and South Florida have demonstrated that one can live and work here without compromise. With more large companies relocating, startups building and investors living in South Florida, I believe Miami’s startup scene will only become stronger.

What industry sectors do you focus on within Miami (and beyond)? What is happening in Miami now that you’re most excited to fund?

Black Angels Miami is sector agnostic, and we are looking for the best early-stage ventures with high growth potential in Miami and anywhere in America. I’m most excited about growth industries that have large total addressable markets that offer delightful solutions for companies and individuals globally.

What are some of the local challenges you’ve encountered or seen founders struggle with? More generally, how should people looking to hire in, invest in or relocate to Miami think about doing business in the city?

One of the local challenges here is its biggest opportunity: The tight-knit, collaborative nature of the city. Miami is a very collaborative community — send an email to someone here and you will get a reply, and will most likely steer you in the right direction. Everyone is trying to collaborate; it’s very much a rising tide for all. We all want to see success stories coming out of the community. However, if you are trying to build here, it can be difficult if you haven’t immersed yourself in the community. The one piece of advice I have to new arrivals would be to reach out to those already here. It is easy to be based here and carry on working virtually as you did before, but then you are missing out on exciting opportunities. The Miami ecosystem is very relationship-based and the doors are wide open.

Who are key startup people you see creating success locally, whether investors, founders or even other types of startup ecosystem roles like lawyers, designers, growth experts, etc. We’re trying to highlight the movers and shakers who outsiders might not know.

There are many “movers and shakers” in the ecosystem. I will just take this opportunity to thank the Knight Foundation for all that they’ve done to support Miami tech. Just take a look at who they have supported through the years, and you’ll see the foundation they have laid.

Mark Kingdon, founder, Quixotic Ventures

Where do you see Miami’s startup scene five years from now?

The city has attracted a wide range of people over the years, including more tech and finance companies very recently. How will it add up to something more than the sum of the parts? In five years, I believe we will have had more notable exits that show the world that Miami can produce major companies. Building an ecosystem takes time. Decades even. Investors, entrepreneurs, startup employees are attracted to Miami. Significant exits occur. Money is recycled into new startups. It’s a virtuous cycle. We’re at the early stages now.

Remote work is pushing and pulling the global workforce. This means that offices will disappear from Miami, even with more companies moving in, but also more locals who work remotely for companies elsewhere. How do you see these factors impacting the city’s tech evolution?

The trend for remote work is an important trend for Miami. It is already a major hub for Latin America that will increase substantially. Miami is an easy trip from NYC. I can see many NYC inhabitants moving south as I did but maintaining their connection to NYC as I did.

What industry sectors do you focus on within Miami (and beyond)? What is happening in Miami now that you’re most excited to fund?

I focus on e-commerce and e-commerce enablement. I have a narrow focus by design. I’m excited by founders with grit, determination, a great idea and ideally some traction. Sktchy has shown that grit and determination.

What are some of the local challenges you’ve encountered or seen founders struggle with? More generally, how should people looking to hire in, invest in or relocate to Miami think about doing business in the city?

Hiring today is a challenge. The candidate flow isn’t what you’d see in NYC. You can’t post a job on Friday and have 10 applicants on Monday. It takes longer here to recruit. That’s workable but only if founders identify needs early and understand there is a longer process to fill key roles.

Who are key startup people you see creating success locally, whether investors, founders or even other types of startup ecosystems roles like lawyers, designers, growth experts, etc. We’re trying to highlight the movers and shakers who outsiders might not know.

There are too many to name; that’s the fantastic thing about Miami. The community is super welcoming and always has time for new people; it’s wonderful and not something I’ve ever experienced before. A few of the people who helped me get started in Miami include: Nico Berardi, Juan Pablo Cappello, Melissa Krinzman, Matt Haggman, Raul Moas, and Jesse Stein. Miami Angels has been a great community to be part of — the board: me, Melissa Krinzman, Juan Pablo Cappello, Raul Moas, Nico Berardi, Tigre Wenrich, and Marco Giberti have invested in more than 50 Miami companies. Miami Angels has invested in three dozen more. In my opinion, Miami Angels has done a great deal to bring new investors into the ecosystem and to connect them with locals.

Ana González, head of partner funds, 500 Startups

Where do you see Miami’s startup scene five years from now?

There is a unique window of opportunity for Miami to position itself as a regional and even global hub for entrepreneurs. Miami can build on years of investment by public and private entities in the ecosystem, and shape the identity and brand that it wants to showcase to the world. The city can double down on its core strengths and identify new assets that will provide growth into the future. Miami has incredible access to a diverse pool of talent, is well positioned geographically, has a great quality of life and favorable tax policies. A number of industries also have a strong presence in the city and are growing at global scale, including healthcare, logistics and transportation, fintech, blockchain and crypto. New sectors that align with Miami’s future also include climate resiliency, smart cities and sustainability.

Remote work is pushing and pulling the global workforce. This means that offices will disappear from Miami, even with more companies moving in, but also more locals who work remotely for companies elsewhere. How do you see these factors impacting the city’s tech evolution?

The 2020 pandemic has only accelerated the trend that we’d begun to see in the previous years in which more and more, people are able to choose where to live independently of where their work is. Miami stands front and center in this movement. As people continue to realize the great quality of life that they can have in this city, they move here to settle down, or even better, to build things locally that enable them to stay. This in turn increases quality and density of talent, and feeds the positive feedback loop that makes Miami more and more attractive to live and work in. As the COVID-19 vaccine enables us to move toward in-person meetings and events again, we believe that we will all have to learn to live in a new hybrid model (mix of digital and in person) for building interpersonal relationships, doing business and living our lives overall. Miami can be a great innovator in this sense, just as it has already started innovating with novel outdoor theater productions that are safe and interesting to watch.

What industry sectors do you focus on within Miami (and beyond)? What is happening in Miami now that you’re most excited to fund?

At 500 Startups we accelerate and invest in tech-enabled, seed-stage startups that are coming up with novel solutions and building the industries of tomorrow. And we are sector agnostic. In Miami, we are excited to see the growth of certain industries such as fintech, healthcare, transportation and logistics. There are also contactless solutions being developed that will be especially relevant in the world post-COVID, in the security, travel and hospitality, and financial services industries.

What are some of the local challenges you’ve encountered or seen founders struggle with? More generally, how should people looking to hire in, invest in or relocate to Miami think about doing business in the city?

Founders in Miami generally struggle in accessing early-stage capital (anything from angel investing to seed to pre-Series A rounds), as well as finding good talent, especially in engineering, growth and product management roles. This is typical in the development of a new ecosystem. But for Miami, we are excited that this is changing quickly as more and more talent and capital funders are moving here now.

What is great about Miami is how connected it is with other ecosystems. The traditional connection has been with Latam, but now much more with the Bay Area, New York and Europe. So more and more companies are able to do business in Miami, but leverage the global network connected with the city to find the talent, capital and access to markets that you’re looking for.

Who are key startup people you see creating success locally, whether investors, founders or even other types of startup ecosystem roles like lawyers, designers, growth experts, etc. We’re trying to highlight the movers and shakers who outsiders might not know.

There are so many great people doing amazing work in Miami. What’s great is most people here seem to genuinely want to build something for all. I’d suggest as a starting point:
Maria Derchi (Refresh Miami), Matt Haggman (Beacon Council), Raul Moas (Knight Foundation), Rebecca Danta (Miami Angels), and Tigre Wenrich (The Lab Ventures).

Tom Wallace, managing partner, Florida Funders (Tampa)

Where do you see Miami’s startup scene five years from now?

Although there has been a lot of news about the growing tech community in Miami over the past several months, this plan of transforming Miami and Florida as a whole to a technology hub has been in the works for years. If you look at how technology ecosystems are built, it comes down to two things: talent and capital. The state of Florida has always had a lot of capital but unlike California and New York most of our wealth does not come from technology. What we have seen though is the rise and sale of some great unicorn companies here in Florida that has ultimately fueled the organic growth of the ecosystem. When unicorns liquidate many new millionaires are made and those millionaires are starting their own companies. Just like HP in Silicon Valley, Microsoft in Seattle and Dell in Austin, this is how technology ecosystems are built. So in five years, Miami and Florida as a whole will potentially be a leading technology ecosystem in the country.

Remote work is pushing and pulling the global workforce. This means that offices will disappear from Miami, even with more companies moving in, but also more locals who work remotely for companies elsewhere. How do you see these factors impacting the city’s tech evolution?

There’s no doubt we’re benefiting from the trend in remote work — historically, we’ve been working to build great companies here. We’ve never struggled proving that Miami is an amazing place to spend time. With the shift toward remote work, we’re accelerating the trend of smart people moving here to work for companies that may not be based here, but moving forward, they’ll start or join companies that are local.

I also don’t believe that offices will be completely eliminated. If you look at the companies moving to Miami and Florida (like Blackstone and Goldman Sachs) they’re setting up sizable footprints. Offices will change forever and people will continue to have the ability to work from home for many companies, but there will always be an in-person element of work that cannot be replaced by Zoom. I especially think this is true in early-stage technology companies. For great conversation and innovation nothing beats being in a room with your entire team working through problems on the whiteboard.

What industry sectors do you focus on within Miami (and beyond)? What is happening in Miami now that you’re most excited to fund?

Being the gateway to Latin America has a massive appeal to me and us here at Florida Funders. The Latin American technology market is still in a very early stage, and Miami is where Latam companies jump into the U.S. and vice versa. Logistics and microlending platforms are a major interest. The secondary sector I am beginning to get serious about is fintech. With major players such as Goldman and Blackstone setting up operations in Miami there will be innovative fintech companies that follow in their footsteps.

What are some of the local challenges you’ve encountered or seen founders struggle with? More generally, how should people looking to hire in, invest in or relocate to Miami think about doing business in the city?

Talent, specifically tech development talent has always been a struggle in the state of Florida. We are now seeing, with the rise of remote working, better talent than ever before. But we still have a long way to go. Ecosystems like Boston, Silicon Valley, and even my home town of Pittsburgh have world-class institutions pumping out great tech talent. We do not have that yet here in Florida although the University of Florida and Florida Polytechnic Institute are trying to bridge the talent gap with some great new educational initiatives.

Who are key startup people you see creating success locally, whether investors, founders or even other types of startup ecosystems roles like lawyers, designers, growth experts, etc. We’re trying to highlight the movers and shakers who outsiders might not know.

I would like to say Florida Funders is really moving the needle on the capital side in Florida. In Miami, there are some amazing physical locations that have become startup hubs such as the CIC or now the new Mana Development. Also, I know our attorneys at Greenberg Traurig, especially partner Jaret Davis, are making large strides to support the community and have been for years.

Miami has long been a refuge for those escaping the cold or Latin American countries in political and economic turmoil. But, in 2020, it welcomed investors, founders and others in tech leaving San Francisco and New York City, partly propelled by the pandemic, seeking a welcoming government, lower taxes, a decent climate, less expensive housing, a dynamic lifestyle and the type of diversity that’s proven to help companies thrive.

Investors are bullish on Miami, TechCrunch found. In a survey with eight local investors, they point out the strengths and opportunities of the growing market.

Moving the needle, Marcelo Claure, CEO of SoftBank and long-time Miami advocate, announced a $100 million fund dedicated solely to startups based in Miami or those planning on moving here.

“Miami is quickly evolving to accommodate increasing demand as it becomes a growing startup destination. From emerging ‘elder tech’ to biotech, Miami is an attractive investment market that offers unique opportunities for immigrants and minorities to pursue entrepreneurship opportunities,” Claure told TechCrunch just before making the funding announcement.

Claure knows the potential of Miami tech firsthand. In 1997 he founded Brightstar, a global wireless company. In 2013, SoftBank purchased a majority stake in the company for a cool $1.26 billion. His brother Martin is a tech entrepreneur too, and currently the founder and CEO of Aprende Institute, a Miami-based Spanish language skills retraining startup.

Miami has served Claure well, so it’s no surprise he and SoftBank believe so vehemently in the region.

“At SoftBank, we invest in technology-focused companies in various sectors — from fintech, to agritech, to education,” Claure said. “[SoftBank] invests in the entrepreneurs and companies that are leading the digital transformation of these sectors. Over the last year, we’ve recognized a dramatic shift in where these entrepreneurs call home. For years it was mainly Silicon Valley and New York City — today, it’s also Austin, Dallas and (of course) Miami. Due largely to the tireless efforts of Mayor Suarez, Miami has been positioned at the forefront of innovation and the tech industry.

“Many of the businesses we’re seeing pop-up in Miami are natural fits for what we’re looking to invest in,” Claure said. “Through our Latam Fund, we invest in companies focused on the Latin American region. In an effort to address the long-standing diversity and inclusion issues within the VC community, we also launched a $100 million Opportunity Fund, focusing on companies founded by Black, Latino and Native American entrepreneurs. So far, we’ve evaluated over 700 companies and have made ~20 investments totaling $20 million. These investments span multiple sectors (healthcare, SaaS, fintech, gaming and more) — sectors we’ve seen growing in Miami.”

2020

In 2020, Miami saw about $1.9 billion pour into the region, up 21x from 2010, which brought in about $89.5 million, according to Crunchbase data. While 2020 was a great year and with some standout deals: REEF Technologies raised $700 million, ShipMonk drew in $290 million, and Magic Leap brought in another $350 million, it didn’t quite beat 2019’s record-breaking $2.39 billion that flowed into South Florida-based startups. While in 2010, only 12 companies in Miami raised outside funds, by 2020, we saw that number jump to 70, signaling a healthy amount of tech entrepreneurship in the area.

While the pandemic and remote work may have jolted the first movers, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez’s off-the-cuff response to a tweet suggesting Silicon Valley be relocated to Miami seemed to get the flywheel going. “How can I help?” he put out into the universe. And the universe responded with a flurry of inquiries about tech life in Miami.

Refresh Miami, the largest tech nonprofit in the state boasting 11,000 members, spent the holidays putting together a “New To Miami Guide,” which aims to answer everything from “Where should my kids go to school in Miami?” to “What are some of the best co-working spaces?”

Some new residents might be testing the waters while living the nomadic life, but many others have bought property, set up shop and started the recruiting process — both for their next startup but also to ensure their friends are here, too.

Miami’s recent story can’t be told without the inclusion of Keith Rabois, a partner at Founders Fund and a member of the PayPal mafia who flagrantly left San Francisco. Rabois made an equally notable splash in Miami with the purchase of a $29 million Miami Beach mansion that includes a saltwater aquarium so big it requires a scuba diver to maintain. Since moving to Miami, he has become one of the most vocal and ardent recruiters for Miami tech’s future. He cryptically announced on Twitter that he’s started a Miami-based company and is hiring, though he hasn’t publicly disclosed what the company does or will do.

Other big names include the finance heavyweight Blackstone, who recently announced their new office in Miami, providing 215 tech jobs. They’ve already signed on some local talent, according to a source. Then, of course, there’s Plug and Play, the Silicon Valley global innovation platform and investor who announced last week it will be opening a location downtown. But some other VCs who have recently relocated are doing what great VCs do best: seizing on an early opportunity that not quite everyone believes in yet. Those include Jon Oringer of Shutterstock, David Blumberg of Blumberg Capital, Chris Dixon of Andreessen Horowitz, David Goldberg of Alpaca, whose portfolio includes ClassPass and ClassWallet, Maya Baratz Jordan of FFNY, Alexandra Wilkis Wilson, known for co-founding both Gilt and Glamsquad, and Laura González-Estéfani, a Facebook vet who moved here four years ago to open The Venture City, an accelerator and venture fund with a Miami HQ, but that also has offices in San Francisco and Madrid.

Why Miami

The pandemic has pushed many to rethink what they want out of life. And is work, an exorbitantly priced microapartment and poor governance enough?

Miami is international, diverse and multilingual, with English and Spanish being the dominant languages within the business sectors. Many are attracted to the city’s cosmopolitan style and sophisticated art and culture scene, culminating with Art Basel Miami Beach every December. You can find virtually every major restaurant from New York to London here, but the Miami locations usually include ample outdoor seating. The architecture is second to none, with buildings by the famed Zaha Hadid, Arquitectonica and landscaping by Raymond Jungles. While the Broadway play “Hamilton” was doubly sold out in New York City and London, you could catch the show for a fraction of the price at the Adrienne Arsht Center. Some people I know went twice.

Many say Miami — and any other coastal city — is best experienced from the water. Well, don’t let the fact that your custom-built megayacht hasn’t arrived yet stop you from getting that glowing tan. Miami-based Boatsetter, a startup that lets people rent other peoples’ boats, has a fleet waiting for you. Or perhaps you’d rather go for a meditative paddle on Biscayne Bay; you could use PADL, the recently launched Miami startup that aims to be the paddleboarding industry’s Lime.

Miami has always had fun and games. Still, in 2013, Manny Medina, one of Miami’s early tech entrepreneurs with a successful exit (he sold real-estate-turned-data center Terremark to Verizon for $1.4 billion in 2012), launched eMerge Americas, an annual tech conference. It unofficially established Miami as a tech hub that connects the Americas. By 2019, the event attracted more than 16,000 attendees from 400 participating companies and more than 40 countries. With a world-class airport within 15 minutes of the city center, few other cities can compete with Miami’s strategic geographic location and easy access. But the question remains: Can Miami become another great tech hub?

It’s certainly headed in the right direction, and some investors are bullish on the market while others, who are more cautious, think it’s too soon to say.

Miami’s hot sectors include healthcare, proptech, fintech, elder tech, logistics and edtech. Exits to know include Chewy (whose $3.35 billion exit in 2017 resulted in the largest e-commerce sale to date), the well-funded YellowPepper acquisition by Visa (terms not disclosed), and 2020’s darlings include Ascyrus Medical, which went for $200 million and CareCloud for $32 million.

Those still on the runway include Nearpod, Magic Leap, Ultimate Software, ShipMonk, CarePredict, MDLIVE, Papa, Caribu, Brave Health and REEF, among others. Then, there’s the new kids on the block, such as UpsideHōm, HealthSnap, Domaselo, Secberus, Marco Financial, Birdie, Kiddie Kredit, ConciergePad and Sustalytics.

Miami has long been known as a wealthy enclave bursting at the seams with money. Still, historically, that money has gone into safer and more traditional investments such as real estate. The notion of writing a $100,000 check for an idea and then forgetting about it is still very rare. Many local investors tend to be slower to move and often still prefer the round being led by an outsider who has experience vetting deals, a common complaint by local founders who find themselves seeking funding across the country. But with more VC money in town now, smart capital should be more accessible.

That being said, one of the main things the area has going for it, and which can’t be replicated, is its people and their propensity to build, grow and welcome others. “The community is super welcoming and always has time for new people; it’s wonderful and not something I’ve ever experienced before,” said Mark Kingdon of Quixotic Ventures. Organizations that have catalyzed the movement over the years include the Knight Foundation, Endeavor, Miami Angels (Florida’s largest angel investment collective), Refresh Miami (an organization that provides startup news, events and creates community), Venture Cafe (a weekly gathering with educational programming for innovators), 500 Startups and The Venture City.

While Miami’s diversity is as ingrained in the culture as the cafecito breaks, the local tech community has been, and continues to be, adamant about putting diversity, inclusion and gender equity at the forefront of Miami tech. In a recent Miami Tech Manifesto, drafted up by community members themselves, Miami tech told the world how things would continue to work around here. Women may not run the world yet — it’s debatable — but it’s fair to say they run Miami tech, and they are bringing everyone else with them.

Miami tech is in a nascent phase to the outside world, and it allows the locals and newcomers to learn from major tech hubs’ mistakes and decidedly do things differently. For many, the dream is that Miami comes to enjoy the economic prosperity of places like San Francisco and New York City while maintaining the current tech community’s focus on building a Miami for all.

Alloy Automation, a startup that was part of the Y Combinator Winter 2020 cohort, announced today that it has closed $5 million across two rounds, the most recent of which brought $4 million to the company in October of 2020.

The new funds were raised at a $16 million pre-money, $20 million post-money valuation, Alloy told TechCrunch.

The company’s latest fundraising was led by Bain Capital Ventures and Abstract, with participation from Color Capital, BoxGroup and a collection of individual investors, including Shippo’s Laura Behrens Wu.

TechCrunch spoke with co-founders Sara Du, CEO, and Gregg Mojicam, CTO, about the round, their market and their experience in Y Combinator.

Du, a Harvard dropout, and Mojicam, who skipped college altogether, met after the former emailed the latter about speaking at an open-source conference. The event didn’t end up happening, but the pair stayed in touch. Du wound up running a small streetwear store, interested in automation and app-connecting tools like Zapier, which she found to be too simple, and MuleSoft, which she described as very expensive. Out of a desire for something in between that would let her connect apps, Alloy Automation was eventually born.

After a launch on Product Hunt in 2019 offering “complex automation made easy, and with no code,” Bryant Chou, a founder at WebFlow, put money into the company. Alloy was looking to build prosumer automation tooling and now it had material backing.

The startup then went through Y Combinator the next year, sharpened its focus to the e-commerce market and, as it has just announced, attracted millions more from a cadre of investors.

The shift to focus on e-commerce from a broader toolset came from customer pull, the co-founders said. After starting out with a number of integrations for Twilio, HubSpot and other services, the team, toward the end of their time in Y Combinator, noticed places in the e-commerce world into which their product fit neatly. Alloy’s tech was being used by Shopify and BigCommerce customers, helping make e-commerce a fertile area for the company, its co-founders said.

Alloy’s tech helps e-commerce players link services to help automate their shipping, marketing, analytics and other tasks. One example that Du provided TechCrunch was customers using Alloy to connect SMS functionality to fulfillment tools. Doing so might allow small e-commerce companies to automatically text customers when their order ships, for example.

During Y Combinator, the pair said that they might have been the youngest set of founders in their batch. But despite being what they described as not the hottest company in the batch, they skipped the accelerator’s well-known demo day, having already raised capital.

Du said that it’s not generally encouraged to skip demo day. But as Alloy has gone on to raise even more capital, the decision seems to have worked out for the company. The founders also cited a desire to stay in stealth as part of their reasoning for skipping the investor confab, telling TechCrunch that they wanted to stay quiet and build until they “really [had] something.”

Alloy’s $4 million round came from a relationship that started when the startup had shown off its tech on Product Hunt. Bain had contacted the startup then, stayed in touch, and later did due diligence on it by talking about Alloy with e-commerce startups in its own portfolio.

Why $4 million? Per its founders, Alloy had barely dug into its original $1 million round when it raised more, but as the pair want to build out their go-to-market efforts, the capital made sense.

The founders said they intend to raise a Series A for Alloy, but that their current capital could float them for two or three years; their startup is a COVID baby, they joked, and after having some investors pull out of their pre-seed round, Alloy is conservative with its capital.

Finally, let’s talk growth. Per the pair, Q4 2020 was good for Alloy. That’s not surprising, as they serve e-commerce companies, firms that love holiday-boosted fourth-quarters. The founders told TechCrunch that during the fourth quarter, their in-house Slack channel set up to note payments, signups and other positive occurrences went off chronically.

The team today is the co-founders, three engineers, a designer and a marketer, spread across four time zones, with workers in America, India and the Philippines. Alloy intends to hire sales staff, new engineers and a customer success denizen.

Alloy’s software costs from $200 to $1,000 per month or more, depending on need. Let’s see how far it can scale on its new capital base.

As the COVID-19 era drags on, first-time founders need to find new ways to raise capital needed to keep startups offensive (and defense). Luckily, a trio of investors from top venture capital firms are joining us at TC Sessions: Justice on March 3 to make sense of different paths to funding.

The panel will include Sydney Thomas, a principal at Precursor, Brian Brackeen, a general partner at Lightship Capital, and Dr. Astrid J. Scholz, the founder and managing partner of Sphaera and the founding director of Zebras Unite.

We’ll ask about how these decision-makers advise founders to navigate the fundraising process, but with a twist. In this session, we’ll focus on the different, non-traditional paths one can take to getting their first checks. After all, not everyone has wealthy family and friends to milk $2 million out of on demand.

Brackeen’s Lightship Capital is a Cincinnati-based VC firm that manages a $50 million fund dedicated to backing underrepresented founders. Brackeen himself has worked a lot in the artificial intelligence space, with a focus on face recognition technologies. His work exposed early dangers of algorithmic ethnic bias and racial bias in data sets.

Meanwhile, Dr. Astrid J. Scholz similarly wears many hats. She is the founder and managing partner of Sphaera, a system design and technology firm dedicated to co-creating infrastructure that helps data and capital solve big problems. Astrid is also the founding director and treasurer of the XXcelerate Fund, an Oregon-based revolving loan fund and mentorship program created for and by women entrepreneurs. Finally, Astrid is the founding director and treasurer of Zebras Unite, a community of investors and founders that are committed to creating an ethical, inclusive and sustainable approach to creating a business. The capital arm of Zebras Unite uses non-traditional funding mechanisms to help companies secure financing.

Finally, Thomas is a check writer at Precursor Ventures, a firm dedicated to backing pre-seed companies that are working on products for the masses. Thomas also created a podcast, Be About It, where she profiles fascinating companies. Beyond this, you can find Thomas leading a variety of efforts and communities dedicated to early-stage founders, from Invanti, a startup generator in the midwest, to The Interrupters, a list that highlights investors committed to backing Black and LatinX founders.

They each have a lot going on, which means that the panel is going to be good fun and a healthy bit of debate between the changing macro environment in startup fundraising.

Be sure to snag your tickets for TC Sessions: Justice here for just $5.