Entrepreneurs bringing expertise innovation to Florida’s profitable actual property market have been the massive winners within the twenty fourth annual Miami Herald Startup Pitch Competitors.
Lien Library, an internet platform for homebuyers and sellers to seek out property liens earlier than closing on a house sale contract, gained the overall group monitor of early-stage firm individuals based mostly in South Florida. Macduer “Mac” Alabre began the agency.
In the meantime, Tennts, which makes property administration software program, topped the Florida Worldwide College monitor for college college students, school and alumni. Yari Carrizo, Daniel Detoni, Erick Sasse and Felipe Hufstatter launched the corporate.
The founders of Lien Library and Tennts, together with two runnersup every from the group and FIU classes, have been honored Friday night in an awards ceremony at FIU enterprise faculty’s particular occasions heart. The Herald’s startup pitch contest is the area’s oldest entrepreneurship problem.
The 2023 winners emerged from a subject of fifty entrants from Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Seashore counties, who have been narrowed to 10 finalists every within the two tracks. The finalists pitched their respective enterprise plans to professional panels of judges Friday at FIU, previous to the awards ceremony.
The Miami chapter of Endeavor, a worldwide enterprise mentoring group, managed the group monitor for the Herald, teaching the class finalists and coordinating the collection of judges that noticed the shows on the pitchathon.
FIU, a longtime Herald associate within the contest, dealt with the college’s monitor, together with choosing a separate panel of judges. No Herald journalists or executives have been concerned in judging the entrepreneurs’ enterprise pitches or choosing the winners.
“As a property supervisor in Miami for about seven years now, I’ve felt the pains and I needed to make one thing that might assist different property managers and different landlords have a clean operation,” stated Tennts’ co-founder Carrizo, in a fireplace dialog on stage throughout the awards ceremony with Miami Herald Enterprise Editor Paul Bomberger, after her firm was introduced high winner of the FIU monitor.
Alabre, Lien Library’s CEO and founder, who joined Carrizo within the winners’ fireplace chat, revved up the viewers of about 100 folks by saluting his enterprise mentor Bob Nelson, co-founder of the nonprofit Enterprise Mentoring Group in Miami, and providing an inspirational message.
“I hope I can encourage different folks that appear to be me or individuals who simply need to take an opportunity on themselves,” stated Alabre, who’s Black and a Haiti native. “As soon as you’re taking an opportunity on your self, there are different people who find themselves going to wager on you.”
Founders of the 2 runnersup startups in every contest division additionally have been acknowledged on the awards ceremony. This was the primary time the competitors and awards showcase have been held in particular person, because the coronavirus pandemic emerged in spring 2020.
▪ Locally monitor, Nala, the creator of a software-as-a-service platform that helps company executives handle expertise retention, took second place. EVQLV, a agency utilizing synthetic intelligence to enhance antibody discovery and improvement for biopharmaceutical corporations, gained third place.
▪ Within the FIU division, Charitable Donations, operator of a digital platform for donors, nonprofits and companies, completed in second place. FitLove, developer of an app to attach health fanatics and assist them construct relationships as a exercise buddy or one thing romantic, took third place.
Friday’s awards ceremony kicked off with remarks from Alex Mena, the Miami Herald’s interim govt editor and a graduate of FIU. He was adopted by George M. Marakas, FIU’s affiliate dean for analysis and a enterprise professor, who delivered an uplifting message concerning the startup pitch competitors and entrepreneurialism. Bomberger, the Herald’s enterprise editor, introduced the six winners, introduced them with trophies and led the hearth chats with the highest winners and some of the judges from the 2 tracks.
Victors of the Herald’s 2022 startup competitors — Boxie’s Lemay Sanchez, FIU monitor winner, and Storybook’s Francisco Cornejo, winner of the group monitor — additionally spoke briefly, updating the enterprise development their respective corporations made final yr.
Completed Miami banking and communications govt Aida Levitan, not too long ago retired chair of the board of U.S. Century Financial institution, was among the many Herald’s particular visitors on the awards ceremony.
Johanna Mikkola, one of many group monitor judges and vice chairman of the coding and laptop tech coaching faculty BrainStation Miami, stated throughout a fireplace chat within the awards ceremony that she’s been personally pitching or judging startup pitch competitions for a decade.
Evaluating the lackluster shows she recalled listening to 10 years in the past, to the startup pitches she heard Friday on the Herald’s competitors, Mikkola stated, “Now, everyone was flawless. It was wonderful, actually inspiring.”
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