#MiamiTech: Locking in the Gains and Leveling Up

Leveling up our talent pipeline by investing in the cornerstone educational institutions of our city represents one of the most effective ways to cement the gains Miami's tech community has made over the past year.

For the better part of the past ten years, Knight Foundation’s community program in Miami has focused on positioning entrepreneurship, technology and innovation to play a more central role in our city’s growth. Our work was born from community — from entrepreneurs who aspired to build their companies right here in the 305. From the beginning, the foundation has sought to connect and support an ecosystem of entrepreneurs and venture builders with the ultimate aim of attracting and retaining competitive talent and improving access to opportunity for the broader community. To date, we've invested more than $55 million in this work. 

Since embarking on this path just eight years ago, Miami’s startup community has grown by leaps and bounds. Venture capital flowing to the region has steadily increased, growing from $600M in 2013 to $2.3B in 2020. Companies like Terremark, MAKO, Chewy and Nearpod have found great success, which in turn has given rise to new companies — Cyxtera, Magic Leap and Neocis, among others.

And in the past year, an incredible wave of new entrepreneurs and investors have make Miami home. Fast growing companies like Pipe, EightSleep and Cameo, and investors like Founders Fund, Atomic and General Catalyst have put a stake in the ground. In short, the grassroots of Miami tech are healthy, green shoots are coming up organically and more folks are recognizing Miami’s potential as a place to launch and grow tech ventures.

With this growth has come increased demand — from both companies who need more skilled talent to power their rise and from Miamians, who seek to participate in the city's tech and innovation economy.

In February, Knight Foundation announced $15 million in new funding toward Miami's tech community focused on leveling up the institutions that develop tech talent. These investments in the Knight Foundation School of Computing and Information Sciences at Florida International University, the Institute for Data Science and Computing at University of Miami, and the Knight Fellowship for Healthcare Technology Innovation at Baptist Health are a natural evolution of our work here in Miami in response to this growing demand from all sectors of our community. 

Leveling up our talent pipeline by investing in the cornerstone educational institutions of our city represents one of the most effective way to cement the gains Miami tech has made over the past year. People are what drive innovation. Be it entrepreneurs, folks deep in the tech stack, growth teams or other venture builders, it all comes down to people. Now is the time to accelerate what is already growing, to further the momentum behind #MiamiTech.

Miami is uniquely positioned to take advantage of this moment. Experience has shown that investing in the energy, innovation and drive of the people of this city is a smart bet. 

Onward.