South Florida Tech HubSouth Florida Tech Hub

By Nikki Cabus

Did you know? History & Future of Tech in South Florida started in Boca Raton.

Read Time 10 Minutes

From Miami Beach to Palm Beach, South Florida is becoming one of the best-known tech hub’s across the country. 

Many cities throughout the state of Florida — now the fastest-growing state in the nation — have been announced as up-and-coming tech hubs. South Florida Tech Hub recently celebrated the birth of the tech scene in South Florida and our region’s continued innovation at the “History & Future of Tech in South Florida” event held at the Boca Raton Innovation Campus. 

Guests at the event enjoyed a blast from the past as we explored the era of IBM’s first PC, the ground-breaking research being done, and the thousands of patents and inventions still driving technology today. We heard from some of the original OGs of South Florida tech and former IBM employees – where they went, what they built, and where they are now.

ABOUT THE VENUE

South Florida holds a major piece of tech history right in the heart of Boca Raton. Designed by iconic architect Marcel Breuer, the Boca Raton Innovation Campus, or “BRIC,” was IBM’s North American Research and Development facility in the 1960s.

BRIC is home to the invention of the first personal computer. IBM’s own PC (IBM 5150) was introduced in August 1981, only a year after corporate executives gave the go-ahead to Bill Lowe, the lab director in the company’s Boca Raton facilities. He set up a task force that developed the proposal for the first IBM PC.

As home to the invention of their first personal computer, one might argue that the future of tech in South Florida began here!

The office park has been significantly upgraded since Crocker Partners acquired the property in 2018.What began as an outpost for IBM’s R&D and became the birthplace of the PC is now a state-of-the-art office park that is a magnet for forward thinkers in technology and life sciences. There is a growing roster of entrepreneurs, visionaries and global enterprises who have chosen BRIC as their stomping grounds.

Today, at 1.7 million square feet, BRIC is the largest single-office facility in the state of Florida. BRiC consists of three interconnected facilities located on 123-acres of beautifully maintained land with a lake situated in the center of the property, offering supreme office views and walking paths. CP Group, formerly known as Crocker Partners, has a massive vision of building off its innovative past and evolving the campus into the premier technology and life sciences hub in the Southeast.

Among the future featured amenities, there will be a Science Technology Engineering Art and Technology (STEAM) lab and coworking space, presentation hall that seats up to 1,000 to host science and technology trade shows, TedX events, coding camps and community events, a wellness center, including on-site salon, medical center and massage therapy and so much more. The renovations and construction have already begun. 

Oh, and BRIC is also home to the longest hallway in America coming in at 907 feet. For comparison, the Statue of Liberty is 305 feet tall, the Gateway Arch is 630 feet and the Golden Gate Bridge stands at 746 feet in height.

 

ABOUT THE KEYNOTE

The event started with a special keynote by Dr. Dave Bradley, or “Dr. Dave,” one of the twelve engineers who worked on the original IBM PC. He is famously known for developing the computer’s ROM BIOS code and for implementing the “Control-Alt-Delete” key combination used to reboot the computer. In his speech, he shared insights on early IBM marketing, the release of the first personal computer, working with Bill Gates, and other significant inventions.

Although internationally know for being the inventor of CTRL-ALT-DELETE, he doesn’t think this is his biggest contribution to to computing history. He’s proud that he created something became so popular, but knows that this is minimal to some of the other development work having been done in IBMs early days.

Bradley described the time that he helped with a sales pitch to the Rose Hulman Institute of Technology, aiming to convince them to use personal computers as part of their instruction. They showed a demo program allowing the user to pick a song, which is then played on the two-and-a-quarter-inch speaker. However, there were 30 people in the room. They came up with the idea to plug in a guitar amplifier into the cassette cord. Then, no matter what song the user chooses, The Stars and Stripes Forever is played. They made the sale.

During testing of the IBM PC, Bradley frequently had to power the computer off, wait a few seconds, and turn it back on. As a result, he decided to make a shortcut: CTRL + ALT + DELETE. This was never supposed to be used in production, but then the publications team found out about it. They were trying to tell people how to start up a program, and they found the answer with the keyboard shortcut. It took Bradley five minutes to create and has since become an essential element of the user experience and even a “cultural icon”.

After the success of the IBM PC, thousands of IBM employees started working on the PS/2 family of products in Boca Raton. They took up so much office space, and even expanded into the Boca Raton mall where a department store went out of business. Bradley remarked that IBM filled all of Boca Raton in order to get the PC developed.

 

 

PANEL DISCUSSIONS

The evening’s agenda featured two panel discussions focused on the history and future of South Florida’s tech ecosystem and featured some of the trailblazers of modern technology.

The goal of the event was to educate the community about South Florida’s history in tech and innovation, honor some of the former IBMers who made huge strides back in the 80s, 90s and 2000s allowing the rest of the tech community to flourish today, and showcase what many of these technology leaders are doing currently.

Many people have no idea the original IBM PC was even born in South Florida, the fact that the company has thousands of patents that a huge percentage of current tech companies use, or that these tech professionals didn’t just stop innovating after they left IBM.

IBM patents range from the ATM to e-commerce, speech recognition technology, two-nanometer chips, the UPC bar code, Lasik laser eye surgery technology, screen rotation technology, “siesta” or sleep mode on the computer screen (Pete Martinez), quantum computing and so much more!

Now, the future of IBM is cloud, AI and quantum computing.

 

 

PANEL: History of Tech

The history of technology panel discussion was moderated by Pete Martinez, former IBM executive and founder of Sivotec and RaiseLink. Panelists included Chris Fleck, a former IBM executive and Vice President and Tech Fellow at Citrix, Maria Hernandez, a former Chief Innovation Officer-LATAM at IBM and CEO of InnoGuia, and Nick Savage, a former Senior NLS Developer at IBM, entrepreneur, and Digital Inclusion Director at CPSF. Each speaker transformed from working at IBM to executive roles or founding their own companies.

Each former IBM employee shared stories of their experiences at IBM, the culture around innovation they created, and some of the forward-thinking projects they were a part of at the time.

  • Hernandez was a developer on IBM’s airline reservation system in 1985, which, believe it or not, is still in use as a main system today. She also served as the technical assistant to the senior vice president of research. Her job was to help take research projects to the market faster. Hernandez helped train the voice control in cars’ natural language processing algorithm. She worked with Modernizing Medicine to introduce IBM Watson and AI to the healthcare industry.
  • Savage was a Senior Systems Engineer & Product Manager helping to develop the disk operating system (DOS) and modernize the keyboard into a software app. Savage remarked that he knew he was at the forefront of something great. He helped design SQL (Structured Query Language), and all the products building off of the operating system. Savage was in biweekly meetings with Bill Gates, Steven Ballmer, and Paul Allen. Savage was asked to escort the IBM Personal Computer AT to its announcement in New York. The AT computers took up three first-class seats.
  • Fleck was a Business Unit Executive at IBM, working on mainframe manufacturing. Fleck turned a lot of IBM technology into commercial offerings, such as IBM branded robots and industrial computers.
  • Martinez described his department in IBM working long hours on the original PCs and being given special permission from IBM to break the rules, to not conform to the old standard of five years of product development and three years of testing. They became a favorite of the company, which came with respect, but also responsibility. Failure was not an option. Martinez used the RISC chip (reduced instruction set computing), which was very fast, allowing a PC to act like a supercomputer. He and his team worked with the Center for Missing and Exploited Children to do the age progression of children who had been missing for years. This process would take around two weeks for a skilled agent to do manually, but the IBM team reduced this to about an hour. This led to an increase from a 46% to a 78% recovery rate in a year.

PANEL: Future of Tech

The future of technology panel was moderated by Nikki Cabus, CEO of South Florida Tech Hub. Panelists included Pete Martinez (above) , Vanessa Michelini, a former Distinguished Engineer and Chief Technologist at IBM and Senior Director of Engineering at Natera, Mark Smith, a former VP and Senior Partner at IBM and President of OZ Digital Consulting, and Ania Rodriguez, a former UX Consultant at IBM and CEO of JourneyTrack.

Panelists discussed the biggest contributions of South Florida’s tech industry, the largest enterprises, the coolest startups, and companies that made an impact in the industry.

  • After working at IBM, Martinez decided to dedicate his next stage in life to improving the human condition, primarily in health and education. He created a number of companies, primarily in the AI space, starting with biotech and genomics. Martinez also co-founded a fintech company called RaiseLink, which uses a matching engine to link investors with startup opportunities, supported by AI technology.
  • Michelini worked on applying speech recognition technology to the industry at IBM before moving on to the genomics space. She worked on a project called Watson Genomics, which focused on using artificial intelligence and data analytics to interpret genomics in clinical oncology. Michelini fell in love with the mission of helping people through the combination of biology and technology. She joined Natera, a company dedicated to using genomics to interpret oncology, prenatal care, and organ transplants, after leaving IBM.
  • Rodriguez started at IBM in 2000, where she worked on building user experience and front-end interfaces, which she excelled at, particularly in accounts that were struggling with their technology. She also mentioned being part of a program for top ten women at IBM, which allowed her to meet many influential people. Rodriguez started her own consulting firm, which ended up being one of South Florida’s top women-led businesses. Rodriguez’s firm works with Fortune 500 companies to help optimize their digital transformations by focusing on the strategy behind it, rather than the design. Rodriguez also shared her recent successful venture into SaaS (Software as a service) product creation. However, she has had some difficulties with fundraising, particularly as a woman in the industry.
  • Smith worked in the management consulting group at IBM and focused on digital transformation, using artificial intelligence. He also worked on commercializing Watson’s natural language processing capabilities to help clients digitize unstructured data in the insurance industry. The main struggle was to attain trust in the data and algorithm. Now with OZ Digital Consulting (the food sponsor of the evening!), Smith works with startups to help them leverage emerging technologies and solve business gaps. Smith believes that startups are often at the forefront of innovation and offer valuable insights on how to use emerging technologies.

For almost 30 years, IBM led the United States in producing patents and in its pinnacle year filing over 10,000 US patent applications just that year. That’s more than any other tech company including companies like Google, Apple and Microsoft. These patents generate around $3 billion per year. They do not need to build products anymore, instead, they license them. Therefore, IBM technology is used extensively behind the scenes.

That all changed in 2022 – the first time since 1993 that IBM didn’t claim the top spot on the list of companies with the most U.S. patents. That was completely intentional though. IBM decided that they no longer aimed to be the leader in patent creation, but in innovations in hybrid cloud, artificial intelligence and quantum computing. IBM has been opening collaborating with competitors in an effort to further innovation. IBM has re-focused.

OUR EVENT PARTNERS

The Boca Raton Historical Society Martinez made a patent called siesta mode, which turns off the monitor when it is not used for a period of time. exhibited a working original IBM personal computer at the event which was a treat for our younger attendees who probably hadn’t seen one in real life. It sure captured some of their attention.

 

Brian Callanan from Callanan Financial Advisors opened with a sponsor message telling his story of “1995’s spring break capitol of the world” in Ft. Lauderdale as a college student to relocating back to South Florida years later during a time when the internet and technology industry was rapidly evolving, with companies like Microsoft, Craigslist, Match.com, Amazon, and eBay emerging as major players. Only 12 million people, or 3% of Americans, had logged onto the World Wide Web at that time.

Callanan initially sold telephone systems, voicemail, and data networks before getting involved in the technology community. He was introduced to an organization by a direct competitor and began attending meetings with a small group of like-minded individuals to stay on top of the latest developments. As the group grew in size and influence, Callanan became increasingly involved in regional technology initiatives, eventually serving as president of the South Florida Telecom Forum which was later acquired by SFTA and then by South Florida Tech Hub.

Callanan shared some insights on the current market trends for platform acquisitions. Private equity firms are the main financiers in this space and are actively seeking businesses in the tech and skilled labor sectors. Callanan emphasized the importance of having scalable, bankable profits and transferable value for companies to be considered exit-ready. He also mentioned the importance of effective communication among professionals to avoid costly mistakes. In addition, Callanan encouraged a regional approach to promoting South Florida’s tech ecosystem applauding the work of South Florida Tech Hug, highlighting the potential benefits for all businesses in the area.

The event was a great success, and attendees had the opportunity to learn about the journey of South Florida’s tech industry, its pioneers, and its future. Thank you to our sponsors and partners: Callanan Financial Advisors, OZ Digital Consulting, Boca Raton Innovation Campus, The Boca Raton Historical Society, Dr. Dave and all our panelists.

See event photos here. 📸

To stay updated with future events, tech news and startup resources, make sure to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

 

This article was written in collaboration between South Florida Tech Hub and Tech Hub volunteer, Adam Elitzur. To read his full article, click here.

By Nikki Cabus

CAST AI Receives $20M in New Funding Led by Early-Stage VC Creandum

Read Time 3 Minutes

The intelligent cloud-native automation and cost management startup, CAST AI, has announced the closing of a $20M investment round.

The investment round was led by Creandum, an early-stage venture capital investment firm behind companies like Spotify, neo4j, and Klarna. Creandum invested $15M, joining CAST AI’s original lineup of investors which injected an additional $5M, signaling renewed enthusiasm for advanced AI-driven cloud cost optimization solutions.

Founded in 2003, Creandum is a leading pan-European early-stage venture capital firm whose portfolio of 120+ companies includes some of Europe’s most successful tech companies across a wide range of industries. Today, every sixth company is a unicorn. Creandum’s advisory teams are based in Stockholm, Berlin, London, and San Francisco and offer extensive operational expertise to support the funds’ portfolio companies from seed to exit to become global category leaders. Learn more at www.creandum.com.

With this investment, CAST AI is ready to take advantage of the significant opportunity as the market for cloud-native solutions is experiencing hypergrowth and, at the same time, facing the challenge of sustainable cost management. In a recent ‘State of Kubernetes Report” released by CAST AI, it showed that companies overspend by 60% due to overprovisioning containerized applications.

CAST AI Co-Founders, Laurent Gil (CPO), Leon Kuperman (CTO), and Yuri Frayman (CEO), started the company out of their own personal frustration with rising cloud costs. They had just sold their previous startup, Zenegade, which was acquired by Oracle and they stated that they couldn’t get it out of their head that there must be a better way to manage costs. And so came, CAST AI.

The Co-Founders told South Florida Tech Hub, “We are proud to be a part of Miami ecosystem and will expand our operations and our presence in the region. We will also continue to be active in the community by participating in events, helping other startups and sharing insights and know-how we’ve learned along the way.”

Headquartered in downtown Miami, CAST AI also has a European branch in Vilnius, Lithuania. The company has raised $38M from investors including Creandum, Cota Capital, and Uncorrelated Ventures.

CAST AI is an all-in-one cloud-native automation platform that cuts cloud bills in half for AWS, GCP, and Azure customers. Powered by AI, it analyzes multiple data points to find an optimal cost-performance ratio. The company founders are serial entrepreneurs who successfully led previous startups to acquisitions by Google, Comcast and Oracle. The CAST AI platform employs AI and automation to analyze compute resources and optimize them in minutes. By connecting their Kubernetes clusters to the platform, organizations can see suggested recommendations and use powerful cloud-native automation techniques for immediate cost reduction.

Recently, the platform has helped the social media unicorn ShareChat, the Adtech company Iterable, and the global mobile analytics leader Branch to start saving millions of dollars annually.

“This funding is just in time to take advantage of the tremendous opportunity in the market as more and more companies transition to containerized applications in the cloud,” said Yuri Frayman, CEO of CAST AI.

“With this investment, we can further grow our position as a leading provider of intelligent cloud optimization solutions globally as well as expand our all-in-one platform capabilities to more cloud-native ecosystems and use cases.”

Since the platform launch, CAST AI has experienced quarter-by-quarter revenue growth of over 220%, based on the company’s ability to provide optimization solutions that simplify cloud-native application management, a much-needed service in today’s tech-driven world.

Carl Fritjofsson, General Partner at Creandum, commented “CAST AI’s explosive growth is unheard of in this macro market.

This demand really shows how unique and powerful the company’s solution is. We believe the needs for DevOps automation will only grow from here, and can’t wait to see CAST AI become the leader in the cloud optimization space.”

CAST AI positions itself as an all-in-one platform for cloud-native applications. Users can benefit from the full-suite of solutions including cost monitoring, autoscaling, spot instances automation and container security.

For  more information on CAST AI, visit https://cast.ai/

By Nikki Cabus

FAU Tech Runway announces Venture Class 11 companies

Read Time 6 Minutes

FAU Tech Runway® just announced the 20 companies accepted into the 11th cohort of its Venture Program.

The Venture Program provides the most promising startups and talented entrepreneurs in South Florida with an opportunity to join a year-long program that offers resources from FAU’s Innovation and Business Development pipeline, entrepreneurial instruction, structured team-based mentoring, networking, marketing and capital-raising assistance, co-working space, events, intern support, and other vital programs. This program will run February – December

Companies accepted into the Venture Program must have strategic alignment with FAU’s research focus areas, including drone technologies; educational technologies; environmental science; marine science; ocean engineering; neuroscience; healthy aging; big data analytics; artificial intelligence; machine learning; cyber security; sensing; and smart systems.

“The program has been a tremendous help in many founders’ journeys, and when we joined the program, we were a one-person company with an idea,” stated Saida Florexil, Venture Class 8 alumnus and Co-Founder & CEO of Imanyco, a company aiming to improve communication accessibility for people with hearing loss.

“By the time we graduated, we had built a team, and a product, raised funds, and we were able to work with some of the world’s largest companies. The mentorship, resources, and support that we received were incredibly valuable to our journey.”

At Tech Runway, experts have created a program that harnesses and directs the entrepreneurial spirit, providing a complete ecosystem for forward-thinking entrepreneurs, innovative students, faculty, alumni and the community. Program participants receive more than $100,000 in resources and services, including but not limited to mentoring, entrepreneurial education, introductions to early-stage capital, pitch practice opportunities, networking, co-working space and much more. Applications are opened twice a year to be accepted into the Venture Program.

Jessica Beaver, Associate Director of FAU Tech Runway, told South Florida Tech Hub that as the region continues to grow as national leader for tech and business that they have seen more of a need for startup resources as startups flock to the area.

“Due to a high demand, FAU Tech Runway has committed to providing our area two cohorts each year versus only one. This is the second cohort of the year allowing us to serve 40 companies, doubling the amount of startups served in previous years.”

From smart sensors to a fitness app to a decorative planter box company, this cohort has it all. “We are excited about the mix of students, faculty, and community in this cohort and the interesting combination of both SaaS-based and physical products.”

Jessica also noted that they have seen an influx in AI-driven startups. “It’s certainly becoming more prevalent as the tech industry continues to transform. AI is becoming more and more of a common trend with the companies that apply.”

Venture Class 11 participants joined a robust community of fellow entrepreneurs, mentors, investors, instructors and top-level support professionals. They have a lot of work ahead of them, but having the right community supporting them is the best first step. FAU Tech Runway® is a public-private partnership formed to incubate and accelerate early-stage technology-based companies, under the purview of FAU’s Division of Research. Applications for the next cycle of the Venture Program will open on March 3.

The 20 companies in Venture Class 11 are:

  • ADAM Rehabilitation sells dynamic performance braces and expert-level training services to individuals with full functional abilities or disabilities, to help them achieve safer and stronger joints.
  • AskDaddysaurus is a media-based avatar targeted at new parents to provide fun, engaging and accessible childcare content to save time and energy, increase efficiency and build confidence as a new caregiver.
  • AskTakeGo Inc (ATG) is a startup based in Fort Lauderdale, engaged in the development of software for the heavy construction equipment industry.
  • Carevocacy is a learning platform aimed at the elderly population that provides 1:1 online tutoring and classes that address social determinants of health, bridge the digital literacy gap, and offer opportunities to be competitive in the workplace.
  • Enchanted Wave is a Florida-based tech startup that has developed a brainwave-sensing headband and its companion mobile apps for research use, in the field of sleep and cognitive studies and sport performances.
  • EpiPaws is developing epigenetic biomarkers for age and health to improve pet healthcare and increase pet longevity. Its first product, the Pet Age Test, estimates age in dogs and cats from a simple mouth swab.
  • Esther.ai is a cloud-based Artificial Intelligence (AI) application that will disrupt the application development market. Esther.ai’s objective is to reduce testing time and budget from weeks to hours post-development.
  • Fair Witness Technologies (a DBA of ANV Services LLC) offers a self-authenticating digital document format that is the core element of an integrated ecosystem of technology tools. This new, open-source format creates persistent authenticity.
  • Fitnessatyourdoor is a software as a service (SaaS) marketplace that matches trainers and clients and uses data to make recommendations to both parties to improve their results.
  • K Executive Solutions Inc. is a virtual assisting agency that helps business owners and busy professionals streamline their administration tasks, handling the busy work so clients can focus on what matters the most to them.
  • MedAI/SmartBioSense has developed an AI-driven decision support system that helps build a model to understand how well we can predict mortality, ICU admission, and mechanical ventilation for patients hospitalized with COVID-19.
  • Modern Trials Inc. partners with health care organizations and leverages electronic health care data to identify patients in need of advanced treatment options and match them with appropriate clinical trial opportunities.
  • My Autoimmune LLC empowers individuals with autoimmune conditions to take ownership of their health and well-being using holistic methods. It connects individuals with a trusted network of holistic health professionals and evidence-informed research.
  • Parking Genie provides an innovative peer-to-peer business concept to revolutionize how consumers park cars and store boats. Through a digital listing, homeowners can create passive income and customers can search – then pay in advance – for parking.
  • Primary AI is building a patient-centric data-sharing ecosystem in health care and medicine. Its primary goal is to bridge the gap between patients, providers and scientific research.
  • RaiseLink provides startups and startup ecosystem partners with instant matching based on personalized algorithms. Education, business planning and feedback features enhance user engagement, keeping data fresh and accurate.
  • RedeLit’s mission is to redefine literature to help people fall in love with reading, learn how to write/read in a fun way, and bring an increase to literacy percentages in the USA – and the world – so people have a better quality of life.
  • ScreenPlanter LLC is a decorative planter box for horizontal beams of screen enclosures. No tools are required as the company uses ScreenExtender™ brackets. Boxes measuring 2 feet, 4 feet, 6 feet, or a Corner ScreenPlanter™ are available.
  • Show Agents connects overbooked realtors to local licensed showing assistants that can show properties on their behalf, similar to that of Uber for realtors.
  • SyncData Inc. is a compliance tech SaaS company that automates compliance norms like ISO’s with the use of AI.

Pete Martinez, Founder and Chairman of RaiseLink, an intelligent platform for investors and startups, is one of the recently accepted Venture Class 11 cohort members. Although a long time techie and former IBM executive, Pete still understood the importance of programs like FAU Tech Runway.

“We felt it was critical that we walk in the shoes of the startup and go through all the education a startup goes through. FAU’s Venture Program is providing great insight which will in turn make us and our platform even better.”

For more information on FAU Tech Runway®, visit techrunway.fau.edu.

By Nikki Cabus

Semantix Announces the Acquisition of Elemeno

Read Time 3 Minutes

Semantix, Inc., a leading Latin American end-to-end data platform provider recently announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire Elemeno Inc. (“Elemeno”), a US-based, cloud-managed, machine learning operations (MLOps) platform provider focused on helping businesses leverage the benefits of artificial intelligence.

Elemeno specifically aims to automate the development, deployment, and management of machine learning (ML) software with an easy-to-use interface and, in so doing, accelerate artificial intelligence adoption for businesses and organizations.

Founded in 2021 by Lucas Bonatto Miguel, Elemeno simplifies machine learning development by providing an end-to-end development framework, which includes not only automation but key no-code components for managing features and models, as well as an open software development kit (SDK) for custom use cases. With a fully managed, highly scalable infrastructure and a standard serverless architecture based on Kubernetes, Elemeno aims to allow customers to build ML models with ease and effortlessly resolve challenges that can be addressed through artificial intelligence.

“We announced an important step towards helping more companies to leverage Artificial Intelligence to run efficient businesses,” Miguel wrote in a recent social media post. “Elemeno is now part of the Semantix platform, and we’re just starting!

Just this past year, the Brazilian-based Semantix expanded to the United States. The company merged with Alpha Capital (ASPC), a special purpose acquisition company, or ‘SPAC’ focused on technology in Latin America.

It was the first technology SPAC from Brazil listed in the United States debuting on NASDAQ in August 2022 under STIX.

Semantix is a leading Latin American end-to-end data platform provider. The company now has more than 300 clients with operations in approximately 15 countries.

Semantix expects the acquisition of Elemeno to complement and enhance its flagship proprietary platform, the Semantix Data Platform (SDP), and specifically strengthen SDP’s MLOps suite. Semantix also anticipates that Elemeno’s highly skilled engineering team will increase its innovation and proprietary technology development capacities. The acquisition is as well expected to expand Semantix’s growing presence in the US, which continues to be a major strategic priority.

“Semantix remains committed to growing our proprietary SaaS business and expanding our presence in the US. The acquisition of Elemeno is fully aligned with these goals, with products and technology that are highly complementary to Semantix’s Data Platform,” said Leonardo Santos, CEO of Semantix.

“We look forward to welcoming Elemeno’s team and are excited about what we can achieve together.”

The transaction will be structured as a merger of a Semantix subsidiary with Elemeno, with the surviving company becoming a subsidiary of Semantix. The completion of this transaction is subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions precedent. Semantix and Elemeno will each maintain their business in the ordinary course in an independent manner until the closing date of the transaction.

For more information, visit ir.semantix.ai.

By Nikki Cabus

NextEra completes successful 4-week AI Bootcamp through Mark Cuban Foundation

Read Time 2 Minutes

Just this past weekend, NextEra Energy Resources completed the 4-week AI Bootcamp in collaboration with the Mark Cuban Foundation.

There were only 30 locations across the entire United States chosen for this program and two were approved here in South Florida: one in Miami and one in Palm Beach County. Although a fairly new initiative founded in 2019 by the Mark Cuban Foundation, the program attracted over 600 high school students in 9th – 12th grades.

There were over 20 high school students in attendance for the Palm Beach County program. Florida Power and Light sponsored and hosted the program at no cost to students. The classes were held in the beautiful FPL Manatee Lagoon in West Palm Beach which is an FPL Eco-Discovery Center.

Grace Kurian (pictured above on right) , Executive Director of Information Technology-Nuclear at NextEra Energy Inc, previously stated that “FPL is proud to serve as the host company for Mark Cuban’s AI Boot Camp for students who would otherwise not have exposure to programs in STEM. Our corporate culture is focused on giving back to the communities where we live and work. We are intentional about supporting and building thriving communities for the next generation.”

The program spanned 4 Saturdays from October 22nd to November 12th, but took months of planning, 22 volunteers and over 100+ volunteer hours to make this bootcamp come to life. Volunteers ranged from entry-level developers to the VP of IT and Business Unit CIO at FPL, Michael Fowler.

Normally taught at the collegiate level, students had the opportunity to interact in hands-on workshops about chatbots, AI, Machine learning and Natural Language processing – topics many had never encountered before.

Aimed to increase AI literacy and understanding in students from underserved communities, the high schools students didn’t need any prior experience with computer science, programming, or robotics to apply and attend.

Students completed a final project and made a presentation to the entire class. This not only helped them showcase their newly found technical skills, but the ability to present, communicate and practice public speaking skills.

At the close of the bootcamp, one students gave a thank you card with a kind message to his volunteer instructor: “Thank you for helping me with this bootcamp. I appreciate all your time and efforts into organizing this camp. I really learned a lot these past 4 weeks. Thank you!” 

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Did you know? History & Future of Tech in South Florida started in Boca Raton.
CAST AI Receives $20M in New Funding Led by Early-Stage VC Creandum
FAU Tech Runway announces Venture Class 11 companies
Semantix Announces the Acquisition of Elemeno
NextEra completes successful 4-week AI Bootcamp through Mark Cuban Foundation