South Florida Tech HubSouth Florida Tech Hub

By Adam Elitzur

Harvard Business School Alumni Host Annual Entrepreneurship Night and Pitch Competition in Miami

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On November 8, 2023, the Harvard Business School (HBS) Alumni Angels of South Florida hosted their 4th Annual Entrepreneurship Night pitch competition at the University of Miami Herbert Business School.

The HBS Alumni Angels of South Florida is a volunteer-based angel investor group that invests in early-stage businesses and supports the local startup ecosystem. The primary mission is to connect investors and entrepreneurs by bringing them together through pitch events and by enhancing their skills through educational events and resources.

The event featured an inspiring keynote from Manny Medina, founder of Terremark, Medina Capital, eMerge Americas, and CEO of Cyxtera Technologies, as well as pitches from 4 finalist startups competing for investment and services from the Alumni Angels group.

In his keynote, Medina shared insights on succeeding as an entrepreneur, stressing the importance of cultivating curiosity to stay innovative, maintaining a positive attitude to persevere through challenges, putting in hard work to properly prepare, and having the determination to see your vision through. He encouraged attendees to think of themselves as brands and focus on building trust in their abilities as well as passionately delivering on their ideas.

Medina spoke on the exciting opportunities in emerging sectors like quantum computing and AI, predicting massive disruptions from combining these technologies. He urged entrepreneurs to get ahead of the coming waves of change, attributing his success to curiosity about revolutionary technologies.

The pitch competition started with 36 companies, and its four finalists spanned health tech, food and beverage, and AI services. The judges ultimately awarded first place to Tilden, a premium, non-alcoholic, cocktail company. Ulevo Health, working to automatically detect and reduce muscle spasms, took second place, AI Squared, an AI platform that accelerates AI projects, third, and Modern Trials, a healthcare technology company that connects patients with relevant clinical trial opportunities, fourth. For the first time, the audience also voted for a People’s Choice winner, awarded to AI Squared.

Tilden will get to present at the World Business Angels Investment Forum’s global fundraising stage in South Africa. Tilden and AI Squared will also have the opportunity to pitch at an upcoming South Florida Alumni Angels event. All winners received prizes of complimentary legal services.

Mariah Hilton Wood, co-founder of Tilden, who won the pitch competition, had a great experience. “I really enjoy pitching because it gives me an opportunity to hear ideas from other entrepreneurs.”

She also offered advice for rising entrepreneurs. “Be willing to test out an idea that fails,” Hilton Wood stated. “Dedicate time to it, having time set aside is important.”

HBS Alumni Angels of South Florida is looking forward to next year’s Pitch Competition and Entrepreneurship Night.

By Nikki Cabus

University of Miami students among finalists at this year’s AWE XR Prize Challenge on Fighting Climate Change

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The University of Miami‘s The Mangrove City project is among this year’s finalists for the AWE 2023 XR Challenge. 

Mangrove City is a VR experience designed for middle school students to explore the crucial role of mangrove forests in protecting coastal communities and mitigating climate change. The VR experience was developed by a team of University faculty, staff members, and students as a part of UM’s XR Initiative active in the fields of architecture, health care, sustainability, climate change, art history, behavioral research, human-computer interfaces, UI/UX, new media, and narrative/storytelling research.

Augmented World Expo. or AWE, launched the “XR Prize Challenge: Fight Climate Change” in October 2022. The challenge gives subject matter experts, engineers, entrepreneurs, technologists, and other professionals an avenue where they can use XR technology to visualize information and create potential solutions to fight climate change. A group or individual has a chance at winning a cash prize of $100,000.

There were four distinct categories under which entrants could submit their nominations. These categories were:
  1. Replacing Wasteful Material Consumption – For solutions that demonstrate that XR is a viable medium for reducing society’s dependence on wasteful transportation, consumption of goods, and unsustainable real estate development.
  2. Visualizing The Causes & Impacts of Climate Change – For solutions that demonstrate XR’s unique ability to educate people about the causes and effects of climate change, and influence behaviors and policies to promote equity and fairness.
  3. Educating About Solutions to Climate Change – For solutions that demonstrate XR as a unique story-telling medium for giving a voice to climatologists and sustainability solutions providers, providing them with a powerful platform to educate communities and expand their reach.
  4. Optimizing Design & Execution of Climate Solutions – For solutions that demonstrate XR as a unique decision-optimization tool, enabling professionals to design and develop perfected solutions that give us the best possible chance to mitigate and reverse climate change.

In January 2023, with hundreds of submissions from around the world, 150 projects from six different continents were chosen to move onto the MVP Phase.” They had to demonstrate a minimum viable product and highlight to judges exactly how their solutions addressed aspects of:

  1. Creativity – Entrants had to demonstrate how their submissions exhibited appropriateness, quality, beauty, design, and originality, as well as highlight the uniqueness of their XR product or project as a solution for fighting climate change.
  2. Functionality – Entrants had to show how their submissions took into account a range of functional requirements, including thoughtful user experience, access, ease of use, and an innovative user interaction associated with their XR-based solutions.
  3. Impact – Entrants had to quantify the impact that their XR-based solutions would have and demonstrate how they would deliver on their promise to fight climate change, including the viability of the solution in the marketplace, its ability to be scaled, and how a solution would be demonstrated or calculated to achieve its intended effect.

Then, on May 3rd,  2023, AWE announced the finalists for the XR Prize challenge – only 11 were chosen – and the University of Miami made the cut!

AWE’s website states that “many of the finalists demonstrated innovative ways in which augmented, virtual and mixed reality technology can be used to help humanity in its fight against one of the biggest existential threats that we are facing as a species today – climate change.”

“It’s humbling to work with so many diverse teams haling from all around the globe and truly inspiring to see and experience so many creative proposals to harness XR in our fight against climate change,” said Dace Campbell, XR Prize Manager, ”

Dace is a professionally licensed architect with extensive experience developing and implementing strategy and innovation with an expertise in XR technology: researching, developing, testing, and applying XR on hundreds of successful projects. Throughout his career, Dace has been a champion for the  the use of virtual reality and augmented reality in industry. He has proven they enhance productivity, sustainability, and equity for designers, builders, and owners winning multiple awards for furthering industry excellence. 

👉🏽 Check out UM’s video here. 🎥

Each team will demonstrate their solutions at final presentations in-person in front of a live judging panel on May 30th at AWE 2023 held in Santa Clara, California. The XR Prize winner(s) will be announced on June 1 at the event during the Auggie Awards ceremony.

The judges panel includes:

  • Katerina Cizek – Award-winning documentary director whose body of work includes documenting the Digital Revolution. Cizek is also the co-founder of the Co-Creation Studio.
  • Robert Fine – Executive director and founder of the International Virtual Reality and Healthcare Association (IVRHA).
  • Marina Psaros – Sustainability expert who has over a decade of experience leading climate action programs. Psaros is also Unity’s global sustainability lead.
  • Dr. Erika Woolsey – Dr. Woolsey is a marine biologist, as well as the chief scientist and co-founder of the Hydrous, a non-profit organization that uses science-based experiences and scalable solutions, such as VR, to further our understanding of and education on ocean science.
To view all 11 finalist projects selected for the final round, click here.

By Riley Kaminer

Signups are now open for the University of Miami-sponsored Intern Bootcamp and Entry-Level Career Expo

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The University of Miami will be the presenting sponsor of South Florida Tech Hub’s upcoming Intern Bootcamp & Entry-Level Career Expo.

The virtual event will connect South Florida’s top talent to local hiring managers from some of our fastest-growing companies. The University of Miami’s sponsorship of the event enables South Florida Tech Hub to make this event free for members and only $50 for non-members.

“We are excited to be sponsoring the event,” Dr. Maryann Tatum Tobin, the Assistant Dean for Professional Education and Personalized Learning at the University of Miami, told South Florida Tech Hub.

Tobin is passionate about preparing students for the workplace. “My main interest in the internship fair and careers fair is its ability to bring together all the interested organizations doing work that is relevant to our students.” 

She highlighted UM’s recently-launched Data Science master’s degree as an example of a program that is acting as a talent pipeline. “Our program is educating people who will work in the field, so it seemed like a natural fit for us to be involved,” Tobin explained. “We hope to let all of the corporations know that the University of Miami is on the cutting edge in data science.”

“We want to make sure that our students know who’s out there hiring, but also that everyone who’s out there hiring knows that we are here and are preparing some of the top candidates for their positions,” Tobin continued.

This upcoming virtual career expo will be divided into a few different events.

  • All day: Virtual booths where potential applicants can talk to employers. There is a wide range of open jobs including software development, engineering, networking, helpdesk, cybersecurity, quality assurance, digital marketing and more.
  • 10am to 2pm: 15-minute presentations from South Florida hiring companies about their internship programs
  • 3:45pm to 5pm: “Plan Your Future” interactive panel discussion hosted by Path to College, providing students with an insight into a group of careers within the STEM industries. The topic will be “Cloud Engineering & AI Technology.” 

Participating companies include DSS, Carrier, City Furniture, Digital Resource, and Varis. Premier Virtual, a Delray Beach-based startup, will be providing the online platform used for this event.

Talent is top of mind for companies in South Florida, as well as companies that are considering moving to our region. For Tobin, this upcoming event will help put South Florida’s top tech talent on display.

“If you’re a company that’s looking to hire the best and the brightest, they are right here in our backyard,” she said. “I’m hoping that this fair helps to cement South Florida as a tech hub.”

On the flip side, Tobin expects this event to remind students that once they graduate from a South Florida institution, they don’t need to leave: “There’s work here for you.”

The recent boom in South Florida tech is reflected in the interests of the students Tobin interacts with. “I see a lot more students experimenting with tech entrepreneurship than I did two years ago,” she said, highlighting a particular uptick in social entrepreneurship.

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WHAT: Intern Bootcamp & Entry-Level Career Expo

WHEN: Wednesday, March 23rd, 2022 from 9am to 5pm

WHERE: Online

WHO: Students, recent graduates, and some of South Florida’s fastest-growing organizations

WHY: Connect and share job opportunities

HOW: Register here

Harvard Business School Alumni Host Annual Entrepreneurship Night and Pitch Competition in Miami
University of Miami students among finalists at this year’s AWE XR Prize Challenge on Fighting Climate Change
Signups are now open for the University of Miami-sponsored Intern Bootcamp and Entry-Level Career Expo