8+ things to know in #MiamiTech: New tech HQ for Boca plus news from Superlogic, Woodrow, FAU, cybersecurity, tech jobs & more – Refresh Miami

1

Boca Raton attracts another tech headquarters

Innovative Solutions, a cloud services company, has opened a corporate headquarters in South Florida after receiving economic incentives from the City of Boca Raton. Boca Raton is already home to more than half of the corporate headquarters in Palm Beach County,

Innovative Solutions can receive $60,000 from the city’s Economic Development Incentives Policy Fund to create 30 new jobs at an average annual salary of $120,000, and it plans to hire up to 100 people. The firm selected the recently renovated Class A office space on W. Palmetto Park Road; Innovative Solutions has another headquarters in West Henrietta, New York and an office in Austin, Texas.

Boca Raton’s Economic Development Incentives Policy Fund allocates $1 million to economic incentives each year. Since 2010, Boca Raton has committed $5.8 million to 85 businesses through the fund, helping to create or retain an estimated 13,360 jobs. “Our comprehensive support includes financial assistance, a dedicated concierge service for streamlined permitting processes, and a robust network of local partners ready to collaborate. We’re committed to fostering a pro-business environment where companies of all sizes can succeed and grow,” Economic Development Manager Jessica Del Vecchio said in a statement.

2

Superlogic partners with top entertainment experience provider

 Superlogic, the Miami-based startup providing next-gen interoperable loyalty systems powered by AI, announced a partnership with Confirmed360, the top entertainment experiences provider curating customized sports, music, and live event access for global clients. The partnership will integrate Confirmed360’s VIP experiences and exclusive event packages into Superlogic’s Experiential Rewards Network and make them available for redemption with loyalty points to millions of partner program users.

Working with some of the biggest names in music such as Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, Usher, and BTS, and as an Official Partner of the Los Angeles Rams, Phoenix Suns and Washington Wizards, Confirmed360 offers access to unique live entertainment and game day experiences.

Superlogic’s technology, including an AI-powered matching and decision engine, powers its Experiential Rewards Network white-labeled for major loyalty program partners in music, sports, culinary, lifestyle, and more. Loyalty programs offering aspirational experiences as rewards can gain up to 9x in engagement, Superlogic says. “Travel has been the pillar of major loyalty program redemption strategy for the last decade. But as competition heats up, major program partners all agree that ‘Experiential Rewards’ are the new frontier of loyalty,” says Lin Dai, CEO and co-founder of Superlogic.

READ MORE IN REFRESH: Superlogic lands $7.6M strategic round to pioneer the future of loyalty points

3

Global consultancy launches emerging tech practice in Miami

Founders and leaders of Moonpay, Hypermint, HODL and other Web3 companies have teamed up to launch a new communications practice focused on emerging technologies in Miami and New York City. Unlike existing practices, the Web3 leaders are joining forces with Woodrow Communications,  one of the Financial Times 1000 fastest growing companies in Europe, to bring together key players from the ecosystem to provide top-notch consultancy services.

Services will include media relations, crisis preparedness, strategy and positioning and employee engagement. The arm will also support tech businesses with commercial product thinking, brand strategy, business growth and sales communications. Woodrow Emerging Technologies will be overseen by founder and MIT Sloane alumnus Charlie Tarr, with teams in Miami and New York. 

Freddie Becker, who held leadership roles at MoonPay and co-founded Hypermint, along with Adrian Pang, founder of HODL.vc, crypto veteran Semyon Germanovich and creative director Samuel Muir, join Woodrow as advisers. Kendall Clark will lead Woodrow’s Miami office, bringing years of experience working with fintech companies and Web3 startups such as Ledger, Anchorage Digital and Algorand. 

“From AI to blockchain, emerging technologies will change all our lives forever. But in today’s market, if you’re an entrepreneur looking for comms support, you’ll find that very few advisers have experienced the ride of building a company in this space. Woodrow is the exception,” Tarr said.  

4

Miami metro’s cybersecurity workforce by the numbers

The Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm metro area has a need for more cybersecurity talent, with a current workforce that covers about 92% of the demand. According to CyberSeek, there were 5,393 job listings in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Pam Beach MSA from May 2023 to April 2024. The total employed cybersecurity workforce in the region during that time was 15,327. Florida is home to more than 70,000 cybersecurity workers in total.

The local cybersecurity workforce spiked 57% between 2010 and 2012, fell back sharply and grew more slowly over the years, up about 61% since 2010. The number of cybersecurity job openings since 2010 grew 77%, but it’s the lowest number of job openings since 2018.

Nationally, there are only enough workers to fill 85% of cybersecurity jobs, creating the need for an estimated 225,200 more cybersecurity workers across the country.

5

FAU receives grant for youth innovation and research center

Florida Atlantic University announced a $2 million grant from The Marcus Foundation, founded by Bernard Marcus to fund the Marcus Research and Innovation Center at FAU’s k-12 lab schools — the A.D. Henderson University School and FAU High School campus in Boca Raton. The grant will  add more than 12,000 square feet of STEM and research space.

The center will host visiting scholars and researchers, as well as advance current research at the Marcus Neuroscience Institute at Boca Regional Hospital and the Marcus Institute of Integrative Health at FAU’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, the Palm Beach Post reported.

“The science, innovation and research that will occur within the Marcus Research and Innovation Center will expose and engage youth at early ages in these important fields, and could be an educational model for the rest of the country,” said Marcus, who also is the foundation’s chairman.

6

Jobs, jobs, jobs

Here are a few of the jobs listed on Refresh Miami’s jobs board. Go get them!

eMed – Security DevOps Engineer
Handtevy – Graphic Designer Marketing Assistant
Handtevy – Technical Product Manager
Human Interest – Sr Software Engineer
Human Interest – Staff Engineer

Human Interest – Sr Engineer, Backend
Kaseya – Sr Financial Analyst

Kaseya – Director of Product Management

Millennium – Security Engineer
Royal Caribbean Group – Sr Data Analyst
Science On Call – Restaurant Technology Support Specialist
Spot Pet Insurance – Product Designer

The Miami Foundation – Community Investments Manager

Visit the job board here for many more.

7

Miami-Dade receives over $13.5M to improve digital equity

Miami-Dade County has received over $13.5 million in digital equity grant funding as part of the Florida Commerce Office of Broadband’s first round of subgrants to renovate and construct multi-purpose community buildings with the goal of enhancing access and resources for health monitoring, work and education. Miami-Dade County Information Technology Department’s Local Technology Planning Team worked with The Miami Foundation and Miami Connected to receive this funding for six community partners to improve neighborhood facilities that provide residents with much needed digital literacy and internet services.

Among the grantees, Miami Connected and the LTPT supported the following projects where the impact will be felt as early as fall 2024:

• Centro Campesino Community Center granted $4,000,000
• Miami Dade College (POWER) granted $4,000,000
• SEEK Foundation (SMART TECH Health Hub) granted $4,000,000
• CareerSource South Florida, in partnership with the Miami-Dade County Public Library System, granted $1,247,397
• Bridge to Hope granted $321,075
• Miami Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired granted $177,835

8+

Opportunity knocks

• The Source is hosting a regional Startup World Cup in Miami. Through a local Demo Day and Regional Finals in the Magic City, one startup will ultimately advance to the finals in San Francisco to compete for a $1 million investment prize.  Learn more and apply here by June 21.
• Seaworthy Collective, a Miami-based non-profit BlueTech (ocean and climate impact innovation) entrepreneur support organization and community, is now accepting applications for its fifth Sea Change Maker Cohort this fall. Interested startups can apply here by June 23. 
• As part of its 100 Startup Project Scholarship Program, The Levan Center of Innovation is offering 10 entrepreneurs a one-year membership to the Levan Center of Innovation, thanks to the support of Memorial Healthcare System. Apply here.
• Mana Tech is accepting applications for its Miami Immersion Program, a program that gives international startup founders on-site experience in Miami. Learn more and apply here. 

ICYMI

Have news to report? Email Nancy Dahlberg at [email protected] and follow her on X @ndahlberg. Subscribe to Refresh Miami’s free weekly newsletter here. Thank you for supporting Refresh Miami.

I am a writer and editor with extensive media experience and a passion for journalism and serving the community. Most of my career has been spent with the Miami Herald in business news, and my expertise is writing about tech and entrepreneurs. I love hosting this blog for Refresh Miami and we aim to be the go-to site for South Florida startup and tech news, features and views. Have news? Contact me at [email protected]. Thanks for reading!

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