Fundraising, company launches, new headquarters and hiring marked a busy South Florida startup scene last week. A few highlights, as first reported on the Starting Gate:

•  Miami tech startup Flomio launched a crowdfunding campaign to fund its latest product — FloJack — which brings NFC technology to the Apple world. At press time for this column on Friday afternoon, Flomio had already raised nearly $10,000 of its $80,000 goal. Not bad for two days!

•  Open English, the online English language school, has been on a hiring tear, and now has 1,500 employees. One of its latest hires? A Director of Happiness — now that sounds like a fun job. Open English also recently moved into its new headquarters space in the Grove.

•  Speaking of openings, Peace Love World, the Miami based casual-chic fashion and lifestyle brand, recently opened its new flagship store at 225 Miracle Mile, its sixth retail location in Miami.

•  Venture capital funding plummeted in Florida in the third quarter, according to MoneyTree. The state tumbled out of the top 10 all the way down to No. 22 — ouch. But read about the four South Florida companies that did get funded.

•  Raising more than $1 million for the venture, Miami tech entrepreneur Jonathan Lieberman launched itopia, a cloud-computing venture that aims to simplify the way companies purchase, utilize and maintain systems and equipment.

•  Everyone loves puppies, right? Weather Puppy thinks so, and it launched an iPhone app that not only gives you the weather, but the dog images will give you a smile.

There were guest posts on the Starting Gate, too, including one by Rosston Meyer of Lake Worth-based Sponsorist about the need to build a tri-county tech community. What’s your view? Starting Gate welcomes guest posts.

Read about these items and more on The Starting Gate blog on MiamiHerald.com/business.

Follow Nancy Dahlberg on twitter @ndahlberg and keep her posted on startup news at ndahlberg@miamiherald.com