Silicon Valley’s biggest bank is landing in Miami to serve the growing tech sector
Silicon Valley Bank, the largest bank serving the U.S. tech sector, is opening an office in Miami.
The Santa Clara, Calif.-based bank, with total deposits of $145.8 billion, announced Tuesday it will initially station a “handful” of workers in a Brickell office as it looks to grow in South Florida.
“Miami and Florida are such an attractive environment for tech and life sciences companies; the region has so much to offer,” said SVB President Mike Descheneaux. “From our standpoint, it makes a lot of sense.”
Even before launching its official presence, SVB had a number of South Florida clients, including Manny Medina’s Medina Capital, robotic dental surgery firm Neocis, and companionship-on-demand startup Papa.
“SVB is a strong supporter of Papa, with a deep understanding of our needs as a high-growth company,” said Papa founder and CEO Andrew Parker in a statement. “I’m glad for their expansion into Miami, which is a great place to start and scale a business, and I’m excited to see how they’ll further the growth and success of the local innovation economy.”
Banking approximately half of all venture-backed firms in the U.S., SVB, now in its fourth decade, has a unique understanding of the tech ecosystem writ large — something Descheneaux believes will help accelerate Miami’s development as an innovation hub.
“If you think about how startups grow, so much is about networking and who you know, who can you get some advice from,” Descheneaux said. “We want to be the essential cog in that ecosystem.”
“Miami has the potential to become a leading innovation hub and SVB’s presence will help accelerate the success of our local technology and life science companies, from startups to scaled businesses, and their investors,” Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said in a statement.
SVB also recently acquired Boston Private, which doubled its Brickell footprint earlier this year.
“From a wealth management perspective, South Florida has significant pockets of wealth — one of the largest in the U.S.,” Descheneaux said. “It’s among the top-three pools of capital.”
Descheneaux, who’s been with SVB since 2007, said Miami’s potential as a new tech center of gravity is real.
“It believe it has legs,” Descheneaux said. “Time will tell, but you’ve got a lot of good catalysts.”
SVB will be located at 1441 Brickell Ave.
This story was originally published September 14, 2021 at 7:18 AM.
