One year in, Miami tech movement’s leaders put squeeze on skeptics
We are now one year into the Miami tech movement’s breakneck growth. And if there’s one theme that inevitably comes up when most people talk about the early progress and what’s ahead, it’s optimism.
Many of the boosters view Miami in contrast to San Francisco, where, they say, tech entrepreneurs are being driven out by liberals who blame the booming technology sector for the city’s social ills.
Whereas Miami, the supporters say, is embracing the potential of tech and those leading the industry.
Yet, two clear challenges have emerged as Miami tech surges toward its second year upending the city’s economy: the lack of diversity and the rising cost of living in the city where the tech phenomenon is occurring. These are not counter-narratives to whether the movement is real. Indeed, it is the reality of Miami tech expansion that has brought the challenges into focus.
Earlier this month, Miami-based nonprofit aīre ventures released a report exposing gaps in tech when it comes to distributing its spoils equally. It highlighted an ongoing lack of funding distributed to minority-owned startups, as well as an overabundance of resources that end up being hard to access.
The findings are one reason why the Melinda French Gates-backed GET Cities initiative seized on Miami as its next frontier for boosting women’s representation in tech. In its announcement last week, GET Cities cited an earlier Tech Hub South Florida report whose co-author stated, “There is still a lot of work we need to do in order to close the gender and race gap that clearly still exists.”
Notably, aīre ventures also found that those who have been part of Miami’s tech landscape the longest rated the ecosystem the lowest, in a survey that included gauging overall impressions and experiences in the tech community.
Many longtime tech players have gone to great lengths to smooth over the divide between the fresher-faced optimists and more tenured participants. The recent countywide tech jobs fair, for instance, was heralded as a chance for all to participate in tech’s bounty and potential.
But the divide between optimists and the realists, those that try to toe the line between the hope that things will improve while expressing concerns about some of Miami tech’s unfavorable elements, is clear.
What’s equally clear is which camp is prevailing — and it’s not the ones presenting critiques. The upshot may be a changing of the guard, putting the onus on old-timers to get on board or step aside. Members of the new guard simply are not interested in anything that does not conform to their optimist narrative.
The two factions can be seen best in how Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez responded to the aīre ventures diversity report. Levine Cava tweeted about it, and Suarez did not.
On his latest podcast, Eric Newcomer, a longtime Silicon Valley-based technology reporter who visited Miami during Art Week, said in his recent visit he could tell the conflicting camps, “existed in two total different universes which were not really required to reconcile.”
For the optimists, it comes down to the basic view: That there is a level playing field here, and that the opportunity is here for the taking. As prime tech promoter Suarez tweeted recently, “Don’t listen to the haters. If you want to think big, invest in your future, and create a life for your family, bring your talents to Miami!”
For the realists, it’s not so simple. They think those in power should consider placing demands on tech job creators to fill jobs with, and make investments in, people who reflect Miami’s great diversity. And that the movement may keep growing at the expense of a reasonable cost of living for those in the city outside it.
That leads to the other stubborn fact at play: Local rents have climbed into the stratosphere during tech’s rapid expansion this year. According to data from real estate group Redfin, average residential rents in South Florida climbed 36% year-over-year as of October to an average of $2,891 — the fastest gain of any U.S. metropolitan area.
Even Miami-based real estate developer Jorge Pérez, founder, chairman and CEO of Related Group, remarked at Bloomberg’s recent “The New Miami Forum” that living costs were getting out of control.
“Miami rents are $4 a square foot,” he said. “How are people paying for this? It is not like incomes are increasing.”
Looking ahead, Newcomer, a close watcher of the tech industry, gave the Miami Herald his outsider perspective: “It will be interesting to see if there’s a techlash from locals next year or if people are happy to have new wealthy neighbors with strong opinions about how the city they live in should be run.”
By all appearances, Miami’s flourishing tech sector is here to stay. The numbers don’t lie: Miami is seeing faster growth among new tech workers than any other U.S. city, according to LinkedIn data compiled by Quartz.com. In fact, among all workers, the city is experiencing a greater number of them relocating here than any other city, new LinkedIn data show.
And Miami would not have gotten to this moment — one that most cities yearn for, especially during the pandemic — without optimism. With the boosters firmly in control of the burgeoning industry, those who lack enthusiasm for it are most likely going to be left behind.
eMerge, City National Bank team on ‘studio’ for minority founders
eMerge Americas is partnering with City National Bank to boost Miami-based minorities in tech, a demographic that continues to fall behind amid the city’s broader boom.
The two companies laid out the details of their Startup Studio project announced at eMerge’s La Casa event during Art Week. The studio is a five-week program consisting of weekly webinars hosted by industry leaders covering topics such as effective fundraising strategies, how to grow and scale, and perfecting a business pitch.
The organizations will select 20 Florida-based early-stage startups with minority founders. At the conclusion of each weekly webinar, four startups will give 3-minute pitches; the top five startups chosen will participate in a closing event to receive a first-place prize of a $25,000 grant, a second-place grant of $15,000, and a third-place prize of $10,000.
To apply to The Startup Studio, submit your application online at gust.com/programs/cnb-startup-studio-2. The deadline for applications is Jan. 7, 2022.
Economic Club of Miami hosted futuristic crypto event
The newly created Economic Club of Miami, a members-only organization dedicated to producing events with thought leaders from around the world, hosted FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, former Trump White House adviser Anthony Scaramucci and Kathleen Breitman, creator of the Tezos blockchain, for a discussion of NFTs and the future of cryptocurrency. The event took place Dec. 4 at the Paramount Miami Worldcenter downtown.
“We were thrilled with the strength of turnout and interest especially during Art Basel week, and we look forward to an even more impressive set of events and speakers for 2022,” club co-founder Lourdes M. Castillo said in a statement.
Wellness Coach team gets Zoom investment
Wellness Coach, the mindfulness platform for employees created by the Miami-based husband-and-wife team of D and Julie Sharma, has received an undisclosed investment from Zoom. Wellness Coach was one of 13 companies chosen as part of the massive video conferencing company’s $100 million Zoom Apps Fund.
“The Zoom developer ecosystem continues to be critical for innovating how Zoom users connect, collaborate, and get more done together,” said Colin Born, head of Zoom Ventures, in a statement. “We’re extremely proud to fund these partners so they can continue to develop high-quality solutions that meet the evolving needs of Zoom users around the world.”
This story was originally published December 12, 2021 at 1:00 AM.
