Did your firm launch in the past five years? 2021 Startup Pitch Competition is for you

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Did your firm launch in the past five years? 2021 Startup Pitch Competition is for you

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Rob Wile
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We heard you, South Florida.

With lockdowns and COVID, it’s not the easiest time to launch a startup. Or to keep one moving, you told us.

To make life a wee bit easier, we’ve broadened the window for entry in the Miami Herald’s 2021 Startup Pitch Competition Community Track.

Enter, and your plan could be reviewed by our panel of well-connected judges and investors, including Chef Marcus Samuelsson, Shutterstock founder Jon Oringer and investor David Blumberg, along with some of the region’s savviest tech stalwarts.

The competition is open to South Florida-based startups founded - this is the new part! - no later than Dec. 31, 2016. All must be based in Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach or Monroe counties.

The Startup Pitch Competition has two tracks.

In the Community Track, entries must be for-profit businesses with a minimum viable product; the companies must be less than five years old.

All Community finalists will receive pitch coaching by Melissa Krinzman, co-founder of locally based investors Krillion Ventures.

In the FIU Track, entries can be ideas or actual businesses less than three years old. The track is open only to students, alumni and faculty of FIU. The track is sponsored by Florida International University College of Business.

FIU Track judges comes from the FIU community. All have been judging for several years and bring a wealth of experience that can help a team prepare for suc

As always, winners will be profiled in the Miami Herald’s Business Monday.

The deadline for all entries is March 2, 2021, at 11:59 p.m.

Full rules and tips for both tracks are available at miamiherald.com/news/business/business-plan-challenge/.

And the judges are....

COMMUNITY TRACK

Leigh-Ann Buchanan

Leigh-Ann A. Buchanan, Esq. is a writer, strategist, and a facilitator. She supports leaders and community bridge systemic gaps in access, inclusion, opportunity and racial equity, with a focus on technology, innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystems. She has advised and provided technical support to innovation and technology leaders at Fortune 500 companies including Google, Facebook, Delta, P&G Ventures, AirBnB, HSBC and UBS. She is the founder of Nyah Project and currently serves as the President & Executive Director of Venture Cafe Miami. She co-hosts the Innovation City podcast and produces visual storytelling projects.

Monica Black

Monica is the Managing Director of Function VC, where she connects Miami’s private wealth community with investment opportunities in early stage technology companies. She is also a scout for Lightspeed Venture Partners. Prior to starting Function, Monica was an investor at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and Providence Equity Partners. A Miami native, Monica holds her B.S. from MIT and M.B.A. from Stanford University.

David Blumberg

David Blumberg is the founder and managing partner of Blumberg Capital, which he founded in the early 1990s. He launched its first venture-backed fund in 2001. Blumberg has managed international investments with the Bronfman Family Office, Adler & Co, APAX Partners and at T. Rowe Price. He also launched business development for Check Point Software Technologies as one of its top four executives. He moved to Miami-Dade in 2020.

Ana Paula González

Ana Paula González is the Miami-based Head of Managed Funds at 500 Startups, a Silicon Valley-based, early stage tech VC fund whose mission is to uplift people and economies through entrepreneurship. To date, 500 Startups has invested in over 2,500 companies in 80+ countries around the world, and ran 60+ accelerator programs in 15+ countries around the world.

Lucas Hernandez

Lucas Hernández directs Microsoft Philanthropies’ corporate partnerships across the U.S. and investments in Miami. Lucas has a background spanning the public, philanthropic, and nonprofit sectors and is a proud board member of: Venture Café Miami, Code/Art Miami and The Underline.

Jon Oringer

Jon Oringer founded Shutterstock in 2003; today the company is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange and is worth some $2.5 billion. Oringer, who now serves as Shutterstock executive chairman, moved to Miami Beach in 2020 and is launching a new group Pareto Holdings, to help accelerate Miami’s tech ecosystem.

Marcus Samuelsson

James Beard Award-winning chef Marcus Samuelsson founded Harlem’s legendary Red Rooster, which recently opened a Red Rooster restaurant in Overtown. Born in Ethiopia and raised in Sweden, Samuelsson is a noted author, philanthropist and champion of food entrepreneurs.

FIU TRACK

Descriptions provided by Florida International University

Karlene Cousins

Karlene Cousins, PhD., is Chair and Associate Professor of Information Systems and Business Analytics at FIU Business. She is the founding Director of the ATOM Think Tank, a real-world technology experiential program for students. She served as Director of the MSc. Information Systems Program.

Orlando Espinosa

Charisma and passion are hallmarks of Orlando Espinosa’s approach to empowering business owners to grow their businesses. His most notable recent endeavor is as SBA Miami’s Emerging Leaders Instructor 2016 to present, which led to him becoming a top instructor with Interise, the organization whose Streetwise MBA curriculum is used for Emerging Leaders.

Juan Carlos Abello

Juan Carlos Abello saw the need for a hospitality-focused solution such as Nuvola after working in the hotel industry for more than a decade. His first-hand experience sparked the notion that there has to be a better and easier way for staff to communicate with each other and with their guests.

Seema Pissaris

Seema Pissaris, PhD., is a Professor at Florida International University’s College of Business. An award winning Professor, Dr. Pissaris teaches courses in Leadership, Strategy, and Entrepreneurship at the undergraduate, graduate and executive levels. Dr. Pissaris is also an avid entrepreneur responsible for launching numerous successful companies, one of which went public on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Ricardo Weisz

Ricardo Weisz is a versatile C-level executive expert in raising equity capital, finance, marketing, start-ups, turnaround management, content, brand development, licensing and marketing of products and services. Ricardo has headed various ventures with successful exits.

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