This is the first episode in a special three part series on Miami Tech the early days.
The first Americas Venture Capital Conference, the AVCC, held in October 2010 was an inflection point for Miami Tech.
At the AVCC Miami based "OpenEnglish", which went on to raise over $100 million, found its first institutional investor. The seeds for the LAB Miami, AGP/Miami Angels and the SIME tech conferences were planted at the AVCC. And in less than a year after the AVCC the Knight Foundation was supporting tech initiatives throughout Miami.
But we also forget that during the later half of the 2000s there were some pioneers working to create a tech scene in Miami. Well before the Knight Foundation began its support of tech and innovation projects. Before the LAB created a place that invited the tech community inside to log on and connect. Before AGP/Miami Angels began educating and supporting local angel investors. And before the dozens of other initiatives big and small that led Miami by 2019 to be the No. 7 metro area in the nation measured by total VC activity, ranked ahead of more established tech hubs like Austin, Chicago and Washington DC.
On today’s podcast we speak with two of the pioneers of the early days of Miami Tech: Brian Breslin and Auston Bunsen.
Brian founded Refresh Miami in 2006, starting out as a handful of friends sharing ideas in a Starbucks. More than a decade later it has grown to a community over 10,000 strong and is for many the heart and soul of Miami Tech. He currently the Director of the Launch Pad at the University of Miami, another tech initiative from the late 2000s.
Auston is widely regarded as one of the most powerful voices in Miami’s tech ecosystem. He created the Miami based SuperConf, a 2 day conference for web entrepreneurs, developers and designers that broke the mold of all tech conferences before and after in Miami. He has founded several companies, most recently CBlocks.
Thanks to the efforts of people like Brian and Auston and lots of others more than a decade ago, in 2019 SoFla realized $2.39 billion of VC activity, which compares pretty favorably to the $1.98 billion of VC activity in ALL of LatAm during 2018.
In this podcast we share a lively conversation about the characters and motivations behind Miami Tech, the early years.
In the tech world Juan Pablo is known as one of the partners of Patagon.com, one of the first on-line banks that was bought by Banco Santander for more than US$700 million. Juan Pablo has co-founded Idea.me, Lab Miami, Lab Ventures, Miami Angels & Wonder (purchased in 2020 by Atari). He also publishes a widely read column on the TecnoLatino https://latamlist.com/author/jpcappello/ and continues advising entrepreneurs in the region from PAGLaw https://www.pag.law
The podcast “Aqui & Ahora” asks: What are the leaders of the TecnoLatino doing “here & now”? How are they facing the changes and challenges we are living? “Aqui & Ahora” offers tips for entrepreneurs, investors and supporters of the TecnoLatino.
Sponsored by PAGLaw