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How can I connect with the Miami startup community?

As Endeavor’s Laura Maydon told us, “Once you’re in, you’re in.” Nearly everyone we spoke with said the best way to get involved in the Miami startup community is to ‘start showing up’ to events, meet other locals in the scene, and find ways to contribute. Several leaders told us it’s important to give to the ecosystem before you take something from it.

Here’s our collection of groups working to build community in the startup scene. Who would you like to see on this list? Let us know.

Black Tech Week

Created in part to make an impact during Black History Month, Black Tech Week highlights people of color in the tech world who are making a difference. During the week, startups and tech companies, as well as organizations and community partners, host events showcasing the latest tech innovations from around the world. Speakers include leaders from across numerous fields, from venture capitalists to journalists.

What they do: Conference
Website: Visit Here
Hours: Feb. 15 – 20, 2016
Address: 66 N.E. 39th Street, #370263, Miami

Brainfood at The LAB

Brainfood is a monthly speaker series at The Lab, a coworking space in Wynwood. Every month, a successful entrepreneur, investor, or CEO offers their sage advice for budding local leaders. The goal is to create a space for inspiring and mentor local entrepreneurs as they plan to launch their own businesses.

What they do: Monthly event
Website: Visit Here
Address: 400 N.W. 26th St., Miami

CIC Miami

Launched in October 2016, CIC Miami is an 80,000 square foot shared co-working, private office, and laboratory space in the Miami’s health district. Their mission is to actively help entrepreneurs at all stages of the start-up cycle by connecting them with each other and creating a resource-rich environment. They do this by providing workspaces with state-of-the-art shared amenities, and hosting community events focused on building strong relationships to connect the money, ideas and talent here in Miami.

What they do: Private offices, co-working, research labs
Website: Visit Here
Phone: 305-503-7751
Address: 1951 NW 7th Ave., Miami

Code for Miami

Some of the most talented activists and developers from across Miami-Dade meet up at Code for Miami every week. Part of the nonprofit Code for America, the Miami branch is dedicated to improving access to open data and finding new projects that use open source technology and applications to improve the community.

What they do: Weekly meetup
Website: Visit Here
Hours: Mondays at 7 p.m.
Address: 400 N.W. 26th St, Miami

Digital Grass

Digital Grass is an innovation and technology company dedicated to promoting diversity among South Florida’s technical and entrepreneurial landscape. They do this by providing resources for minority and women-owned startups, giving them access to mentors, investors, and other development tools. 

What they do: Mentorship
Address: 66 N.E. 39th St., Suite 263, Miami

EcoTech Visions

From its office in North Miami, EcoTech Visions is working to build a “green corridor” through a business incubator and accelerator helping local entrepreneurs launch environmentally-focused businesses and products. The incubator offers green startups workspace, mentorship, and support for light manufacturing. EcoTech also runs externship and fellowship programs for local students.

What they do: Classes, venue, and events
Website: Visit Here
Phone: (305) 224-9461
Address: 667 N.W. 90th St., Miami

eMerge Americas

With a focus on North and South America, as well as Europe, eMerge Americas showcases innovation across the tech field. Their conference brings together startups with major leaders in the business and tech world, featuring major keynote speakers and discussions about using technology to revolutionize everything from the health field to education and finance to city planning.

What they do: Conference
Website: Visit Here
Hours: April 18–19, 2016

Fourth Estate

Fourth Estate is a news organization that operates with the goal of fostering, supports, and incubates a sustainable free press. Through a multi-stakeholder model, Fourth Estate aims to build a long-term, sustainable economic relationship to produce journalism for the public benefit. It also offers a number of storytelling awards and grants, including funding for investigative work.

What they do: News
Website: Visit Here
Phone: 305-720-2481
Address: 261 NE 1st Street, 5th Floor

MentorDay

MentorDay is the creation of Juan López Salaberry, an entrepreneur and former partner at 500 Startups. The nonprofit arranges monthly one-on-one, 45-minute sessions between experienced mentors and entrepreneurs, focused on specific challenges the entrepreneur is facing. The program is free and takes place on the third Friday of every month. Entrepreneurs apply and are accepted into the sessions on a rolling basis.

What they do: Mentorship
Website: Visit Here

Miami made

Miami made’s mission is to leverage the diversity, collective knowledge and creative energy of founders to lead Miami’s startup ecosystem to its next evolution as a premier place to start a company.

What they do: Founder community
Website: Visit Here

Miami Mini Maker Faire

Maker Faire is a global showcase of makers and innovators, with events held all over the country and the world. The annual Miami Mini Maker Fair is a local, family friendly celebration of Miami’s Maker Movement. It showcasing products created by tech enthusiasts, scientists, garage tinkerers, and beyond.

What they do: Annual event
Website: Visit Here
Hours: Sat., Feb. 20 and Sun., Feb. 21st, 2016, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Address: 2100 Biscayne Blvd., Miami

Refresh Miami

In an effort to build South Florida’s entrepreneurial and tech community, this nonprofit hosts events to connect curious innovators across the region. To date, Refresh Miami has hosted more than 100 events, educational workshops and meetups among its 9,000 members. Their job board, connected to Indeed, lists available vacancies around the country.

What they do: Events, workshops, meetups, and jobs
Website: Visit Here

Sime MIA

Sime MIA is a two-day annual event gathering thought leaders in the fields of technology, media and the arts. On day one, speakers and attendees engage in conversations around the latest industry trends. On the second day, there is a full day of summits comprised of presentations, panels and performances. This is an opportunity to network with world-renowned professionals and learn more about industry trends.

What they do: Annual conference
Website: Visit Here
Address: New World Center: 500 17th St., Miami Beach
The Lab: 400 N.W. 26th St, Miami

Smart City Startups

During this yearly summit, Smart City Startups showcases demos of 100 startups bringing solutions to cities across the world, with a focus on bringing together people to solve urban problems through technology. Workshops and panels explore ways to form partnerships and seek funding. The summit attracts people from around the world, from investors to city officials, with a focus on working with government instead of around it.

What they do: Annual summit and workshops
Website: Visit Here
Hours: April 23 – 24, 2016

SocialPubli

SocialPubli and founder Ismael El-Qudsi are taking the advertising world by storm with their influencer marketing tool, and El-Qudsi has chosen Miami as SocialPubli’s US base. It’s essentially a marketplace that connects companies looking for advertising with social media influencers who are paid to be ambassadors for that brand. A company just has to go to SocialPubli and say how many people they want to reach and what they’re willing to spend, and SocialPubli sets up the connection with the influencer(s). It’s less work with more impact for the companies and it’s a way for influencers to monetize the attention they get.

What they do: Advertising
Website: Visit Here

Startup Grind Miami

Powered by Google for entrepreneurs, this international community launched its Miami branch in 2014, continuing its mission of educating, inspiring, and connecting local entrepreneurs. They host events and post information online to foster both a local and global community.

What they do: Monthly meetup
Website: Visit Here
Phone: 954-292-1258

Tech.Co

Tech.Co, formerly Tech Cocktail, is a media and event company reporting on industry trends, new startups and general tech news to build local tech communities. The company also organizes events around the world, such as mixers, conferences and festivals. Its website has an extensive job board that can be filtered by city.

What they do: News, events, and job placement
Website: Visit Here

The Idea Center at Miami-Dade College

As the largest public college in the United States, MDC has a unique opportunity for trying new things at educational scale. The Idea Center is a cross-sector project offering entrepreneurship education and experiential learning for students to learn and practice business innovation. The program offers a degree in entrepreneurship, specialized courses on topics like coding and digital marketing, and support for students interested in launching businesses. The Idea Center also hosts regular events and talks from entrepreneurial leaders.

What they do: Classes, venue, and events
Website: Visit Here
Phone: 305-237-7807
Address: 315 N.E. 2nd Ave., Bldg. 8, 5th floor, Miami

The Launch Pad

The University of Miami created The Launch Pad in 2008. The program aims to support budding entrepreneurs in South Florida. The program offers mentorship, guidance, and connections  Launch Pad clients. The Launch Pad also has a consulting program that is limited to University of Miami students and alumni, but the organization does offer workshops, seminars, and events that are open to anyone.

What they do: Grant, Mentorship
Website: Visit Here
Phone: 305-284-2789
Address: UC Room 100, 1306 Stanford Dr, Miami, FL

UP Miami

As the Miami branch of the global UP community, UP Miami is a volunteer-driven initiative to provide resources for aspiring local entrepreneurs while building a community of innovators. The organization publishes a weekly digest and hosts Startup Weekend events throughout the year. Through the course of a weekend, passionate entrepreneurs come together at Startup Weekends to launch a startup concept in just 54 hours. TechStars, a startup accelerator, recently acquired UP global, creating an even stronger community.

 

What they do: Events and weekly newsletter
Website: Visit Here

Waffle Wednesday

Born out of a love for waffles, this weekly alternative networking event gathers like-minded creatives at LiveNinja’s Wynwood offices.  With attendees ranging from entrepreneurs, to designers, to investors there is always something to learn. Each event features one presentation — examples include a coding tutorial or a social media strategy — fresh coffee, and of course, waffles. And the best part is that it’s all free.

What they do: Weekly meetup
Website: Visit Here
Hours: Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
Address: 120 NW 25th St., No. 301, Miami

Women Innovating Now (WIN) Lab

Founded at Babson College in Massachusetts, one of the country’s leading universities focused on entrepreneurship, the WIN Lab is a program that brings cohorts of female-led businesses through an eight-month program of mentorship, business development, networking, and co-working space. The program is open to businesses from the idea to scale stage.

What they do: Mentorship
Website: Visit Here

Venture Café

Venture Café Miami helps innovators by enhancing and accelerating the growth of innovation in Miami through high-impact programming and events and by creating intentional spaces for entrepreneurial individuals and organizations to gather, connect, and build relationships. They host the Thursday Gathering every week at CIC Miami from 4 to 9 p.m.

What they do: Weekly meetup good for networking and mentorship
Website: Visit Here