Since the pandemic Miami has been a magnet for many startups, founders and Venture Capital investors. With the Web3 and crypto in addition to Florida's warm weather and accomodating tax laws have driven a lot of the development. PayPal alum and Venture Capitalist Keith Rabois has been a vocal supporter of the city as a great place for startups. The number of financing deals and amount of money raised has been increasing for Miami based companies, as this chart from CB Insights shows:
Additionally some startup unicorns 🦄, companies valued at $1 billion or more call Miami home of their corporate headquarters. Miami companies with the "unicorn" status include MoonPay, Pipe, Papa, REEF Technology, Kaseya and Magic Leap (based in nearby Plantation, FL). Some of these companies were only established within the past few years and make our list of top startups to watch in Miami.
Crypto and the rise of Web3 technologies, combined with people moving from San Francisco and New York to Miami has helped the Miami startup ecosystem grow. In a recent Y Combinator cohort there were more founders based in Miami than any other city! Blockchain.com relocated its headquarters to Miami. The city hosts the world's largest bitcoin conference and Art Basel an art event where many discussions centered around NFTs. The political establishment in Miami has been supportive of crypto businesses, with Miami mayor Francis Suarez taking his pay in Bitcoin and launching a token for the city called MiamiCoin. Miami has been at the center of the rise of Web3 and cryptocurrency adoption.
Without further ado here's the Employbl list of top Miami startups to watch in 2022..
Top Miami Startups to Watch in 2022
In this list I pulled startups headquartered in Miami, FL that were established in 2017 or later. These companies aren't public and haven't been acquired. The list is sorted by the total funding amount financiers have invested in each business. You'll notice a lot of blockchain companies on this list as it seems to be a central feature of the Miami startup scene.
| Company Name | HQ City | Year Founded | Total Amount Raised | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MoonPay | Miami, FL | 2018 | $642,000,000 | MoonPay is a financial technology company that builds payments infrastructure for crypto. Our on-and-off-ramp suite of products provides a seamless experience for converting between fiat currencies and cryptocurrencies using all major payment methods including debit and credit card, local bank transfers, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay. MoonPay is active in more than 160 countries and is trusted by 250+ leading wallets, websites, and applications to accept payments and defeat fraud. |
| Pipe | Miami, FL | 2019 | $566,000,000 | Grow on your terms. |
| KEO World | Miami, FL | 2020 | $500,000,000 | Disrupting the Credit Paradigm |
| ALEPH GROUP | Miami, FL | 2021 | $470,000,000 | Aleph Group, Inc. manufactures automobiles. The Company offers bloodmobiles, modular hospitals, mobile medical, and specialty vehicles. |
| Yuga Labs | Miami, FL | 2021 | $450,000,000 | Yuga Labs is a blockchain technology company that develops NFTs and digital collectibles. It specializes in the fields of blockchain, cryptocurrency, and digital media. |
| Papa | Miami, FL | 2017 | $241,204,992 | Family On-Demand |
| Niido | Miami, FL | 2017 | $200,000,000 | Changing the way people live. |
| Marco | Miami, FL | 2019 | $108,000,000 | Marco is a tech-enabled, trade finance platform that provides reliable access to working capital for Latin American SMEs. It promotes paperless processes and dedicated support from industry experts to create a seamless financing solution. The company was founded in 2019 by Jacob Shoihet and Peter D. |
| OpenStore | Miami, FL | 2021 | $105,000,000 | OpenStore connects merchants and customers into a single unified shopping experience through access to data, information, and capital. The company aims to offer instant liquidity for eCommerce entrepreneurs. |
| Elevated Ride-Hailing Technologies | Miami, FL | 2021 | $100,000,000 | Elevated enters the market with a vision to become one of the leading ride-hailing companies in the United States, with an all-electric fleet of Tesla vehicles with self-driving capabilities, as well as a strategy to revolutionize the riding experience. |
| Clerisy | Miami, FL | 2020 | $100,000,000 | Clerisy is a growth equity stage private equity and venture capital firm investing in consumer and techsumer industries. |
| OneOf | Miami, FL | 2021 | $63,000,000 | OneOf is a new green NFT platform built specifically for the music community. |
| Recur | Miami, FL | 2021 | $55,000,000 | Recur design & develop on-chain branded experiences for fans to buy, collect, and re-sell NFTs. RECUR is chain agnostic and is fundamentally changing the NFT market by creating and setting the standard for a decentralized recurring royalty, creating the widest distribution and reach for NFTs minted on their platform. |
| SmartHop | Miami, FL | 2018 | $46,620,000 | Book better loads, plan smarter routes and grow your business. |
| QuickNode | Miami, FL | 2017 | $40,800,000 | QuickNode simplifies blockchain infrastructure for teams big & small. A lightning-fast global API provides instant access to Ethereum, Bitcoin, Matic, BSC & xDai networks. Access chain data via JSON-RPC over endpoints. Monitor usage with analytics dashboard and ship faster with tools like 1-click WebHooks (for smart-contract events). |
| CoinRoutes | Miami, FL | 2017 | $34,000,000 | See the Market, Trade Smarter |
| Heru | Miami, FL | 2018 | $32,700,000 | Heru Inc. (www.SeeHeru.com) has developed patented autonomous AI-powered vision diagnostics and augmentation software for use on commercially available AR/VR devices. This technology exceeds traditional standards of care in clinical equivalence, usability, cost, size, and portability. |
| Faraway | Miami, FL | 2021 | $29,000,000 | Faraway makes hyper-social blockchain games with player-driven economies. |
| aXpire | Miami, FL | 2018 | $20,000,000 | aXpire provides expense allocation software, e-billing and invoicing software and payments software for private equity, hedge funds, funds of funds, banks and others. |
| NUE Life Health | Miami, FL | 2020 | $18,300,000 | NUE Life aims to improve mental wellness by enhancing brain function, performance, and longevity through evidence based and scientifically proven mental health treatments and products. |
| Relief App | Miami, FL | 2020 | $17,000,000 | Relief App is a financial services company currently based in Miami, Florida. It has been founded in 2020 by Jason Saltzman, Bryan Okeke, and Ram Berrouet. |
| OnChain Studios | Miami, FL | 2021 | $11,000,000 | OnChain Studios is a software company that intends to bring ownership to interactive experiences. |
| Secberus | Miami, FL | 2017 | $10,301,000 | Gain Confidence in the Cloud, Today and Tomorrow. |
| Mytaverse | Miami, FL | 2020 | $10,300,000 | The Mytaverse platform, which is powered by the Miami startup, GathR Virtual Studios Inc, creates 3D immersive settings which provide businesses, nonprofits, academic and government institutions with digitally-visualized hybrid work spaces. |
| Asteya | Miami, FL | 2020 | $10,000,000 | Asteya operates as an income insurance startup. Asteya launched with a product for individuals such as gig economy workers, who can take protecting their income with monthly plans. |
| DoorLoop | Miami, FL | 2019 | $10,000,000 | DoorLoop is a rental property management software that offers screening tenants, collects rent, and manages accounting services. |
| Moxie | Miami, FL | 2020 | $8,400,000 | Moxie is an online fitness platform that provides its users with fitness routines and online instructors. Moxie platform provides everything instructors need to run their own online fitness business, including personalized studios, scheduling, payments, subscriptions, streaming music, CRM, and more. |
| Overproof | Miami, FL | 2018 | $6,180,500 | Empower better decisions. |
| Acton Media | Miami, FL | 2020 | $6,000,000 | Acton Media is a provider of online media services. |
| Influur | Miami, FL | 2020 | $5,800,000 | Live off your talents |
| GamerGains | Miami, FL | 2021 | $5,800,000 | GamerGains Labs is the first-ever token and cryptocurrency-based play and earn platform serving traditional gamers – a community of hundreds of millions of people around the world that enjoy playing on PCs and consoles such as Xbox and PlayStation. |
| Poolit | Miami, FL | 2021 | $5,255,000 | Poolit allows users to invest in private equity, venture capital, and hedge funds with no minimum. The company was founded by Dakotah Rice in 2021 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. |
| Tonic | Miami, FL | 2022 | $5,000,000 | Tonic is building a permissionless decentralized protocol for fast and seamless trading of any asset on NEAR and Aurora. The platform will enable developers building on NEAR’s Layer 1 solution to integrate trading functionality into their applications. |
| Famosos | Miami, FL | 2019 | $4,810,000 | Mucho mas que un saludo! |
| Ugami | Miami, FL | 2021 | $4,800,000 | Ugami provides financial solutions and rewards for gamers that can be used in gaming merchandise, digital goods, hardware, and software. |
| EatOS - Restaurant Management Made Simple | Miami, FL | 2017 | $4,170,000 | At eatOS, we have built a cloud-based technology solution exclusively for restaurants. Our team's collective experience in the restaurant industry helps us understand the complexity of running restaurants, which has allowed us to build a customizable solution to help restaurants react and adapt to the industry's needs. |
| Traba | Miami, FL | 2021 | $3,600,000 | Traba is a marketplace that connects light industrial workers with businesses to fill open shifts. Their focus is on opportunities in warehousing, distribution, and event staffing. |
| Bytechek LLC | Miami, FL | 2020 | $3,100,000 | ByteChek helps businesses build cybersecurity programs to enhance sales and build trust from customers. |
| Oxygen Healthcare | Miami, FL | 2020 | $3,000,000 | Building a platform for the patients to take back the control of their health and doctors to become digital first! |
| Storybook | Miami, FL | 2020 | $2,850,000 | STORYBOOK is the only app to combine infant massage, bedtime stories and music to help children relax and sleep better. |
| Guide | Miami, FL | 2019 | $2,500,000 | Guide is the bite-size learning & talent development B2B/C SaaS App for enterprise remote teams |
| Prescient AI | Miami, FL | 2020 | $2,200,000 | Prescient is your premier state-of-the-art automation software that provides transparency and precise data insights for marketers and digital DTC brands alike. With the onset of a major shift toward a privacy-first internet, Prescient is the answer to fueling a brand’s success. |
| Beeyond | Miami, FL | 2020 | $2,050,000 | Beeyond optimizes any Out-of-Home media budget and produces more creative, strategic, segmented, and relevant campaigns. Beeyond Media is the only platform that replicates the programmatic ad buying ecosystem in exterior communications. The company developed what the industry has dreamt of and tried to achieve for years. |
| OppZo | Miami, FL | 2020 | $2,049,999 | OppZo connects small businesses to public and private capital sources so they can financially reboot and rebuild their business. The company is building an ecosystem that drives public and private capital to businesses in these distressed communities. |
| RewardsWeb | Miami, FL | 2021 | $2,000,000 | RewardsWeb offers a platform that enhances loyalty and reward programs. Its platform helps shoppers to pay for purchases with local credit and debit cards or with cash at banks through agreements with local financial institutions, thereby enabling customers to buy products of their own choice of brands. |
| Colkie | Miami, FL | 2021 | $2,000,000 | Colkie is a content creators economy platform where artists can monetize their content while creating personalized experiences for their fans |
| Project Noa | Miami, FL | 2020 | $1,800,000 | Blockchain local commerce. |
| El American | Miami, FL | 2020 | $1,776,000 | El American is the first bilingual conservative media platform focused on providing information, opinion, analysis and good journalism to the fastest growing audience in the United States: Hispanics. |
| Monet | Miami, FL | 2020 | $125,000 | Monet is an application that allows employees to advance their salaries through their mobile phones. |
Honorable Mentions
These ones didn't quite fit into the above parameters but are worth mentioning as they're part of the Miami tech startup scene.
- Lula was founded in 2016 and has raised $18 million from Venture Capitalists that include Founders Fund and Khosla Venstures. They're building an insurance company.
- Friendly Apps is based in Miami and raised a $3 million Seed round. Their website says "so many products today are designed with a focus on retention first, to the detriment of mental health. what if we changed that?".
- Lofty has raised $5 million, $3 million worth of debt financing. They're a Y Combinator and they build software to let people invest in "tokenized rental properties" on the Algorand blockchain. Looking at their website it looks like they sell houses $50 at a time but.. blockchain.
Find Startups in Miami
This list is meant to be a starting point for your research into the Miami startup scene. If you'd like to discover, sort and filter startups and tech companies in Miami you can use the Employbl dashboard. We've built a tool that's free for anyone to use. You can find companies by their headquarters location, the Venture Capital firms that have invested, founded year, industry and even custom company collections like this one we've built out. You can "watch" the companies to build your watchlist of companies you're interested in keeping track of. To quickly view the companies from this list on the Employbl dashboard you can login then head to Companies > Company Collections > Top Miami Startups to Watch 2022 like so:
If you'd just like to see the raw data of the companies on the "top startups Miami" list you can find a TSV file on GitHub here. If there's a future report you'd like to see or have feedback for us about the Employbl dashboard tweet me!