AND THE WINNERS OF THE 2021 MIAMI HERALD STARTUP PITCH COMPETITION ARE ...
What a difference a year makes. A year ago, we were announcing the winners of the Miami Herald Startup Pitch Competition from lockdown.
In 2021, we’ve mastered pitching by Zoom, taught everyone else on the planet the meaning of ‘pivot,’ and welcomed a flood of new venture capitalists and techies at cafecito and beer meet-ups.
Now, we’re celebrating some of the most-sophisticated entries we’ve seen in the 20-plus years of the Miami Herald’s signature entrepreneurship outreach — the Miami Herald Startup Pitch Competition.
Our Community Track is open to anyone based in South Florida, from Palm Beach to Key West; businesses must have a minimum viable product. Our FIU Track is open to students, faculty and alumni of Florida International University and may still be in the concept phase.
Before we get to the awards, we want to thank the many people who make this possible. First and foremost, that includes Melissa Krinzman, co-founder of Krillion Ventures, who generously donated her time and counseling services to help our Community Track finalists polish their pitches.
Next, our Community Track judges: Monica Black, founder and managing director of Function, a nonprofit investor community; Leigh-Ann Buchanan,
president and executive director of ecosystem builder aīre ventures; Red Rooster restaurant group partner Derek Fleming; Ana Paula Gonzalez, director of SoftBank International Group’s Miami initiative; Lucas Hernández, U.S. corporate partnerships lead at Microsoft Philanthropies; Roy Lowrance, advisor at Blumberg Capital; and Shutterstock founder Jon Oringer.
Our FIU Track judges: Juan Carlos ABello, creator of the Nuvola app; Seema Pissaris, serial entrepreneur and FIU professor; Orlando Espinosa, co-founder of Emineo Media; Karlene Cousins and chair and association professor of Information Systems and Business at FIU.
And never least, the behind-the-scenes teams at the Miami Herald and FIU.
And now, the winners are ...
COMMUNITY TRACK
First place: Payall, founded by Gary Palmer
Second place: Humanintelligence, founded by Juan Luis Betancourt
Third place (tie):
Premier Virtual, led by Steve Edwards; and Data Driven Care, led by Shekhar Iyer
Honorable mention:
NU-Habitat, founded by Gabriele Campana
FIU TRACK
First place: Show Agents, from Nadia Davis
Second place: PodPic, from Laura Borland and Sean Hale
Third place: Weighted Luggage, submitted by Indira Nunez, Ernesto Ramos and Adena Green