Say “Peru” to a lot of people and what comes to mind? Copper, ceviche and Macchu Pichu. Yet bubbling beneath the surface—and already emerging—is an ecosystem of startups that will soon hold its own in South America with those in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Colombia. A recent trip to Lima, to moderate a session at […]
There is never a shortage of entrepreneurial spirit in South Florida. Entries to our 15th Annual Miami Herald Business Plan Challenge poured in, making cases for businesses in nearly every industry imaginable. This year’s Challenge, sponsored by Florida International University’s Pino Global Entrepreneurship Center, drew a record number of entries — 238 in all — […]
Miami may be a major metropolis, but in certain circles, all it takes to raise the capital to buy a $1 billion bank is one degree of separation. When longtime friends and scions of South Florida family businesses, Jimmy Tate and Sergio Rok, dreamed of recapitalizing ailing U.S. Century Bank, they drew up a list […]
Alex Mantovani scanned Miami’s financial district from the fourth-floor office of Brazilian digital marketing company Grupo Avadora he opened in January. Golden keys to the city and the county, symbols of welcome, lay on a table. Avadora represents an opportunity for Miami-Dade County as it battles an unemployment rate higher than Florida’s and the nation’s. […]
Felipe Lobón’s parents had long planned to move to South Florida from Caracas. But their plans accelerated in early 2003, when a prolonged work stoppage protesting President Hugo Chávez paralyzed Venezuela. By February, Lobón, then 13, and his family had picked up and left, concerned about high crime and political and economic instability. They moved […]
The award for the Digicel Entrepreneur of the Year 2012 took place in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti in December 2012. Jean Lionel Pressoir of Lojistik S.A.—who has built a tourism company to promote Haiti’s beauty and culture—was selected for the honor. Prior to the competition, Pressoir was one of 24 Haitian entrepreneurs who attended a Digicel CEO […]
Florida International University’s Pino Global Entrepreneurship Center will host its fourth annual Americas Venture Capital Conference (AVCC) on Dec. 11 and 12 in Miami. This year’s theme will be the hot topic of “Healthcare Innovation and Venture Capital.” The conference will spotlight new ventures and opportunities in the healthcare sector, from products and processes to […]
What do Skype (Internet/software application), Mavi (clothing), HTC (smartphones), and Cochlear (medical devices) have in common? These firms from Estonia, Turkey, Taiwan and Australia, respectively, are all “born global” companies—enterprises whose genesis stems from a major (and sometimes exclusive) focus on foreign markets rather than their own. The phenomenon of born global companies has been […]
As a business student, Frankie Coletto (BBA ’07) often stared at the banners celebrating successful Florida International University (FIU) entrepreneurs, and made a promise to himself: someday, he would be up there. Four years later, his dream became a reality. The CEO of PassTheNotes.com was one of five FIU graduates featured in the Pino Global […]
Florida International University’s (FIU) 2012 Americas Venture Capital Conference awarded Trapezoid Digital Security and Fotopigeon top prizes at closing ceremonies for the event, which brought together nearly 400 investors, ventures and other attendees to the JW Marriott Brickell. The 2012 AVCC was presented by the Pino Global Entrepreneurship Center at the FIU College of Business. […]
