Not long ago, the Valencian entrepreneurial ecosystem had the chance to explore the business opportunities offered by the East Coast of the US. Startup Valencia, in collaboration with Hospitality Ventures, organised a business mission to Miami with the aim of increasing awareness about the tech projects being carried out by Valencian companies and to help them enter the US market, generate business, and scale.
This expedition, which took place over the past week, brought together 18 startups that consider the United States and Latin America to be potential markets for their products and services, as well as destinations in which to establish part of their company or seek investment from large funds.
The Valencian entrepreneurial ecosystem has focused on the USA and considers Miami to be a gateway of interest. Moreover, in recent years, the city has become a key territory for innovation and tech development on the American continent. For Josevi Villaroig, co-founder and COO of Naria, one of the participants in this mission, “the new Silicon Valley is emerging in Miami and it’s evolving very fast“.
The participating startups were able to learn first-hand about Florida’s tech and innovation through a full schedule of visits to the key figures in the sector, including Matt Haggman, Executive VP at The Beacon Council. These meetings helped Valencian entrepreneurs learn about the requirements for opening a branch office in the United States, how to obtain investment from American funds, and what legislative rules apply in this market.
Valencian entrepreneurs aroused great interest from investors, to whom they presented their projects, such as Genesis Ventures, Taram Capital, Animo VC, The Venture City, Key International, Gold Coast Angel Investors, Silicon Valley Bank, Microsoft for Startups, Salesforce Ventures, Amazon AWS and several family offices, among others.
As explained by Nacho Mas, CEO of Startup Valencia, who was part of the mission: “the connection between Valencia and Miami has been cultivated by Startup Valencia in recent years and this expedition has been an opportunity to materialise and strengthen our relationship. Our entrepreneurs have been able to meet with leading American investment funds, banks and accelerators, as well as network with potential US business partners. We are very grateful to Mannatech and Laura González-Estéfani, founder and CEO of The Venture City, for hosting us on this mission”.
The 18 tech companies participating in this mission organised by Startup Valencia were the Valencian companies ClimateTrade, ClimateCoin, Fresh People, GoKoan, Reental, Ciscar, ONiAd, Shimoku, Naria, Helloprint, WeVLC, Rosita Longevity, HechicerIA, Live4life and AR Vision, the Barcelona-based Simplr, the Portuguese company Bhout and the Miami-based startup Rookmotion, thanks to the international impact of Startup Valencia. They were also accompanied by representatives of investment funds such as GoHub Ventures, Genesis Ventures and Successful Fund, among others.
Valencia-Miami connection
As Javier Martínez Amo, CEO and co-founder of OniAd, also a participant in the mission, explains: “As of late, Miami is the city that is attracting the most capital from Latin America and the United States. After covid, thousands of people from the tech sector in San Francisco and New York moved to Miami, boosting the geographic concentration of talent and investment”. Diego Moya from Climatetrade and Fernando Oñiga from Hospitality Ventures, promoters of the mission, also highlighted the fact that most of the participants concluded that “the combination of a good climate with facilities for remote work and favourable taxation are some of the keys for the development of Miami as an international tech hub”.
Startup Valencia has been developing its relationship with the Florida ecosystem over the last two years, and numerous actions have been carried out over this time to strengthen this connection and highlight the work of Valencian entrepreneurs in order to make themselves more internationally known.
Last April, seven Valencian startups had the chance to participate with Startup Valencia, in collaboration with IVACE, in one of the most recognised tech events of the innovation ecosystem worldwide: eMerge Americas.
A few months earlier, within the framework of the Valencia Digital Summit 2021, the Miami Valencia Forum took place, which launched a collaboration channel between the hubs of both cities to facilitate the exchange of talent and investment and to promote international business opportunities.
Furthermore, Miami boasts one of the world’s leading Blockchain Hubs, which is also establishing business connections with the more than 50 members of Startup Valencia’s Blockchain Hub.
Working together
makes us stronger
