VC & InvestingJune 5, 2026·9 min read·

Miami VC Firms 2026: Who's Investing in South Florida Startups

South Florida startups raised $4.13 billion in 2025, a post-pandemic high. Here's who the active investors are, what they fund, what check sizes look like, and how to actually get in front of them.

VC
Editor-in-chief: Trace Cohen — Angel investor, VC, family office, operator and founder · 3x founder (BrandYourself, Launch.it, SPOT) · 65+ investments

AI-assisted: drafted with AI from the cited sources — how we check it

65+Investments3xFounder$200M+Funds Tracked

Quick Answer

Startups from Miami-Dade through Palm Beach County raised $4.13B across 376 deals in 2025, up 49% and a post-pandemic high, per eMerge Americas. Fintech led the Miami metro with $909M. Active investors include Fuel Venture Capital, TheVentureCity, New World Angels (now combined with Miami Angels), Florida Funders, and Palm Beach Capital.

Startups in the South Florida hub raised $4.13 billion across 376 deals in 2025, up 49% from 2024. That's not a trend — that's a structural shift in where early-stage capital lives.

According to eMerge Americas' 2025 Annual Insights Report, the South Florida hub, from Miami-Dade through Palm Beach County, captured 71% of Florida's venture dollars in 2025, and the Miami metro ranked 9th among U.S. metros by deal value and 5th by deal count (Refresh Miami summary). South Florida is no longer a secondary market for deals that didn't close in New York or San Francisco. It is a primary market — with its own investor thesis, its own sector concentration, and increasingly its own exit pipeline.

Key Miami VC Firms and Investors (2026)

Fuel Venture Capital

Fintech, enterprise SaaS, consumer tech, sports and entertainment tech

Not published
Early stage

Miami-based firm led by Jeff Ransdell. Launched its first Flagship Fund (about $162M) in 2017 and in 2023 began raising a $300M Flagship Fund II, per Refresh Miami. Portfolio includes Betr, RecargaPay, CookUnity, and Taxfyle. Source: Refresh Miami

TheVentureCity

Data- and AI-driven B2B: deeptech, fintech, healthtech, logistics, cyber

$2.5–4M
Series A

Miami-based firm launched in 2017 by Laura González-Estéfani and Clara Bullrich (per Refresh Miami). Lists 120+ portfolio companies and $155M+ under management, investing across the U.S., Europe, and LatAm, pairing capital with data and product-growth support. Source: TheVentureCity

New World Angels (with Miami Angels)

Sector-agnostic: healthcare, fintech, IT, consumer, space & defense

$250K–$2M (2024)
Seed to Series A

Boca Raton-rooted angel network founded in 2003. In March 2026 Miami Angels joined New World, creating a statewide group with over $65M collectively deployed. Refresh Miami reported in 2024 that the group typically invests $250,000 to $2 million per company. Source: New World Angels

Palm Beach Capital

Business services, healthcare, infrastructure, logistics

$20M–$300M EV deals
Private equity

West Palm Beach-based. Targets companies with $20M+ revenue and $5M+ EBITDA through control and minority investments. This is private equity, not venture. Source: Palm Beach Capital

Florida Funders

Early-stage B2B tech, nationwide

Not published
Pre-seed to Series B

Tampa-based venture firm with a network of 2,000+ accredited investors, currently investing out of Fund 3. Invests nationally, with deep Florida roots. Source: Florida Funders

This is a partial list. "Not published" means the firm does not publish a standard check size. The Miami investor landscape changes rapidly — for warm introductions across the South Florida ecosystem, reach out to Trace Cohen.

The LatAm Advantage: Miami's Unique Edge

Miami's most underappreciated advantage over other tech hubs is its Latin American network. This is not a soft cultural point — it translates directly into deal flow and co-investment that NYC and SF-based funds cannot access without Miami presence.

Latin American family offices are an active part of Miami's investor base. When a company has operations or distribution in LatAm markets, Miami VCs can often structure co-investment with local capital in a way that reduces the burden on the lead investor and opens doors to customers, distribution partners, and acquirers that a US-only fund can't match.

If your company serves Spanish or Portuguese-speaking markets, or you're building cross-border fintech, logistics, or SaaS for the Americas — Miami is not just a lifestyle choice. It is a strategic investor location.

How to Get in Front of Miami Investors

Timing matters as much as the channel — see which Miami Tech Week events are actually worth your flight before picking a target date.

→

Refresh Miami events

A central community and news hub for the Miami tech ecosystem, with regular events — plus the wider founder happy hours and pitch nights that fill out Miami Tech Week each year. Attendance is how you get on the radar of local investors before you formally pitch.

→

Florida Venture Capital Conference (FVCC)

Annual Florida Venture Forum event. For the February 2026 edition in Coral Gables, 54 companies were selected to present, 22 of them from the Miami metro. Getting selected is competitive but provides direct access to the serious capital in the ecosystem.

→

1909 (West Palm Beach)

Downtown West Palm Beach nonprofit entrepreneurship hub with cohort-based programs (Launch, Grow, Scale), mentorship, and workspace. Good for founders who want structured support and introductions in the WPB-to-Boca corridor.

→

New World Angels application

Boca Raton-rooted angel group, now combined with Miami Angels, accepts funding applications through its website. The statewide network has broad sector coverage and invests from seed to Series A.

→

Warm intro via the NY–Miami network

Many Miami VCs came from NYC. If you have NYC investor relationships, ask explicitly for South Florida introductions — the network overlap is high and often underutilized.

$4.13B across 376 deals in 2025. South Florida is no longer emerging — it's arrived.

Need an introduction into the South Florida investor network? t@nyvp.com · @Trace_Cohen

Published by Value Add VC · Editor-in-chief: Trace Cohen. South Florida resources · t@nyvp.com

Get VC data most people never see

— free to subscribe

Trace's notes on venture, AI and startups, a few times a week. Join 5,000+ subscribers. No spam.

No spam, unsubscribe anytime. Sent via Substack · Privacy · or subscribe on Substack ↗

Add Value Add VC as a preferred source on Google

Frequently Asked Questions

How much VC funding does Miami raise?

Startups in the South Florida hub, from Miami-Dade through Palm Beach County, raised $4.13 billion across 376 deals in 2025, according to eMerge Americas’ 2025 Annual Insights Report, with funding up 49% from 2024. The Miami metro ranked 9th among U.S. metro areas by deal value and 5th by deal count.

How many VC firms are in Miami?

There is no authoritative public count of active VC firms in Miami, and counts vary widely depending on whether angel groups, family offices, and out-of-state firms with a local partner are included. The practical approach is to build a target list from recent South Florida deals and the funds that led them.

What sectors do Miami VCs fund?

Fintech drew the most venture funding in the Miami metro in 2025, at $909 million, per eMerge Americas. Healthcare-related companies were No. 2 with $821 million across 56 deals, blockchain and web3 startups raised $480 million across 38 rounds, and AI-focused startups in the metro raised $1.22 billion. LatAm-connected businesses can also find local funds with Latin American investor networks.

How do you raise VC funding in South Florida?

The most effective approach in South Florida is warm intros through community organizations and hubs (Refresh Miami, 1909 in West Palm Beach), attending ecosystem events, and leveraging the NY–Miami network overlap. Relationship-building matters more here than cold outreach. Refresh Miami events or the Florida Venture Capital Conference are strong starting points.

What check sizes do Miami VCs write?

It varies by firm. TheVentureCity lists a $2.5–4M ticket size for Series A. Florida Funders invests from pre-seed through Series B. New World Angels focuses on seed to Series A and, per Refresh Miami, typically invests $250,000 to $2 million per company (as of 2024). Palm Beach Capital is private equity rather than venture, targeting deals of $20M to $300M in enterprise value.

How does Miami's VC scene compare to NYC and SF?

Miami is much smaller by capital deployed. The South Florida hub raised $4.13B across 376 deals in 2025, versus $32.58B across 1,979 deals in the New York City metro and $177.35B across 3,246 deals in Silicon Valley, per eMerge Americas’ report citing PitchBook. Miami’s distinct advantage is LatAm-connected deal flow and investor networks. Among the 14 funds raised by Florida-based firms in 2025, eMerge Americas reported that the largest focused on early-stage investing, including two raises by Jupiter-based Seven Seven Six.

Explore 45+ free VC tools, dashboards, and recommended startup software.