20131001-DSCF4228 Photo of Tech Cocktail Miami Mixer & Startup Showcase is by Herby Garcia.
Tech Cocktail, a national media company and events organization for startups and technology enthusiasts, will launch in Miami with $150,000 in support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the organizations announced Tuesday night at a Tech Cocktail Miami Mixer & Startup Showcase.
With Knight funding, Tech Cocktail will organize regular networking events to bring the Miami startup community together and provide opportunities for learning and growth. This includes speaker forums and competitions where early-stage startups can practice their pitches and gain exposure. They will also connect with entrepreneurs, investors and tech innovators as a way to help scale and improve their work, according to the press release. At least seven or eight events are being planned for 2014.
Tech Cocktail also will leverage its national online and social reach to tell the Miami startup story. A Miami-based Tech Cocktail staff reporter/community manager will be hired to cover the region and highlight community ventures and activities. “Tech Cocktail will help drive this momentum, by making it easier for doers and entrepreneurs to connect and build their ideas, while shining a national spotlight on the city’s many startup successes,” said Matt Haggman, Miami program director of the Knight Foundation.
"We're super excited to be here," Frank Gruber, CEO and co-founder of Tech Cocktail, told the crowd at the mixer held at Miami Dade College. "We want to better tell the stories of what is going on here and cross polinate them with what we are doing around the country."
Tech Cocktail, founded in 2006, is in 42 other cities worldwide but has staff reporters in only three other cities, Gruber said.
20131001-DSCF4540 Photo at Tech Cocktail Miami Mixer and Startup Showcase is by Herby Garcia.
Posted Oct. 1, 2013