As excitement builds around Miami’s burgeoning tech community, Florida International University’s (FIU) College of Business Administration continues to expand its presence as a vital resource, and important facilitator of knowledge-based industries.
Planning for FIU’s third Americas Venture Capital Conference (AVCC) is in full gear, with an advisory council now creating the agenda and soliciting innovative technology ventures from throughout the globe to present at the conference, December 13-14, 2012, at the JW Marriott Brickell in Miami.
Year-round, the college helps small and medium sized business initiatives through the Eugenio Pino and Family Global Entrepreneurship Center. And most recently, one of the world’s leading tech innovators looked to FIU to support a program that fosters innovative healthcare ventures.
IBM chose FIU as one of seven co-sponsors for its 2012 SmartCamp KickStart Miami, a forum focused on innovative ventures in healthcare. FIU’s Pino Center also hosted the event, with staff members working behind the scenes to facilitate the all-day program. Mentoring sessions, venture presentations and a cocktail reception for more than 150 participants took place May 15th.
AVCC award-winning healthcare venture takes center stage at IBM SmartCamp.
One of the five ventures selected to present at SmartCamp was already known to those who attended the 2011 AVCC: Consult A Doctor, an innovator of cloud-based telemedicine services that was selected for the Tres Mares Innovation Prize. Consult A Doctor won at IBM SmartCamp Miami, earning a trip to the national IBM SmartCamp competition in Boston, which took place June 21st.
“Our participation at 2011 AVCC was a privilege,” said Wolf Shlagman, founder and CEO of Consult A Doctor. “The recognition as Top Global Innovator afforded us new opportunities within the venture capital community and helped us forge relationships with world-class leaders in technology like IBM.”
Jerry Haar, associate dean for international programs and director of the Pino Center, sees FIU’s work in support of IBM SmartCamp as part of the center’s mission of supporting innovation and technology.
“We are an entrepreneurial university in an entrepreneurial city,” Haar said. “The Pino Center is an important catalyst of this wonderful dynamic.”
