Good morning, Times of E readers! This is your weekly news roundup. Every Friday, we’ll give you the rundown on the latest news in the entrepreneurship world so you can stay in touch with promotions, recent studies, pitching opportunities and more. If you have a piece of news, please send it to Skyler Rossi, srossi@timesofe.com.
Uprising in Miami
Investors and entrepreneurs have been moving from Silicon Valley and New York City to Miami, a movement that has accelerated during the pandemic. The city’s tech scene, which has been gaining more attention over the years, is flourishing, and funders want to get in on the action. The city’s mayor, Francis Suarez, has been actively pitching the city as the next tech hub on Twitter (see our Tweet of the week, at the bottom of this story). Times of E will have the full story on the changing dynamics next week.
The Capitol Attack
In the days after attack on the Capitol, the Main Street Alliance, Center for American Entrepreneurship, and the National Venture Capital Association joined other business groups, including the National Association of Manufacturers, in condemning the attack. The National Federation of Independent Business was notably absent in the condemnations, based on their web site.
Among individual companies we follow, a few stood out. Ottawa, Canada-based Shopify swiftly took down President Donald Trump’s online store and his personal brand, Trumpstore Thursday, according to The Wall Street Journal. Village Capital, a firm that supports seed-stage startups, released a statement against the riots, calling the storming “abhorrent” and a “heartbreaking day for Democracy”
“Yesterday was not a single, isolated incident,” the firm wrote in its Jan. 7 statement. “It was a result of a sustained campaign of lies, misinformation and racism, sustained for too long by a structure of hate that has suppressed so many in our nation – led by specific political leaders, including President Trump.”
The company has released political statements before, such as one congratulating President-elect Joe Biden. But last week’s statement has a political call-to-action tone that’s rare.
Pitching For Public Health Trust
Schmidt Futures and the National Academy of Medicine are launching a worldwide call to public health departments, local governments and others to apply for funding if they have answers to building public health trust. The group tweeted that more information on how to apply will come soon. Schmidt Futures CEO Eric Schmidt announced this following a two-day forum on COVID-19 preparedness hosted by the firm this week. Health and social experts, such as WHO general director Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, gathered to discuss the world’s response to the pandemic. Videos of each panel will be made public soon on Schmidt Futures’ website. Some of our coverage here: The Great, Predictable Vaccine Logjam.
Important Anchors For Canadian Tech Hub
Kanata North Business Association in Ottawa, Canada, announced this week that it’s opening a global technology center called Hub350 by the summer. The center will facilitate introductions for members to funding, research and new talent and serve as “a gateway to Canada’s largest technology park,” according to a press release. Discover Technata, Canada’s largest aggregated tech job board, will be based in the new center. There are more than 10,000 open on the board and more than 500 local roles with over 450 member companies. University of Ottawa and Carleton University have committed to creating satellite campuses in the Kanata North technology park.
First Days
Cori Zarek started as executive director of the Beeck Center at Georgetown University last week. She was previously the U.S. deputy chief technology officer and has led the Mozilla Foundation’s tech policy fellowship program. She took over the position from the center’s founder, Sonal Shah, who is joining the center’s Advisory Board.
Cincinnati-based Pay Theory CEO Brad Hoeweler became an advisor to Fintech Frontier, a partnership of Cincinnati-based financial services corporations and fintech entrepreneurs working to attract technology startups and firms to the area. Pay Theory provides payment solutions to schools, childcare and families.
Surging Interest In Entrepreneurship
More MBA students are becoming entrepreneurs as a result of COVID-19, according to a recent white paper from Illuminate Ventures. Illuminate is an Oakland, Calif.-based venture capital firm, focused on software companies, founded by Cindy Padnos in 2009. The white paper, based on responses of 500 students in 20 MBA programs across the country, discusses the differences in attitudes toward entrepreneurship between men and women. According to the study,
- Female respondents ranked self confidence as the third highest barrier to choosing to become an entrepreneur, while male respondents ranked it as the smallest.
- Over a third more men than women noted they already had a startup idea (see the chart).
- The findings showed a surging interest in entrepreneurship, with 85% of all respondents saying they were considering it as a career (88% of men, 80% of women).
Tweet of the Week
Miami Mayor Suarez has been pitching Miami as the next tech-hub on Twitter for over a month, and it’s working.
Entrepreneur Spotlight
Advice from Apollo Agriculture, a top impact startup, one with a $6m A-round: “If you’re tackling an unconventional challenge, do it unconventionally.” See the full story here: Apollo Agriculture Shows Agtech’s Resilience.
