1
Defense tech company selects Palm Beach County for maritime division HQ
Red Cat Holdings, a publicly traded U.S.-based provider of advanced all-domain drone and robotic solutions for defense and national security, has selected Palm Beach County for its new maritime HQ. Blue Ops will move into an 11,400-square-foot facility in unincorporated Palm Beach County, and plans to create more than 20 new jobs.
The new facility will serve as Blue Ops’ dedicated innovation center for advanced maritime defense systems, featuring the company’s next-generation uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) and attracting clients from around the world for live demonstrations and hands-on engagement.
Blue Ops operates under Red Cat’s U.S.-based production platform and has launched multi-state manufacturing operations aligned with national efforts to strengthen domestic defense manufacturing and field autonomous capabilities for U.S. and allied forces.
“We’re not replacing large naval vessels — we’re building smaller, smarter, uncrewed platforms that extend their reach, provide forward protection, and operate in environments traditional ships cannot,” said Barry Hinckley, President of Blue Ops. “The future of maritime defense requires fast, modular systems built in the United States. That is what we are delivering.”
2
Israel Tech Week Miami returning in April
Israel Tech Week Miami will return April 27 to 30, bringing together founders, venture capitalists, industry decision-makers, multinational executives, government stakeholders and ecosystem leaders for a week focused on cross-border expansion, strategic partnerships and deal-making.
Building on the momentum of its 2025 edition, which welcomed more than 1,500 attendees, featured 150 speakers and engaged over 50 partners from Israel, the United States and global markets, Israel Tech Week Miami will continue to position Miami as a strategic gateway for Israeli startups and scaleups entering the U.S. market.
This year’s event will feature programming across nine technology verticals, including AI & Data, PropTech & ConTech, Cybersecurity, FinTech, DefenseTech & Resilience, Climate & Energy, HealthTech & Life Sciences, SpaceTech and Travel & Hospitality Tech. Each vertical will operate as a dedicated summit combining panels, startup showcases, investor meetings and networking sessions. Sessions will take place across Miami, with the main conference hub hosted at The LAB Miami in Wynwood.
“Israel Tech Week is designed to be more than a conference. It is a structured market access event built to create cross-border opportunities between Israel and the United States,” said co-founder Lior Halabi. “Miami’s growing role as a global capital hub makes it the ideal city to convene founders, investors and enterprise leaders who are building partnerships and scaling internationally.”
Registration for ISRTW is now open at www.israeltechweek.com.
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Seaworthy Collective announces Cohort 7
Seaworthy Collective, a Miami-based non-profit that supports current and aspiring entrepreneurs in BlueTech, announced its next wave of founders selected for Cohort 7 of its flagship Startup Program, The Continuum Ocean Enterprise Studio and Incubator.
The 2026 program will once again support US-based startups developing ocean data technologies and services, in alignment with the priorities of the NOAA Ocean Enterprise Initiative. This is a result of Seaworthy’s expanded role in its $14 million NOAA partnership, The Continuum, a coordinated network of ocean enterprise accelerators that fast-tracks startups getting to market. Seaworthy’s Continuum partners are Braid Theory, Ocean Exchange, Seaworthy Collective, St. Pete Innovation District, Tampa Bay Wave, World Ocean Council, and the University of South Florida.
“Altogether, these businesses and entrepreneurs are driving forward the future of the Blue Economy and Ocean Enterprise; addressing the critical need for data and AI-driven solutions across ocean mapping and survey, water quality monitoring and reporting, fisheries and ecosystem health, and overall ocean intelligence; enabling improved decision-making and emerging markets to grow,” said Daniel Kleinman, Seaworthy Collective’s Founder and CEO.
The seven startups selected to be part of Cohort 7 are:
BathyLab – Brookfield, NH: Founded by Shannon Hoy and Patrick Cooper, BathyLab develops AI-powered tools that help seafloor mapping teams collect better data and scale their operations.
BeachLens – Gainesville, FL: Founded by Ja’Rell Felix, BeachLens brings together real time coastal, safety, and tourism data and turns them into simple, actionable insights for users. The core product is a mobile application that acts as a centralized hub for beach safety and logistics.
Envara Scientific – Sterling, VA: Founder Marianne Dietz and her emerging venture, Envara, will leverage intelligence-informed thinking to help organizations better navigate and act upon high-stakes environmental data.
H3 – Miami: Founder Rachel Bobich joins Seaworthy as she looks to build a collective Intelligence and resourcing platform to support the scientific community that propels the Blue Economy.
iCatch – Bozeman, MT: Founded by Dr. Mariah Meek and Dr. Nadya Mamoozadeh, iCatch combines predictive AI technology with precision genomic testing to allow species verification by anyone, anywhere, all along the seafood supply chain.
Marnova – San Diego, CA: Founded by Andrew Barrows and Dr. Forest Rohwer, Marnova addresses the Caribbean’s sargassum crisis by reimagining this invasive biomass as a high-potential biological asset rather than a waste product.
Project Neptune – Hermosa Beach, CA: Founded by Maxwell Lynch and Ethan Young. Project Neptune provides localized beach water quality data, forecasts, and decision-ready insights to help people safely plan their time at the coast.
4
Palm Tree Crew, Related Ross bring outdoor concert to West Palm Beach
Related Ross and Palm Tree Crew have secured a four-year partnership with the City of West Palm Beach following the debut of the Palm Tree Music Festival on the city’s waterfront. The agreement follows the outdoor concert drew 11,000 attendees on Valentine’s Day, making it the largest event in the festival’s four-year history, the South Florida Business Journal reported.
Under the partnership, the Palm Tree Music Festival is expected to return annually, with plans to expand to a two-day event beginning in 2027. The companies said infrastructure investments are being planned to support future large-scale cultural events in West Palm Beach. “The event added a new dimension to the city’s entertainment scene that complements our continued investments in delivering world-class cultural programming,” said Stephen Ross, CEO and chairman of Related Ross, the development arm behind several large-scale real estate projects in the city.
Headlined by Palm Tree Crew co-founder Kygo, a Norwegian DJ, and Scottish singer Calvin Harris, the event reportedly generated an 8,200-person waitlist. The startup operates Palm Tree Music Festivals in the Hamptons, Aspen, Saint-Tropez and Singapore. Palm Tree Crew raised a $20 million Series B round last fall.
5
Palm Peak Capital closes $374M PE fund
Palm Peak Capital, a private equity firm that invests in lower-middle market industrial and services companies across North America, announced the close of its inaugural fund, with total committed capital of $374 million. The fund was oversubscribed and brought in commitments from a diverse group of global investors, including university endowments, institutional family offices, pension funds, insurance companies, and fund-of-funds.
Headquartered in Boca Raton, Palm Peak was founded in 2024 by Steve Liff, Daniel Florian, and Jeremy Stone. To date, the Fund has completed platform investments in Pacific Shoring Products, a leading manufacturer of trench safety equipment, and Domaille Engineering, a leading provider of advanced equipment, components, and related accessories used to manufacture pre-terminated fiber optic cables and high precision parts for mission critical end markets.
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Moderne launches early-stage startup program with Mango Capital
Moderne, a Miami-based AI agent tools startup, announced the launch of Bauhaus, a new early-stage program backed by Mango Capital focused on supporting companies building foundational systems across the evolving software lifecycle. The program will begin operating immediately with an initial group of participating companies that includes SpecStory and Serro.
“Software development is entering a new phase where coding agents are responsible for a growing share of software creation and change,” said Jonathan Schneider, co-founder and CEO of Moderne. “That shift requires a new generation of lifecycle infrastructure that can provide trusted context, coordinate change safely across large systems, and manage software over time. Bauhaus is designed to help accelerate the ecosystem of companies building those foundational capabilities.”
Unlike traditional venture firms or cohort-based accelerators, Bauhaus is a selective, ongoing program designed to work with a small number of early-stage companies building infrastructure across the software lifecycle. Participating companies engage directly with Moderne’s enterprise ecosystem and receive investment consideration through Mango Capital. Learn more here.
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Jobs, jobs, jobs
Chewy – Communications Manager
DoorLoop – Director of Customer Success
DoorLoop – Director of Professional Services
Extenteam – Head of Product
Extenteam – Sr Product Manager
Focal – Head of Technology and Applied AI
Kaseya – Financial Operations Analyst
Kaseya – Lead QA Automation Engineer
Lennar – Sr Product Designer
Milo – Head of Marketing
Propsense.AI – Lead Engineer
Find more jobs on Refresh Miami’s job board here.
8-PLUS
Opportunity knocks
Palantir is seeking American high school students who’ve found a problem worth solving — and are ready to confront it now. If selected, you’ll receive a $10,000 Valley Forge grant, full access to Palantir’s software platform, and support from Palantir engineers. Apply here by March 30. [Read MORE: Palantir plants its HQ flag in Miami]
Join the eMerge AI Hackathon, a day of building AI solutions, on April 18. Judges from Meta, Lightship Capital and Haize Labs are already on board. Register here.
Israeli founders can showcase their startup, product, or breakthrough solution to global investors, partners and media at Israel Tech Week Miami 2026 in April. Apply by March 15 here.
ICYMI – Catch up!
Have news to report? Email Nancy Dahlberg at [email protected] and follow her on X @ndahlberg and on LinkedIn. Subscribe to Refresh Miami’s free weekly newsletter here featuring startup news, tech job opportunities and events.
I am a writer and editor with extensive media experience and a passion for journalism and serving the community. Most of my career has been spent with the Miami Herald in business news, and my expertise is writing about tech and entrepreneurs. I love hosting this blog for Refresh Miami and we aim to be the go-to site for South Florida startup and tech news, features and views. Have news? Contact me at [email protected]. Thanks for reading! Latest posts by Nancy Dahlberg (see all) 8+ things to know in #MiamiTech: Palm Beach County picked for defense firm’s maritime HQ, plus news from Israel Tech Week, Seaworthy Collective, Palm Tree Crew, Palm Peak Capital, Moderne, job opportunities & more – February 27, 2026 The mood at FVCC: Investor optimism about Florida’s tech trajectory – February 25, 2026 Freebee accelerates growth across Florida, eyes major national expansion – February 23, 2026