Elektron Energy is a provider of digital infrastructure for Bitcoin networks, but isn\u2019t itself a crypto brokerage.<\/p>\n
The 28-story building, houses public companies such as BNP Paribas, Galderma and Mastercard, among others. In recent years, Brickell has solidified its position as one of Miami\u2019s most expensive office markets. Read more here<\/a>.<\/p>\n 3<\/p>\n Endeavor Miami entrepreneurs named to global network<\/p>\n Endeavor Miami<\/a> announces the selection of Jos\u00e9 Fern\u00e1ndez, founder & CEO of Bankuish, and Marcos Franceschini, co-founder and President of Skyloom, as the newest Endeavor Entrepreneurs to join the global network. They will now join a global community of over 2,500 high-impact founders across 45+ markets, gaining access to strategic mentorship, capital, and market expansion opportunities.<\/p>\n Fern\u00e1ndez\u2019s company, Bankuish<\/a>, helps over 1.5 billion independent workers access fair financing through gig-based data. Since its founding in 2020, Bankuish has originated over $600 million in financial products across five markets, using proprietary APIs that connect gig platforms like Uber, TikTok, and Upwork directly with financial institutions.<\/p>\n Franceschini is building the future of communications infrastructure in<\/p>\n orbit. As co-founder and President of Skyloom<\/a>, Franceschini leads a Colorado-based SpaceTech company pioneering optical communications, laser terminals that enable satellites to transmit data at ultrahigh speeds.<\/p>\n \u201cThese founders remind us that great entrepreneurs do more than grow companies; they transform communities, strengthen societies, and rewrite the future with innovation and mission. That\u2019s exactly the kind of leadership we\u2019re proud to support at Endeavor,\u201d said Claudia Duran, Regional Managing Director for North America & Managing Director at Endeavor Miami, in a statement.<\/p>\n Since 2013, Endeavor Miami has supported over 270 companies through its early-stage initiatives and selected over 40 Endeavor Entrepreneurs whose ventures have collectively generated over $983 million in annual revenue and created more than 6,000 jobs.<\/p>\n 4<\/p>\n Miami-based Trubar acquired for $173M<\/p>\n Miami Beach-based protein bar brand Trubar<\/a> has been acquired for $173 million in cash by ET\u0130 G\u0131da, a 60+ year-old, family-owned global snack company headquartered in Turkey. The transaction is a 100% acquisition with no earn-out. Founder and CEO Erica Groussman and the leadership team will remain in place to continue running the brand from Miami Beach.<\/p>\n Founded in 2019, TRUBAR has built a cult following by combining dessert-inspired flavors with clean ingredients, an approach that has helped it scale rapidly in a crowded category. Over the past year alone, the company expanded from roughly 1,000 stores to more than 21,000 locations across the U.S. and Canada, including Costco, Target, Whole Foods, Albertsons, and Erewhon, as well as on Amazon.\u00a0 The company surpassed $50 million in gross revenue in 2024, more than doubling the category\u2019s five-year growth rate, and nearly $100 million in revenue in 2025.<\/p>\n Groussman says the acquisition positions the brand for accelerated international expansion, leveraging ET\u0130\u2019s global manufacturing and distribution infrastructure while preserving TRUBAR\u2019s brand DNA.<\/p>\n \u201cBy joining the ETi family, we\u2019re not changing who we are \u2013 we\u2019re doubling down on it,\u201d said Groussman. \u201cOur products, people, and values remain at the heart of everything we do. What changes is our ability to deliver with greater consistency, innovate faster, and reach more consumers around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n 5<\/p>\n Avenue Z acquiring Shopify development firm Varfaj<\/p>\n As e-commerce enters its most competitive era, with Shopify powering nearly 30% of U.S. online stores,\u00a0Avenue Z<\/a>, the AI-accelerated hybrid agency, is acquiring\u00a0Varfaj<\/a>, a top-tier Shopify development and optimization firm.<\/p>\n \u201cThis acquisition makes us a complete growth engine in ecommerce,\u201d said\u00a0Jeffrey Herzog, CEO of Avenue Z. \u201cBrands don\u2019t have time to chase different partners. They need performance media and ecommerce development under one roof, enabling us to literally manufacture revenue for our clients.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve always believed that design, tech, and performance media must operate as one system,\u201d said Varfaj CEO David Confortij. \u201cOur mission is to scale brands from startup to nine figures in revenue.\u201d<\/p>\n Varfaj will rebrand under Avenue Z, with founder Conforti stepping in as Chief Growth Officer. The combined team plans to build on Miami\u2019s momentum as a hub for next-generation commerce and Shopify innovation.<\/p>\n 5<\/p>\n Exowatt expands executive team<\/p>\n Exowatt<\/a>, a next-generation renewable energy company, recently announced executive appointments for supporting Exowatt\u2019s P3 technology. P3 converts solar energy into heat for long-duration storage and on-demand dispatch, providing data centers with a reliable, sustainable alternative to a power grid. The appointments:<\/p>\n Nic Bustamante, as Chief Data Center Officer, will lead ExoRise, Exowatt\u2019s recently announced turnkey-powered land solution. With more than 25 years of global hyperscale data center development experience across over 100 markets, Bustamante brings expertise in development, operations, and scaling. His leadership background spans Corscale Data Centers, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Rackspace.<\/p>\n Bill Flood, Head of Engineering, brings over 35 years of aerospace and advanced technology leadership to accelerate Exowatt\u2019s manufacturing and deployment. He was most recently Vice President of Space Vehicles at Moog Space and Defense Group, and former VP of Engineering, Advanced Technology and New Business Ventures at Moog Aircraft Group.<\/p>\n Kalyan Bhamidi, Head of Supply Chain & Manufacturing, brings over a decade of scaling breakthrough technologies at Apple, where he led OLED technology for devices and played a pivotal role in establishing the manufacturing supply chain for Vision Pro Display. Previously, Bhamidi championed lean manufacturing practices at Caterpillar Inc.,<\/p>\n Pierson Stoecklein, General Counsel & Head of Government Affairs, brings more than 15 years of experience navigating complex regulatory landscapes in energy, data centers, and critical infrastructure, most recently Senior Corporate Counsel at Amazon Web Services (AWS), Stoecklein led global regulatory advocacy on issues including artificial intelligence, environmental policy, data center performance standards, product safety, and trade.<\/p>\n \u201cAs the demand for AI infrastructure outpaces the available power supply, Exowatt is scaling to fill the gap,\u201d said Hannan Happi, CEO of Exowatt. \u201cNic, Bill, Kalyan and Pierson bring the seasoned leadership necessary to deploy our dispatchable solar technology at the speed the market requires.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n 7<\/p>\n Registration open for eMerge National Security Demo Day<\/p>\n eMerge Americas<\/a> has opened registration for eMerge National Security Demo Day, a live showcase of dual-use technologies transforming national security. The event on April 21 promises to deliver real-world demonstrations across air, land, surface, and subsurface domains.<\/p>\n Top-vetted startups will deploy autonomous vessels, submersibles, advanced drones, integrated sensing systems, and more directly to over 400 senior decision-makers from government (Federal\/State\/Local), DoW, DHS, DoJ, public safety, defense investors, industry, and academia. Registration is limited and requires approval. RSVP here<\/a>.<\/p>\n 8<\/p>\n New World Angels forms Space & Defense Ventures Group<\/p>\n New World Angels<\/a> recently formed a Space & Defense Ventures Group, and the Boca Raton-based angel network has made its first capital deployment within the new group.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we launched the Space & Defense Ventures Group, our intent was clear: deploy smart capital into companies solving real, strategic problems,\u201d NWA\u2019s Space & Defense Ventures Group Co-Chairman Richard Greco said in a statement. \u201cLaunch access is now a matter of national resilience, not convenience. Seagate Space is building infrastructure that directly strengthens U.S. and allied space capabilities, and that is exactly where we want to lead.\u201d<\/p>\n Seagate Space, based in St. Petersburg, is the new group\u2019s first investment. Emerging from stealth in early 2025, Seagate Space was founded by Michael Anderson and Sean Fortener. Unlike traditional land-based launch sites, the startup is developing a semi-submersible offshore launch platform to expand U.S. launch capacity and ease congestion at coastal sites. Read more in the Tampa Bay Business Journal here.<\/a><\/p>\n 9<\/p>\n Jobs, Jobs, Jobs<\/p>\n Iru \u2013\u00a0Principal MacOS Engineer<\/a> \u00a0\u00a0Find more jobs on Refresh Miami\u2019s job board\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n 10-PLUS<\/p>\n Opportunity knocks<\/p>\n Deadline soon: The Ventures Global Startup Award 2026\u00a0is again coming to Miami and is now open for applications. The Ventures is an international startup awards and venture club, originally launched in Silicon Valley. Selected startups will pitch to top-tier investors at a Miami event on Feb. 25. \u00a0The deadline is Feb. 20. Apply here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Startup Grind\u2019s\u00a0Pitch Battle \u2013 Miami Venture Week 2026<\/a>\u00a0at The LAB Miami is your chance to\u00a0showcase your startup,\u00a0connect with top investors, and gain global recognition. Find out more and apply by Feb. 20.<\/p>\n Israeli founders can showcase their startup, product, or breakthrough solution to global investors, partners and media at\u00a0Israel Tech Week Miami 2026\u00a0next April.\u00a0Apply by March 15 here.<\/a><\/p>\n 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<\/a>.<\/p>\n ICYMI \u2013 Catch up!<\/p>\n Have news to report? Email Nancy Dahlberg at\u00a0[email\u00a0protected]<\/a>\u00a0and follow her on X @ndahlberg and\u00a0on LinkedIn<\/a>.\u00a0Subscribe to Refresh Miami\u2019s free weekly newsletter\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0featuring startup news, tech job opportunities and events.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kaseya \u2013\u00a0Sr Network Engineer<\/a>
Lennar \u2013\u00a0Data Engineer II<\/a>
Matia \u2013\u00a0Data Advocate\/Developer Relations<\/a>
OpenFX \u2013\u00a0Head of Design<\/a>
OpenFX \u2013\u00a0Head of Marketing<\/a>
Papa \u2013\u00a0Sr Product Designer<\/a>
Proto \u2013\u00a0Sr Community Manager<\/a>
Synthbee Inc \u2013\u00a0Sr DevOps Engineer<\/a>
Vultr \u2013\u00a0Sr Product Marketing Manager<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Nancy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/60b7851ea3a84-bpfull.jpg\")
<\/a> 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\u00a0protected]<\/a>. Thanks for reading! <\/a>Latest posts by Nancy Dahlberg (see all<\/a>)\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t10+ things to know in #MiamiTech: A local college wins $5M in quantum funding, plus news from Elektron Energy, Endeavor Miami, Trubar, Avenue Z, \u00a0Exowatt, eMerge, New World Angels, tech jobs & more<\/a> – February 18, 2026\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCodePath & Anthropic partner up for economic mobility in AI era<\/a> – February 16, 2026\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tILiAD Biotechnologies of Weston raises $115M to advance whooping cough vaccine<\/a> – February 11, 2026\t\t\t\t \t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"1 Palm Beach State College wins $5M grant to train students in quantum Palm Beach State College has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28260,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[225,227,226],"class_list":["post-160816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-hialeah","tag-hialeah","tag-hialeah-headlines","tag-hialeah-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=160816"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160816\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=160816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=160816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=160816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}