Over the years, I have been fortunate enough to take many amazing family vacations in Florida. I have many fond memories that involve sunshine, white sand beaches, freshly squeezed oranges, football and Disney World! I attended the Florida Venture Capital conference, in 2016, and saw first-hand that innovation and tech is blossoming in the Sunshine State. From the Unicorn Magic Leap, Space Florida, great universities, great cities and warm winters – it’s no surprise that business is thriving in #Florida. Aer Lingus has recently launched two direct flights from both Orlando and Miami to #Dublin which has helped bridge the gap between the two.
We look forward to supporting the 2018 Florida Venture Capital Conference this week in Fort Lauderdale on the 29th and 30th of January. Hundreds of top venture capital firms and private equity firms will be attending the conference. The environment is providing an excellent opportunity for local Florida entrepreneurs to connect with investors. To date, the Florida Venture Forum has helped entrepreneurs raise over $3 billion in funding.
According to Steve Vasquez, Partner at Foley and Lardner LLP, the Florida Venture Capital Conference has gone a long way to “undo the perception that Florida is thin on entrepreneurial talent or thin on Venture Capital when nothing really could be further from the truth.”
Kevin Burgoyne, President of the Florida Venture Forum, says “A lot of success stories and a lot of capital is coming to Florida.” He also stated that the 2017 Venture Capital Conference had the largest investor attendance in the 24 years since the conference began, a trend that is set to continue in 2018.
Ireland has won a substantial number of investments from the state of Florida over the years. Florida-based multinationals, such as the Marriott Vacation Club International, Hertz Global Holdings, Citrix Systems Inc. and Opko Health Inc., have all chosen Ireland to establish European Operations. Fort Lauderdale HQ’d Van Tibolli, a provider of high-end hair care products, established a multi-lingual customer support and marketing team in Ireland in 2012. Watch this space for upcoming announcements from more Florida-based tech companies later this year.
We are hopeful that some of the rising stars participating in the Florida Venture Conference this year will follow the path of fellow Floridians to international expansion in the not too distant future! #WhyIreland
For more information, reach out to Emerging Business Team who are in Florida this week or email gerard.hayes@ida.ie direct.
