See all articles in Small Business Stories

See all articles in Business Growth Support

Meet the Finalists of Miami-Dade County’s BizUp Pitch Competition (Round 1)

Brought to Miami by Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and County Commissioner Jean Monestime, the $1 million Business Innovation Start-Up Grant has its first round of winners!
Miami-Dade County small business owners, pitch competition.

The BizUp Grant program is managed in partnership with StartUP FIU and Bank of America. The grant includes awards of either $50,000 or $100,000 and one full year of small business support and training for the finalists. To qualify, the competing businesses must have a positive impact on their community and align with the Mayor’s Four E’s: Equity, Engagement, Environment, and Economy.

After receiving hundreds of applications, the judges narrowed the finalists down to 30 businesses. The selected businesses then pitched to a panel of experts. On September 16th, at StartUP FIU, the first round of winners were announced. Let’s learn a little bit more about them.

Zaytouna Foods 

A conscious driven enterprise whose mission is to help women from Syria resettle in South Florida by creating permanent gainful employment for them by catering and producing delicious packaged foods from the Middle East.

Lean Orb 

A compostable food packaging company whose mission is to eliminate all single-use plastic waste and offer safe, plant-based packaging.

Metro Mommy Agency

An agency that fills in gaps and provides sound, hands-on maternal support for mothers from metropolitan communities lacking consistent childbirth education and cohesive healthy support systems for families.

MUCE 305

An arts production company that brings brands and ideas to life with art through exhibitions, workshops, festival production and cultural programming. 

  • Founders: Ashlee Thomas & Bart Mervil
  • Email: muce305@gmail.com 
  • Social Media: @muce305 
  • Website: muce305.org
  • Location: 246 NW 54TH ST, Miami, FL 33127

The Magus Films

A video content production company that believes in the power of good stories. With more than 10 years of experience, The Magus Films specializes in the direction and production of audiovisual content.

Venus Builders Inc

Window and door replacement experts servicing Miami-Dade, Broward, and Monroe Counties. 

Haute Academy Fashion Incubator

A business incubator dedicated to supporting fashion focused entrepreneurs to help them launch, grow, and scale a fashion business.

Click here to learn about the winners that were announced during the second round (October 20th).

Photo provided by StartUP FIU

Posted September 26, 2022