An Endeavor Miami study discovers what kind of entrepreneurs are coming to Miami – and from where
By Kylie Wang
It’s no secret that South Florida has become one of the hottest new entrepreneurial epicenters in the U.S. The reasons why have been expounded by numerous organizations and publications, including this one. But where these immigrant techies are coming from, and for what reasons, is a different story.
Endeavor Miami, the local affiliate of global nonprofit Endeavor, recently conducted a study on entrepreneurial migration to South Florida to drill down on these questions. Endeavor, which began operations in Chile and Argentina in 1998, is now based in New York with offices in dozens of nations in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, Canada, and the U.S. Its mission: to build entrepreneurial ecosystems in emerging markets – and to understand what makes them grow.
“Local and global media have highlighted the phenomenon of this entrepreneurial migration [to Miami], yet its underlying reasons and its impact on the region have not been adequately investigated,” said Endeavor Miami CEO Claudia Duran in the report’s introduction. “For this reason, we thought it would be important to conduct this research and share the data and findings.”
The report identifies four types of migration to South Florida: domestic migration, the most common type, where U.S.-based entrepreneurs move their companies here; CEO migration, where a startup CEO moves while operating their company remotely; foreign founders, where a non-American move here from outside the U.S. to start their business; and international expansion, where an individual based abroad moves to South Florida to expand their company’s operations in the U.S.
Much of this migration is credited to the emerging tech industry in Miami, where, Endeavor posits, over 17,000 tech jobs have landed in the last five years. In 2022 alone, 5,166 tech jobs were added. The majority of the companies creating these jobs, as mapped in the study, were in some sort of tech field, with software and IT at the top (28%), closely followed by fintech (22%).
Having identified 300 firms and surveyed 50 migrant entrepreneurs, Endeavor found that South Florida migrants were overwhelmingly male (88%) with over 15 years of work experience. Most came from the U.S. (31%), followed by Mexico (8%), Argentina (8%), and Venezuela (6%). Additionally, the average age (at company founding) of these South Florida migrants was 34 years, which is older than the average age in entrepreneurial ecosystems around the world.
Both personal and business reasons were considered driving factors in these migrants’ moves, with a slightly higher number choosing personal reasons (76%) over business reasons (71%). One huge business advantage was South Florida’s access to global markets, specifically those of Latin America. However, respondents also cited access to early-stage venture capital (63%), a new community (78%), and a network of entrepreneurs (66%) as benefits. South Florida’s lower taxes and regulation were also highly valued, more so by Americans than foreigners; but the relative safeness of the city – which has lower crime rates than other tech hubs in the U.S. and LatAm – was valued higher by non-Americans.
Major obstacles were also included, with the cost of living cited as a major challenge for 41 percent of respondents –only four percent of those surveyed own their own offices. Another issue cited was the lack of local tech talent. Though many universities in South Florida are taking up initiatives to bring more STEM talent into the workforce, this is a slow process. Thirty-one percent of the surveyed entrepreneurs identified this as a major obstacle. Still, the biggest issue was for non-Americans who face challenges when immigrating: 68 percent of foreigners said that getting visas was one of their biggest hurdles.
As a result, Endeavor Miami recommends a three-pronged approach: 1) increase connectivity between players within the South Florida entrepreneurial ecosystem; 2) invest in talent on all levels, ensuring sufficient funding for education and making it easier for international talent to immigrate; and 3) ensure representation by supporting founders and talent from underrepresented backgrounds.
“At Endeavor, we are already feeling the positive change in the local entrepreneurial ecosystem, where there is a larger concentration of venture capital funds, startups, tech talent, and multinationals than ever before,” says Duran. “We could not be more excited to continue supporting founders in building their companies, and create a thriving community that continues to grow and attract successful entrepreneurs from around the world.”
