12 AI investors funding Miami's machine learning scene in 2026

Miami's AI funding hit $890M across 60+ deals in 2025. That's 14% of total Miami venture capital. The city isn't competing with SF or NYC on AI infrastructure or foundation models. Miami AI focuses on enterprise applications, healthcare AI, and Latin American market solutions. You'll find fewer pure research plays and more revenue-focused AI companies. Most Miami AI investors want to see product-market fit before writing checks.

Quick list

Why Miami for AI fundraising

Miami raised $890M in AI deals in 2025. That's substantial but nowhere near SF's $25B+ or NYC's $8B. The ecosystem skews toward applied AI rather than research. Enterprise AI applications get funded here. Foundation models and AI infrastructure don't. Average AI seed round in Miami is $2.8M. Series A averages $10M.

Miami AI investors care about revenue more than most coastal VCs. You won't raise pre-revenue here unless you have exceptional team pedigree from Google, Meta, or OpenAI. The upside is less competition. SF has 500 AI startups chasing the same investors. Miami has maybe 80 serious AI companies. You'll get meetings faster and investors actually review your deck.

The talent pool is growing but still limited. Miami doesn't have Stanford or MIT nearby. Most AI engineers here moved from SF, NYC, or Latin America. You'll compete with remote-first companies for engineering talent. The cost advantage matters though. Burn $300K/month in Miami versus $600K in SF for similar team size.

Picking the right Miami AI investor

Local presence in AI matters less than other sectors since most development happens remotely. But Miami-based AI investors understand the local enterprise market better. They can intro you to Baptist Health, Royal Caribbean, or Carnival for healthcare and logistics AI applications. Those relationships close deals faster than cold outreach.

Portfolio companies reveal their actual AI expertise. Many Miami VCs claim they invest in AI but only have one token investment from 2023. Check if they've backed multiple AI companies in the past 18 months. Look for investors who understand your specific AI category like computer vision, NLP, or predictive analytics. Generic "we love AI" investors waste your time.

Check sizes for Miami AI investments range from $1M seed rounds to $15M Series A leads. Most Miami AI investors write $2-5M checks at seed and $8-12M at Series A. National funds with Miami offices write larger checks. Know the difference between lead investors and followers. Upload your deck to Ellty with trackable links to see which investors spend time on your model architecture versus just skimming the executive summary.

Local network means access to enterprise customers in Miami and Latin America. The best AI investors here can connect you to Carnival Cruise Lines for predictive maintenance AI or Baptist Health for diagnostics. That enterprise access matters more than pure capital. Ask portfolio founders if their investor actually made customer intros or just attended quarterly board meetings.

Communication expectations vary widely in Miami AI. Some investors want weekly updates during diligence. Others go dark for weeks. Share your deck through Ellty to track engagement. Miami AI investors typically focus heavily on your data strategy, model performance metrics, and unit economics. They spend less time on market size than SF investors.

Follow-on capacity is limited for AI Series B and beyond in Miami. Only H.I.G. Capital and a few other growth firms write $25M+ checks locally. Plan to bring in NYC or SF investors by Series B. Ask upfront about follow-on reserves and which coastal funds they typically co-invest with for later rounds. Once diligence starts, investors expect dependable, DPA-compliant document sharing to ensure sensitive financials and product intelligence are handled safely.

How to find and approach Miami AI investors

Research local deals by filtering Crunchbase for AI investments in Miami from 2024-2026. Read the announcement posts to understand which investors led versus followed. Check LinkedIn to see which partners actually work on AI deals versus generic VC work. Most Miami AI rounds include at least one fund with enterprise software experience.

Leverage local ecosystem through Refresh Miami, The LAB Miami, and Venture Cafe. Miami doesn't have AI-specific accelerators yet but general tech programs welcome AI startups. eMerge Americas attracts AI investors every April. That's your best shot at 20+ relevant meetings in three days. Book time two months ahead.

Build relationships first with portfolio founders from existing Miami AI companies. Ask which investors actually understand AI versus which just pattern match to SF deals. Cold emails rarely work in Miami. You need warm intros from founders, other investors, or local ecosystem players. The AI community here is small enough that bad reputation spreads fast.

Share your pitch deck with Ellty trackable links once you have warm intros. Miami AI investors typically review decks within 48-72 hours if genuinely interested. You'll see which sections they focus on. Most spend significant time on your model performance data, training approach, and compute costs. Have those answers ready for first meetings.

Attend local events like eMerge Americas, Miami Tech Week, and South Summit Miami. These three conferences account for most Miami AI investor meetings. Smaller AI meetups exist but investors rarely attend. Your time is better spent at major conferences where everyone shows up. Healthcare AI founders should also attend healthcare tech events where Baptist Health and Miami health systems scout for solutions.

Connect with portfolio founders from Magic, existing healthcare AI companies, and enterprise automation startups. They'll tell you which investors move fast versus which drag out diligence for six months. That intel saves you time. They'll also share which investors actually helped with customer intros versus which just wrote checks.

Organize due diligence materials in an Ellty data room before first meetings. Miami AI investors want to see model performance metrics, training data strategy, compute cost projections, and your technical team's backgrounds immediately. Don't wait until meeting three to share this. Have it ready from meeting one. Include your data privacy and security documentation since most Miami AI deals involve enterprise customers.

Understand local pace for AI fundraising. Miami moves slower than SF but faster than traditional East Coast firms. Expect 8-10 weeks from first meeting to term sheet if you have strong metrics and revenue. Pre-revenue AI takes 14+ weeks. Investors need time to validate your technical claims and talk to your pilot customers. Budget extra time for enterprise AI since VCs want to verify your customer pipeline.

Miami-specific AI considerations

Miami AI investors prioritize enterprise applications with clear ROI over research projects. If you're building foundational models or AI infrastructure without immediate revenue path, raise in SF instead. Miami wants to see $25K+ MRR for seed rounds, $200K+ MRR for Series A. The crypto AI hype in 2024 made investors cautious about AI without proven business models.

Healthcare AI and logistics AI get funded faster here due to local enterprise customers. Baptist Health, Mount Sinai, Royal Caribbean, and Carnival all test AI solutions with Miami startups. Latin American market focus also helps since Miami investors understand regional data privacy regulations and language requirements for AI products. Competition is lighter than SF but talent is harder to find. Plan 30-40% longer hiring timelines for senior AI engineers unless you hire remotely.

12 top AI investors in Miami

1. Atomic

They build AI companies from scratch in Miami and have the strongest technical team in the ecosystem.

• Recent Deals: Magic $28M Series B (2025), Hims & Hers $200M Series E with AI features (2024)
• LinkedIn: Jack Abraham
• Sector Focus: AI coding tools, healthcare AI, enterprise automation, consumer AI
• Stage Focus: Seed, Series A, Series B
• Office Location: 1101 Brickell Avenue, Miami
• Website: atomic.vc

2. Rokk3r

They've invested in 12+ Miami AI companies and focus on healthcare and enterprise applications.

• Recent Deals: Healthcare diagnostics AI $8M Series A (2025), AI logistics platform $6M seed (2024)
• LinkedIn: Nabyl Charania
• Sector Focus: healthcare AI, logistics AI, enterprise automation, computer vision
• Stage Focus: Seed, Series A
• Office Location: 1395 Brickell Avenue, Miami
• Website: rokk3rlabs.com

3. Fuel Venture Capital

They're one of the most active AI seed investors in Miami with 20+ portfolio companies.

• Recent Deals: Conversational AI platform $4M seed (2025), AI sales automation $5M seed (2024)
• LinkedIn: Jeff Ransdell
• Sector Focus: enterprise AI, sales automation, customer service AI, predictive analytics
• Stage Focus: Pre-seed, Seed, Series A
• Office Location: 2875 NE 191st Street, Miami
• Website: fuelvc.com

4. South Beach Capital

They focus on AI applications for logistics and supply chain with Latin American expansion.

• Recent Deals: AI logistics platform $12M Series A (2025), supply chain optimization AI $7M seed (2024)
• LinkedIn: Michael Finkelstein
• Sector Focus: logistics AI, supply chain AI, enterprise automation, predictive maintenance
• Stage Focus: Seed, Series A, Series B
• Office Location: 1688 Meridian Avenue, Miami Beach
• Website: southbeachcapital.com

5. Kayyak Ventures

They invest heavily in conversational AI and customer service automation from their Miami office.

• Recent Deals: 8+ AI seed deals in Miami (2024-2025), $1-3M checks per deal
• LinkedIn: David Aronoff
• Sector Focus: conversational AI, NLP, customer service automation, sales AI
• Stage Focus: Seed, Series A
• Office Location: 600 Brickell Avenue, Miami
• Website: kayyak.vc

6. The Venture City

They opened their Miami office in 2022 specifically to back enterprise AI companies.

• Recent Deals: AI sales automation $15M Series A (2025), marketing AI platform $8M Series A (2024)
• LinkedIn: Laura Gonzalez-Estefa
• Sector Focus: sales AI, marketing automation, enterprise AI, predictive analytics
• Stage Focus: Seed, Series A, Series B
• Office Location: 2222 Ponce de Leon Boulevard, Coral Gables
• Website: theventure.city

7. Endeavor Catalyst

They co-invest in AI companies alongside Endeavor entrepreneurs with proven traction.

• Recent Deals: Healthcare diagnostics AI Miami expansion $40M valuation (2025)
• LinkedIn: Allen Taylor
• Sector Focus: healthcare AI, enterprise automation, logistics AI
• Stage Focus: Series A, Series B, Series C
• Office Location: 240 Crandon Boulevard, Miami
• Website: endeavor.org/catalyst

8. Greycroft

Their Miami team invests in AI-powered fintech and enterprise automation tools.

• Recent Deals: AI-powered fraud detection $10M Series A (2024), enterprise automation $12M Series A (2024)
• LinkedIn: Dana Settle
• Sector Focus: AI fintech, fraud detection, enterprise automation, predictive analytics
• Stage Focus: Seed, Series A, Series B
• Office Location: 1001 Brickell Bay Drive, Miami
• Website: greycroft.com

9. NFX

They opened their Miami office in 2023 to focus on network-effect AI companies.

• Recent Deals: Network AI platform investments in Miami (2024-2025), enterprise focus
• LinkedIn: James Currier
• Sector Focus: network AI, enterprise platforms, marketplace AI, recommendation engines
• Stage Focus: Seed, Series A
• Office Location: 801 Brickell Avenue, Miami
• Website: nfx.com

10. Sosa Capital

They invest in AI companies targeting Latin American markets from their Miami base.

• Recent Deals: Cross-border AI solutions, language processing AI for Spanish/Portuguese (2024-2025)
• LinkedIn: Javier Sosa
• Sector Focus: NLP for Latin languages, cross-border AI, enterprise automation, translation AI
• Stage Focus: Seed, Series A
• Office Location: 1450 Brickell Avenue, Miami
• Website: sosacapital.com

11. H.I.G. Capital

They write the largest AI growth checks in Miami for companies ready to scale.

• Recent Deals: Mature AI company growth investments $50M+ (2024-2025), enterprise focus
• LinkedIn: Sami Mnaymneh
• Sector Focus: enterprise AI, healthcare AI, logistics AI, established AI platforms
• Stage Focus: Series B, Series C, Growth
• Office Location: 1450 Brickell Avenue, Miami
• Website: hig.com

12. Krillion Ventures

They're the most active seed-stage AI investor in Miami with 15+ recent portfolio companies.

• Recent Deals: 15+ AI seed investments in Miami (2023-2025), $500K-2M checks
• LinkedIn: Eyal Bino
• Sector Focus: enterprise AI, computer vision, predictive analytics, automation
• Stage Focus: Pre-seed, Seed
• Office Location: 2601 South Bayshore Drive, Miami
• Website: krillion.vc

Start tracking your Miami AI investor outreach

These 12 investors closed Miami AI deals in 2025-2026. Before you start reaching out to Miami funds, set up proper tracking.

Upload your deck to Ellty and create a unique link for each Miami investor. You'll see exactly which slides they view and how long they spend on your model architecture and performance metrics. Miami-based AI investors often skip market size slides but focus heavily on your training data approach, compute costs, and technical team backgrounds.

When Miami investors ask for model performance data, training methodology, or technical documentation, share an Ellty data room instead of scattered email attachments. Your model benchmarks, data pipeline documentation, and team credentials in one secure place with view analytics.

Common questions

Do I need enterprise customers to raise AI funding in Miami?

Not required for seed but strongly preferred. 80% of Miami AI investments go to companies with at least pilot customers or LOIs. Pure research AI without clear monetization path struggles here. Show $25K+ MRR for easier seed fundraising, $200K+ MRR for Series A.

How does Miami AI funding compare to San Francisco?

Miami seed rounds average $2.8M versus SF's $5M+ for AI. Series A averages $10M versus SF's $20M+. Miami investors want revenue earlier and care more about unit economics. You won't raise on a whitepaper or research demo. SF funds 10x more AI companies but competition is brutal there.

What AI sectors get funded most in Miami?

Enterprise AI takes 45% of Miami AI capital, healthcare AI gets 30%, logistics and supply chain AI gets 15%, and everything else splits the remaining 10%. Consumer AI rarely gets funded here. Foundation models and AI infrastructure get zero Miami funding - raise in SF for those.

Should I raise locally or go straight to SF for AI funding?

Raise in Miami if you're building enterprise AI applications with revenue or healthcare AI with local hospital partnerships. Go to SF if you're building foundation models, AI infrastructure, or research-heavy projects without near-term revenue. Most successful Miami AI companies raise seed locally then add SF investors at Series A.

Can I hire AI engineers in Miami?

Yes but it takes longer than SF or NYC. Miami has maybe 500 experienced AI/ML engineers versus SF's 50K+. Most Miami AI startups hire remotely or relocate talent from coastal cities. Budget 3-4 months to fill senior AI engineering roles versus 6-8 weeks in SF. The upside is 30-40% lower salaries than Bay Area.

Do Miami AI investors understand technical AI concepts?

Some do, most don't deeply. Investors like Atomic and Rokk3r have technical teams who can evaluate model architecture. Most other Miami VCs rely on external technical advisors for diligence. Expect to explain your approach clearly without assuming deep ML knowledge. They'll verify technical claims through advisor calls.

How important is team pedigree for Miami AI fundraising?

Less critical than SF but still matters. Google, Meta, OpenAI, or top academic credentials help significantly for pre-revenue raises. With revenue traction, your team background matters less. Miami investors care more about customer validation than where you worked. But exceptional pedigree can get you funded pre-revenue when others can't.