Rob Strandberg is president and CEO of Enterprise Development Corp. Below, he writes about the nonprofit’s expanding efforts to incubate new businesses throughout South Florida, with support from Knight Foundation. Photo credit: Flickr user Flavio Leone.

People often ask me what the Enterprise Development Corp. (EDC) is and what it is that we do. We’re a nonprofit that takes a highly customized, strategic approach to helping some of South Florida’s most promising entrepreneurs succeed. Thanks to the support of Knight Foundation and others, our services are free and we can rely on a large, supportive network of highly experienced advisers, mentors and active investors to help us address the significant challenges that local startups face.

When I first jumped in to lead the EDC in 2012, I had no idea what resources I would find in South Florida to support its entrepreneurial community’s success. I was pleasantly surprised to find all of the elements critical to a thriving startup ecosystem: solid talent, great ideas, support resources, and even access to capital. Without a doubt, opportunity and upside abound in Miami’s startup community.

Despite this, South Florida’s ecosystem and entrepreneurs still lack adequate access to professional advisers, mentorship programs and funding sources. Moreover, perhaps due to geography and the nascent stages of the startup community’s development, the community is fragmented; different groups work independently in silos rather than collaborate to maximize the opportunities and overcome the obstacles facing early-stage companies.

Driven by a strong core of creative energy – which I seem to find in incredible abundance in Miami – we have seen rapid progress during the past year and a half to address these issues. Different groups and organizations are collaborating at a heightened level, attendance and participation in workshops, events and conferences is increasing, incubators, accelerators and shared office spaces are filling up, and more investors are beginning to fund new ventures. Even so, the ecosystem would benefit greatly from a more unified agenda and greater backing and leadership from the area’s prominent organizations and institutions.

At the same time, investor capital is on the rise. We work with a range of individual angels, angel groups and venture capitalists – many from all over the U.S. – and it’s clear to me that, while more investors are always needed, many are taking note of Miami’s progress and, as a result, are increasingly writing checks to fund companies.

We have many advantages. As I walk through Miami’s many entrepreneurial hot spots, including Pipeline, The LAB Miami, Miami Innovation Center, The Launch Pad, Venture Hive, MEC, and Rokk3r Labs, the international diversity of our talented entrepreneurs is clearly striking. Our startups appear to easily attract highly skilled teams, investors and business partners from all parts of the world. Miami’s astounding diversity, in my opinion, will become our most important distinct advantage in creating exciting new companies.    

Miami also derives strength from other types of diversity, too. This past week I shifted from meetings with a new founder in his early 20s to ones with a brilliant, experienced entrepreneur in his 70s. While the former focuses on very serious, deep technology, and the latter has a more non-tech business model, both have powerful, high-impact concepts with great potential. And both entrepreneurs exuded a passion, energy and “twinkle” that I would expect to find in a character from a Miami novel by Dave Barry, Carl Hiaasen or Tom Wolf.

While we’re excited about our expansion and increased focus on Miami, it’s in our DNA to serve entrepreneurs throughout South Florida. While Miami is a global brand attracting entrepreneurs and investors, we see similar momentum across the region. As such, I believe that the success of the entrepreneur community in South Florida is anchored to Miami’s success—and vice versa. As a result, we look forward to helping the region better compete nationally and globally for resources dedicated to entrepreneurs. Whether in Miami or elsewhere in South Florida, I strongly encourage entrepreneurs who believe they have a big idea but need a little—or a lot—of help, to reach out to us. We are up to the task and ready to go.