Cate Ambrose is president and executive director of The Latin American Private Equity & Venture Capital Association, which Knight Foundation supports to propel Miami’s community of entrepreneurs and innovators. Photo credit: Carlos Granier on Flickr.com.

As the venture and entrepreneurial ecosystem in Miami evolves, one critical piece is cultivating the community of investors who will back venture funds. High-net-worth individuals and family offices are a natural source of capital for venture managers and entrepreneurs, but as a first step, potential investors need to fully understand the asset class. In the current market, there is no clear delineation between investing in small and medium-sized enterprises (including restaurant chains or real estate) versus high-impact technology (such as information technology, life sciences and other high-growth industries).

As a not-for-profit organization, The Latin American Private Equity & Venture Capital Association’s mission is to develop the investment industry in the Americas through capacity building, entrepreneurship and social enterprise. With the support of Knight Foundation, Omidyar Network and SIME MIA we are hosting a private half-day program in Miami to facilitate practical, action-oriented discussions among leading U.S. and international venture investors, family offices, high-net-worth individuals and selected entrepreneurs.

To do this we are convening a stellar group of industry veterans today, including Tim Draper, founding partner of DFJ; Hernan Kazah, co-founder of MercadoLibre and now managing partner at KaszeK Ventures; Annette Franqui of Forrestal Capital; Diana Frazier of FLAG Capital Management; and others.

Miami is a well-known hub of international high-net-worth individuals and family offices, and the city is uniquely positioned as an epicenter for entrepreneurs, investors and fund managers from across the Americas. Miami has been a center of Latin American tech since the first generation of startups over a decade ago. The community is gaining momentum; we’ve seen this with the opening last year of Endeavor Miami, the global entrepreneurial nonprofit’s first U.S. affiliate, an influx of interest from venture capital firms and the emergence of many events targeted to this community (such as SIME, WeXchange, etc.), many supported by Knight Foundation.

A longtime real estate destination for the wealthy, the city also continues to attract investment dollars from important individuals and organizations.

The convergence of these three communities (entrepreneurs, fund managers and investors) is the perfect recipe to grow local and cross-border business opportunities. But there are inevitably challenges as the ecosystem evolves. Venture investing can only succeed when these groups are able to effectively collaborate.

“The LAVCA Miami Family Office/High-Net-Worth Individuals Workshop” aims to expose the investor community in Miami to the world’s leading venture investors and limited partners. We hope that participants will leave the event with a clearer understanding of accelerators and venture capital funds, including what they are and how they add value to startups. Most important, we hope they will embrace the opportunity to support a new generation of venture funds, especially those targeting the dynamic cross-border opportunity in the Americas.

For more information on The Latin American Private Equity & Venture Capital Association and its events visit lavca.org.