Diverse entrepreneurs in Miami-Dade County set to win startup funding for third year as Envolve Entrepreneurship partners with MDC’s Idea Center for annual award competition

The Envolve Award USA application is open in Miami-Dade County! The Envolve Award USA (formerly the American Entrepreneurship Award), a regionally-focused business plan competition that recognizes the best examples of entrepreneurship among diverse and underserved entrepreneurs, is open to experienced and budding entrepreneurs in demonstrably underserved communities across the nation. The Envolve Award USA aims to embolden  early-stage businesses by providing diverse entrepreneurs with easy access to capital, knowledge, and resources.

This year Envolve is delighted to announce—once again for the third year—that the application is open to the entire Miami-Dade County area, with special consideration for students of Miami Dade College (MDC).

South Florida is a growing entrepreneurship ecosystem, with one in eight South Floridians involved in small business activity. The buzz of startup activity has gotten national attention and landed the Miami-Ft. The Lauderdale area with a No. 1 ranking among the 40 largest metro areas in the U.S. on Kauffman Foundation’s 2017 Index of Startup Activity, which measures business creation.

The application is very straightforward via Envolve’s website, and winners will receive funding, mentorship, and a range of business support. Interested parties are encouraged to complete a simple online registration form to generate a user profile and submit their application. The overall competition is open to entrants from previous American Entrepreneurship Award legacy locations Miami-Dade County, Florida and the Bronx in New York City. Additionally, the 2018 competition expands to applicants from Washington DC, Baltimore, Atlanta, Charleston, Detroit, Flint, and the Greater New York City area. Registration commenced on Wednesday, June 27, 2018, and winners will be declared in late fall of 2018.

The launch marks the third annual cycle of entrepreneurship award programming for the newly rebranded organization. Envolve hopes that its expansion to new cities will increase awareness around the importance of supporting underserved entrepreneurs and how the provision of education and resources can serve as an impetus for success.

The 2016 award winners are enjoying great commercial success. In particular, Court Buddy of Miami, an online legal services access company, has raised more than $1 million in capital following its award triumph. Meanwhile, winners from 2017 are gaining traction in numerous markets and making waves in the local ecosystem, such as environmental solutions (SOP Technologies), and an online minority business marketplace (Major Marketplace).

To leverage its award programming and connect with underserved entrepreneurs in a meaningful way, Envolve partners with like-minded support organizations in each award location in order to contribute to the support of applicants and winners. In its first two years under the previous AEA, MDC worked collaboratively to host workshops and experiential trainings for the community. This year both organizations look to grow the number of applicants and engage more budding or experienced entrepreneurs.

Commenting on the 2018 USA award launch in Miami Dade County, Christopher Upperman, CEO of Envolve stated: “In year three of our collaborative effort we hope to reach more diverse and multicultural entrepreneurs throughout Miami-Dade County via our competition. There is a burgeoning entrepreneurship ecosystem in South Florida and we want to ensure those left out have an opportunity to start, grow, and scale their businesses or ideas. MDCIC is an anchor in the community and we are thrilled to work alongside them to get the word out to as many prospective applicants as possible. It’s our hope that we can encourage others to support worthy entrepreneurs through financial assistance, workshops, and other provisions. We are proud of our partners those who are as committed to inclusive entrepreneurship as we are, and look forward to working together to make dreams become a reality.”

“We are thrilled to partner up again with Envolve USA for this third edition of the award. We expect there to be some great entrepreneurial ideas from our MDC students and community and are ready to support them on their entrepreneurial journey,” said Romi Bhatia, Executive Director of The Idea Center at MDC. The Center is the entrepreneurial engine of MDC supporting entrepreneurs, innovators, changemakers, and the like to help bring their entrepreneurial ideas to life.

Envolve has pledged financial support of up to $250,000 in interest-free and no-equity business start-up and scale-up funding to be disbursed among multiple award winners throughout each region.


The Idea Center @MDC

The Idea Center @MDC is the college’s hub of innovation, the place where students from all disciplines can gather, collaborate and take advantage of resources and training to develop their entrepreneurial ideas. Through cutting-edge entrepreneurship education, professional development and experiential learning, students and community members can acquire the tools needed to identify challenges and develop solutions. The Idea Center has several components including MarketHack, CREATE accelerator, CodePro, The Startup Challenge, and the Innovation Lab, to name a few. It is made possible through the support of the Knight Foundation. For more information, visit www.theideacenter.co


MDC Media-only contacts: Juan Mendieta, MDC director of communications, 305-237-7611, jmendiet@mdc.edu; Hessy Fernandez, director of media relations, 305-237-3949, hfernan5@mdc.edu; Sue Arrowsmith, 305-237-3710, sue.arrowsmith@mdc.edu, or Allison Horton, 305-237-3359, ahorton2@mdc.edu.