During her first in-person State of the County Address, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava announced County grant funding for the newly-formed nonprofit Miami-Dade Innovation Authority, Inc. (Innovation Authority). The Innovation Authority – established with seed funding of $3 million from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, $3 million from Citadel CEO Ken Griffin, and $3 million from Miami-Dade County – will provide grants to innovative companies working to solve pressing community challenges in climate, health, housing, transit, and more. Companies will be invited to pilot new technologies in collaboration with the County, fast-tracking innovative solutions to key problems our community faces. To watch Mayor Levine Cava’s full speech, visit miamidade.gov/stateofthecounty.

The Innovation Authority will work hand in hand with private sector funders to support startups, leveraging public and private dollars to maximize impact. With this innovative model, the County will dedicate seed funding to solve our community’s biggest challenges, while creating a path for entrepreneurs to access private funding and test their technologies at scale.

The legislation authorizing the County’s grant to the Innovation Authority will go before the Board of County Commissioners in March.

“With pilot programs and an openness to creative solutions, we are flipping the way government does business by inviting businesses to pilot their innovations with us,” said County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. “We’re saying to entrepreneurs everywhere that we’re open for business, and we’re inviting the private sector to join us as we unlock more streamlined, more cost-effective solutions to big public sector problems. I am grateful to the Knight Foundation and Ken Griffin for this major investment in innovative problem-solving right here in Miami-Dade.”

“With this announcement, Miami-Dade County is committing to innovation, and further positioning our community as a world-class destination for high-growth companies,” said Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners Chairman Oliver G. Gilbert, III, sponsor of the Innovation Authority legislation. “This approach will fast-forward local solutions – while giving entrepreneurs a path to test and scale, making it faster and easier to innovate in Miami-Dade.”

“Miami Dade is the new frontier of tech innovation and entrepreneurship. The Miami Dade Innovation Authority will help us embrace our future and our destiny. This is all about seizing and accelerating opportunity,” said Alberto Ibargüen, President, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

"I am thrilled to support Mayor Levine Cava and the leaders of the Miami-Dade Innovation Authority in their mission to address the needs of our community by leveraging the power of technology," said Ken Griffin, Citadel founder and CEO. "This work will advance innovation, entrepreneurship and economic growth in South?Florida."