Zané van Greuning

For generations, South Florida’s marine contractors have mostly landed jobs the old-fashioned way, knocking on hulls at the marina. Boatwork wants to bring that world online. Founded by Jacob Ruytenbeek, Boatwork is building what he describes as a Yelp for the marine industry, a curated directory that connects boat owners with contractors, paired with tools that bring those same contractors online. The idea grew out of a personal problem.

Hurricanes, flooding, and aging infrastructure are pushing South Florida to find new solutions faster, and Florida International University’s Risk and Resilience Tech Hub (RRTH) wants to help get them there. RRTH is a research and innovation initiative based at FIU’s Office of Research and Economic Development, focused on strengthening infrastructure against extreme weather and long-term wear.

If you’ve spent a rainy season in South Florida, you know the feeling of watching streets fill with water that has nowhere to go. One Miami startup believes it has a solution to the problem, and it’s not where most people are looking. Sealor, a coastal resilience technology developed by Miami-based climate-tech venture studio Nexuma, has won a National Science Foundation Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II award.