The Pareja Family Foundation

Seedfunders

MRGN

Mr. Rubin comes from a dynamic and diverse background, having been born to American parents in Israel, emigrating to the US, being a child of divorce, serving in a foreign military and enjoying a flourishing career in the area of strategic operations. Yoni served as the Chief of Staff to the CEO of InspireMD just as the biotech venture was going public on the OTC:BB. Subsequently, Yoni's team saw the company through an up-list to the NYSE and worked closely with the Chairman of the Board, Sol Barer, who founded Celgene, and now serves as the Chairman of Teva Pharmaceuticals. Yoni relocated to the US and oversaw business operations for Thirstie, an exciting venture in the on-demand space. He was quickly poached by Pypestream, a leader in conversational AI, where he served as the VP of Business Operations and Information Technology for six years. In November of 2019, Yoni launched MRGN, a machine-learning-powered business intelligence platform for small businesses. Yoni is married to his wonderful wife, Lisa, and they split time between New York City and Miami. Yoni is a former semi-professional football player, enjoys riding motorcycles, and mentors early-stage ventures through a variety of accelerator programs.

Lionfish Tech Advisors

Former Gartner Analyst having authored or co-authored over 280 research notes, on emerging technologies like Value Stream Management/Delivery Platforms, SD-WAN with SASE, AIOps, 6G, Blockchain, IoT, etc. in the past decade. A frequent speaker at tech events, he is often quoted in leading institutions like CNN, Wall St. Journal, etc. He is a former CTO of one of the first video/WiFi smartphone firms. Currently a Cybersecurity Advisor at Lionfish Tech Advisors, and Chief Technology Evangelist at Accure.AI in the Industrial Applications and IoT space with AI/ML solutions.

New World Angels

Ron Tarro is the President of New World Angels (NWA) which is a group of just under 100 accredited, private investors, operators and entrepreneurs dedicated to providing equity capital and guidance to early-stage entrepreneurial companies with a strong presence in Florida. Prior to becoming President, Ron served in multiple roles as a VP, Director, and head of screening. He has significantly built out New World Angels’ processes, staff, infrastructure, and membership over the past six years. Ron’s career has spanned software engineering, product management, executive management, CEO, strategy consulting and most recently early-stage venture capital investing across the information technology industry. Ron led his own early-stage telecommunications software company to international growth and to a successful public company exit. Ron is widely respected by early-stage technology company founders and by startup incubators for his mentorship, and by investors for his operating insight in support of their portfolio companies. He merges the sensibilities of a technologist, entrepreneur, and an investor.

Endeavor Miami

Starting out with SABMiller in El Salvador provided Claudia Duran with a rich introduction to theglobal beverage industry. The progression to Taca International Airlines (AVIANCA) was no lessenlightening, as she took on strategic projects across the Americas, notably participating in thestrategy team that launched VOLARIS in Mexico. Her finance background and these experiencespaved the way for an engaging tenure with Deutsche Banks Private Wealth Management divisionin New York City. Born to entrepreneurial parents, Claudia has always been inclined toward the drive and determination inherent in business builders. Inspired by their spirit and the broader impact ofbusinesses, she transitioned to the non-profit sector. Based out of Sao Paulo, she took the reins ofAshoka in Brazil, a leading organization supporting social entrepreneurs globally. A return to herroots saw her dive into my family's business, where she steered significant financial improvements.By 2019, Claudia found herself at Endeavor Miami, where her leadership acumen andunderstanding of the entrepreneurial spirit contribute meaningfully to the office and teamsachievements. Claudia's academic journey took her to Penn State University for a Bachelors in Finance and the prestigious Instituto de Empresa (IE) in Madrid for an MBA. Fluent in Spanish, English, Italian, and Portuguese, she brings a unique appreciation for global perspectives – an invaluable asset intodays interconnected business world.

Florida Atlantic University

TMC

Erik Linask is Group Editorial Director of TMC. During his tenure at TMC, he has supported the production and development of TMCs print publications and, most recently, managed the day-to-day operations of the industry's leading Web site, TMCnet, which currently serves more than 1 million unique monthly visitors. Currently, he oversees TMC's four print publications as well as TMCnet, and covers a wide range of topics in the IP Communications and Information Technology arenas, including his blog, Convergence Corner, on TMCnet. Erik also develops to conference programming for ITEXPO, and TMCs other communications and technology events, including Software Telco Congress. Prior to joining TMC, Erik was Managing Editor at Global Custodian, an international securities services publication, where he also managed the magazine's survey research. Erik began his professional career at management consulting firm Leadership Research Institute.

South Florida Tech Hub