Knight Foundation

A national foundation with strong local roots

INNOVATIONS

OF THE WORLD

FOR TODAY'S BIG THINKERS

As Featured In:

Knight Foundation is a national foundation with strong local roots. We invest in journalism, in the arts, and in the success of cities where brothers John S. and James L. Knight once published newspapers. Our goal is to foster informed and engaged communities, which we believe are essential for a healthy democracy.

Photo by Julian Gigante

Knight Foundation has been headquartered in Miami since 1990. The unique, bustling city is one of 26 where the foundation invests in journalism, arts, and communities. Few U.S. cities have transformed the way that Miami has in recent years, and we’re proud of Knight’s role in that evolution.

Since 2012, Knight Foundation has invested more than $30 million in advancing Miami’s startup community by connecting innovators, attracting investment and growing the city’s talent base. Our goal throughout has been to accelerate the development of a startup culture, open to the entire community, that helps make Miami a place where ideas are built and ventures are scaled.

Photo by David Sutta

Some of our key investments have seen much success, helping connect a once fragmented startup ecosystem. Co-working and innovation hubs including Venturé Cafe Miami, the LAB Miami and the Idea Center, and events such as Black Tech Week and eMerge Americas, have given our community the physical space to come together.

We were also able to bring new mentorship and funding opportunities to the city with the local launches of Endeavor Miami, 500 Startups, Miami Angels, and Babson College’s Women Innovating Now. Knight’s next chapter in Miami is focused on translating the momentum and activity we are now seeing into intentional impact that will sustain the city’s growth as an innovation hub into the future.

Photo by Julian Gigante

Keeping Knight’s core values of inclusion and participation in mind, we are exploring efforts to foster the growth of Miami’s startup community around four key areas:

  • Strengthening connections between the local network of founders, investors, and talent to support learning, growth, and community.
  • Creating avenues for new talent—from longtime Miami residents to newcomers—to discover and participate in the city’s growing startup community, connecting interest with opportunity.
  • Growing Miami’s venture funding capacity by informing investors, introducing outside capital to the region and building funding networks that are known and accessible to local entrepreneurs.
  • Leveraging Miami’s assets by supporting knowledge and venture-creation in sectors where it can be a world-class competitor, such as health and logistics.

,

John S. and James L. Knight, Founders of Knight Foundation

Raul Moas, Miami Director, Knight Foundation

Additionally, Knight supports research to inform the development of our city’s startup community. We’ve learned that the most fruitful ecosystems are those where founders, investors, and high-potential talent are strongly connected to each other and are also uplifted by the community-at-large. In Miami, we center many of our investments around this framework.

Miami’s innovation economy is growing, and each week we welcome an increasing number of amazing people to our city. Yet much remains to be achieved. Knight has been and will continue to be responsive to the demands of the moment, informed by those in the community who know it best. We strive to be catalytic funders, collaborating with private, public and philanthropic partners to help Miami secure its spot as a world-class entrepreneurial hub.

Other INNOVATE® Ecosystems