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August 30, 2021

Forbes: Miami is a top emerging US tech city

A laptop computer sitting on top of a desk

Miami beat out rivals like New York City and Austin, Texas on Forbes‘ new ranking of emerging technology hubs in the U.S.

The one metro it couldn’t surpass? Tampa.

Miami ranked No. 2 on the list, with Forbes noting that the city became a hot spot for innovation and company relocations in 2020. Some of the biggest names to make their way to the Magic City include Founders Fund partner Keith Rabois and Blumberg Capital founder David Blumberg.

“With them followed nearly $1 billion in venture capital in 2020 alone,” Forbes reported.

Neocis, a Miami-based robotics-assisted surgical platform for the dental industry backed by $123 million in investor capital, and aXpire, a firm that creates software-as-a-service products for the financial tech industry, are among the city’s notable technology startups highlighted by Forbes.

Tampa took the No. 1 spot on the list. The metro, responsible for more than a quarter of Florida’s technology jobs, is also home to at least 50 software and IT companies. The Tampa Bay region is expected to add more than 2,000 additional tech jobs by the end of 2021.

“Tampa is quickly turning into Florida’s tech capital,” Forbes reported. “It has been exploding in the tech industry for several years now.”

After Miami, New York City came in third in the ranking, followed by Austin and San Francisco.

Demand for tech workers is surging in the South Florida area as more businesses and investors eye the region’s tech scene. There was a 29% increase of tech job postings in the tri-county area between the first and second quarters of this year, according to a CompTIA analysis of Burning Glass Technologies Labor Insights data.

At that time, the Miami area led the state for tech job advertisements with 14,084. Tampa came in second, with 11,660 new tech postings in the second quarter (up 19%), followed by Orlando (6,665; up 20%) and Jacksonville (4,730; up 20%).