MIAMI - Following a successful fundraising round, The LAB Miami announced that it has opened a new 10,000 square foot collaborative work-learn campus for local and international innovators in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood.

As Miami’s entrepreneurial community continues its evolution, The LAB Miami’s unique work-learn campus will offer an in-house community of mentors consisting of experienced angel and venture investors that will provide guidance, support and counsel for up to 300 members. The campus is seeking a diversified mix of tenants that includes tech startups, programmers, designers, investors, serial entrepreneurs, nonprofits, artists and academics to create a dynamic environment.

TAMPA – The Florida Venture Forum has selected 21 Florida companies to present at the 22nd annual Florida Venture Capital Conference, to be held at the Sawgrass Marriott Resort & Golf Club in Ponte Vedra on January 31 – February 1, 2013.

The 21 presenting companies will make 8 minute presentations to an audience of venture capitalists, private equity investors, angel investors, investment bankers, financial intermediaries, service providers and entrepreneurs.

ORLANDO - Bitcoin payment processing firm, BitPay has taken their first outside investment by closing a seed round totaling $510,000. Investors include Shakil Khan, Barry Silbert, Jimmy Furland, Roger Ver, and other angel investors known for seeking out innovative technology companies. One Investor, Roger Ver, paid his investment contribution using bitcoins.

Over the past year, BitPay has seen transaction volume accelerating with average quarter-to-quarter growth of 50% over the past four quarters. The total dollar value of all orders processed by BitPay in 2012 is over $3 million, and all orders were paid using bitcoin. Bitcoin is the innovative digital currency that is being adopted worldwide.

LOS ANGELES, CA - WestPark Capital announced today that it has opened a new office location in Ft. Lauderdale.  The new office located in Museum Plaza in Ft. Lauderdale will be a full-service branch of WestPark Capital, the Los Angeles based national broker dealer and international investment banking firm.  The new location will further WestPark's footprint in the region and serve to further assist growing companies in achieving their growth and financing goals as well as providing professional financial services to the local investing community and assisting them with their personal investment needs.

MIAMI - BlueKite today announced a $1.5 million seed round led by the founding team and PeopleFund, along with initial plans for the development of a global cross-border bill payment and direct remittance platform.  Over the next six months, BlueKite will unveil technology and functionality that allows users to pay international bills including utilities and phone recharges in real-time and with unprecedented efficiency.  

BlueKite has developed proprietary technology that provides more options to millions of consumers who emigrated and still support friends and families back in their home countries. According to official World Bank data, more than 215 million people today have emigrated from their homelands. In 2011, these wage earning emigrants with responsibilities for family members transferred more than $500 Billion to their home countries. According to World Bank estimates these money transfers are growing at an 8% annual rate. In the Unites States alone, it is estimated that more than $60 Billion is remitted annually.

TAMPA - Vology and Bayshore Technologies, have combined to create a technology solutions company with more than 200 employees that is expected to generate more than $140 million in revenues in 2013. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The new company will continue to be known as Vology, with Bayshore Technologies serving as the firm's professional services delivery division. Shevlin will continue as CEO and Peter Anderson, CEO of Bayshore Technologies, will be senior vice president of Vology.