1
Neko Health Scans expand to South Florida
Neko Health, a preventive healthcare technology company founded by Spotify’s Daniel Ek and Hjalmar Nilsonne, will open its second U.S. clinic in Aventura Mall on Dec. 9, bringing South Florida its signature Neko Health Scan. The expansion follows a New York debut that pushed its waitlist past 50,000 people.
“We built Neko to offer consumers a completely new kind of healthcare experience – one that they can look forward to rather than put off until something goes wrong,” said Neko Health Co-Founder and CEO Hjalmar Nilsonne. “South Florida is a community that already invests in its wellbeing, and where life happens outdoors. That’s why the Miami area is a natural fit for our second U.S. clinic.”
Neko shifts the focus from treating disease after it develops to helping people understand and act on their health earlier. Its 60-minute, radiation-free health scan is a 360-degree skin exam with 6,000 images captured via a combination of cameras in the visual spectrum as well as thermal cameras, a cardiovascular assessment, detailed body composition analysis, and on-site blood testing focused on 50+ essential biomarkers. The Neko Health Scan takes roughly 30 minutes, followed by a further 30 minutes with a clinician, creatings a detailed baseline that can be tracked over time to surface early signals before symptoms appear.
Across Sweden and the UK, more than 100,000 members have already undergone the scan.
2
Hut 8 scales up its HQ
Hut 8, the Miami-based publicly traded energy infrastructure company, has relocated within Miami’s Brickell Financial District to a headquarters nearly seven times larger than its previous office space, the South Florida Business Journal reported. Hut 8 signed a long-term lease for 56,600 square feet at 777 Brickell Ave., replacing its previous 8,500-square-foot location at 1101 Brickell Ave.
Hut 8 develops, commercializes and operates industrial-scale energy and data center infrastructure. This move comes amid the company’s continued growth and a nationwide buildout of AI data centers.
“We have always believed that great companies are built in person,” Hut 8 CEO Asher Genoot said. “In Hut 8’s earliest days, our teams lived onsite in remote parts of Texas and New York, building side by side to bring complex infrastructure projects online. Our expanded Miami headquarters carries that operating culture into the next phase of the business: a place where the best people in our industry come together to build.” Read more here.
3
Ondas, Palantir team up to launch defense-tech focused Regna AI
Two South Florida-based publicly traded companies, Ondas and Palantir Technologies, announced the formation of Regna AI, a privately held company focused on developing mission-specific artificial intelligence systems for defense, security and other operational environments.
Ondas, based in West Palm Beach, will be Regna AI’s first customer, deploying fine-tuned models for autonomous mission orchestration at the edge. Regna AI also plans to work with governments, businesses, and institutions seeking sovereign AI capabilities for mission-critical operations.
Palantir, which relocated its HQ to Miami in February, will provide model-training infrastructure and support delivery, while collaborating with Regna AI on forward-deployed engineering to tailor AI capabilities to customer workflows and requirements.
Alex Karp, co-founder and CEO of Palantir, highlighted the potential advantages of developing AI systems trained specifically for operational requirements: “Sovereign AI, trained on mission knowledge and tradecraft, outperforms frontier models while removing dependence on them.”
Ondas reported that it is seeing significant demand for sovereign, mission-specific AI and will work with Regna AI and Palantir to scale the platform and support initial customer deployments over the coming months. “No government should have to build its AI strategy on models or data infrastructure it does not control,” said Ondas CEO Eric Brock. “We believe Regna AI can become a foundational AI platform for the U.S. Department of War, allied governments and the defense and industrial companies that serve them.”
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
4
Notion and Mana Tech partner up
Notion and Mana Tech are partnering to create a direct connection between the global productivity platform and the city’s growing startup and technology ecosystem. This partnership will bring Notion into Mana Tech’s Downtown Miami community through founder programming, dedicated events and product adoption, reaching a network of more than 3,000 founders and 330 startups, Mana Tech said in its announcement.
As part of the partnership, Notion will become Mana Tech’s Official Productivity Platform. Notion’s platform will be integrated into Mana Tech programs and founder workflows, including application tracking, KPI submissions, investor pipelines and company workspaces. Founders will have opportunities to explore how Notion can support company knowledge, project coordination and team workflows.
“We want founders building in Miami to have strong support right here in their own community,” said Conrado Morais, COO of Mana Tech. “By bringing Notion into our ecosystem, we’re creating opportunities for local entrepreneurs to connect with one another, explore tools for running their companies and build an ongoing relationship with a global technology platform.”
Notion and Mana Tech will kick off the partnership with an official launch event Oct. 27 by bringing together Miami-based founders, startup teams and technology leaders to learn about the partnership and explore opportunities to get involved. Additional community events will follow.
“We want to get closer to the founders and startup teams building in Miami, understand
how they work and help them get more value from Notion,” said Arthur Rozenblit, Head of
Startups at Notion. “Partnering with Mana Tech gives us a way to build those
relationships through local events and ongoing community engagement.”
Connecting global technology companies with Miami
Mana Tech hosts more than 200 curated events annually and has supported more than 330 companies through its programs. Rather than being limited to individual events or activations, the collaboration is designed to create recurring opportunities for local founders to meet peers and exchange experiences.
5
Consumer food startup Jaca lures $1M investment
Mercurius Media Capital, a U.S. venture capital firm pioneering the media-for-equity model, recently announced a $1 million strategic investment in Jaca, a Delray Beach-based consumer food company bringing allulose, a natural rare sugar substitute, to more consumers.
The investment will help Jaca build category awareness around allulose. With 77% of Americans trying to cut back on sugar, Jaca is focused on expanding awareness of allulose as a replacement that delivers the taste, baking performance and versatility consumers expect from sugar. “We’re born loving sweetness, and then we spend the rest of our lives being told it’s exactly what we have to give up. Jaca tastes, bakes and cooks like traditional sugar, without the health concerns. We’re building Jaca so no one has to choose between the sweetness they love and a healthier lifestyle,” said Pete Ferrari, founder of Healthy For Life Foods.
In addition to the investment, Jaca will gain access to MMC’s media network, enabling the company to leverage premium advertising inventory to educate consumers, build brand recognition, and drive awareness at scale. “Allulose is a compelling opportunity in a market that we believe is ready for something better. According to Fortune Global Insights, the global allulose market was approximately $200 million in 2025 and is projected to more than double to nearly $500 million by 2034, with North America already representing nearly half of the market. But for us, it’s not just about the size of the opportunity. We’re betting on the team, the product and the market’s ability to respond,” said Piyush Puri, Founding Partner of Mercurius Media Capital.
6
INmune Bio to apply quantum computing to Alzheimer’s research
INmune Bio and Quantum Computing recently announced a partnership to apply quantum computing, artificial intelligence and data analytics to identify new potential applications for XPro, INmune Bio’s investigational treatment for Alzheimer’s disease and other disease conditions.
As part of the collaboration, INmume Bio, a publicly traded biotechnology company based in Boca Raton, will combine its preclinical and clinical research data with quantum computing and AI to analyze biological mechanisms associated with disease. Its XPro product under development recently received a fast track designation from the FDA.
“We’ve built a large clinical dataset on Alzheimer’s and other diseases, backed by years of work with XPro,” said INmune Bio CEO David Moss. “This collaboration allows us to examine patient populations and biomarkers most likely to predict responses by analyzing large data sets. We’ll look for the diseases with the greatest potential for success, those whose human biology matches what we’ve already seen XPro do, starting with rare diseases where trials can be smaller, faster and more capital-efficient, and where qualifying pediatric approvals may earn a Priority Review Voucher.” Read more in the South Florida Business Journal.
7
How to earn a Google Career Certificate at no cost
Listen up: The Source Groups and its partners are offering an opportunity to earn Google certifications at no cost to South Florida residents.
The Source and Miami nonprofit Get Tech Knowledge have partnered with Grow With Google to offer workshops at downtown Miami’s The HUB @ Office Logic and The Source’s location in Miami. Google has allocated up to 500 free Google Career Certificates for participants that complete their coursework. Participants must be based in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, the Miami Herald reported.
The workshops will be part of Tech Tuesdays, which are the Source’s biweekly evening meetups for entrepreneurs and tech professionals. A pair of two-day intensive courses will be offered before the end of 2026 for People Management and Google AI Professional certificates, and then program participants will be guided into Build, Data and Tech training paths. The courses will take from three to six months to complete, and the Google coursework will be done online via Coursera. Learn more here.
8
MDC AI students participate in Anthropic Basecamp
Miami Dade College recently partnered with Anthropic and CodePath to provide MDC AI Elite students with hands-on training in applying AI to real-world organizational challenges using Anthropic tools. The three-day Anthropic Basecamp focused on the process of taking an organizational challenge from an initial conversation to a potential AI solution. Students worked through the types of questions, decisions and constraints they are likely to encounter when working with organizations adopting AI.
“For AI Elite students, the experience comes at an important transition point. Students enter the program with developing expertise in artificial intelligence, data analysis, and software development. Applying those skills within an organization, however, requires additional capabilities, including understanding business needs, navigating unfamiliar systems, balancing competing priorities and determining where AI can create meaningful value. The Anthropic Basecamp is designed to help students make that transition using the latest AI tools,” said Antonio Delgado Fornaguera, MDC’s EVP of Innovation and Tech Partnerships, shared on LinkedIn.
9
LaunchEd to add House of Math platform to classrooms
LaunchEd of Fort Lauderdale announced a strategic partnership with House of Math, Norway’s leading math learning provider, to bring its personalized K-12 platform into U.S. classrooms. During the 2026-27 school year, House of Math will enter the LaunchEd Sandbox with an initial deployment across multiple Florida regions reaching students in grades 3-12. The program will document student engagement, academic progress and platform efficacy, creating a pathway for phased commercial expansion across partner school systems serving more than 90,000 students and the broader U.S. education market.
House of Math’s MIND AI is a proprietary knowledge system specifically for mathematics learning. In 90 seconds, MIND AI maps what a student understands, identifies the foundational gaps holding them back and creates a personalized path forward. Its connected knowledge graph traces difficulties back to their underlying causes while maintaining each student’s knowledge state and curriculum position throughout the learning journey, the company said.
“House of Math goes beyond grade-level content and precisely identifies what each student understands, uncovers what is holding them back and guides them toward mastery,” said Kirianne Suriano, managing director of LaunchEd. “That is exactly what we look for in the products we bring into the Sandbox: technology that helps educators meet students where they are, move them forward systematically through the curriculum and drive positive student outcomes.”
10
Jobs, jobs, jobs
Betr – Acquisition Operations Associate
eMed – Sr Software Engineer (Fullstack)
Iru – Sr Product Designer
Lennar – Project Manager I
Mythical Labs – VP of Marketing (Remote)
Nubank – Staff Technical Recruiter
Payabli – Sr Solutions Engineer
Pivotal – GNC Model-Based Design Engineer
Sharp Pen Media – Business Development Representative
Sharp Pen Media – Marketing Specialist
Synthbee – Sr Security Engineer
Synthbee – Software Developer
Find more opportunities on Refresh Miami’s job board here.
PLUS
Opportunity knocks
- eMerge Americas’ SMB Growth Lab, powered by JPMorganChase + Momentum Miami, helps Miami-Dade small and medium-sized businesses embrace digital transformation and unlock sustainable growth. Last year the cohort grew from 30 to 61 SMBs, and the results followed: new customers, new revenue, and connections that are still paying off today. Apply here.
- Are you Miami curious? Maybe you’re ready for more sunshine or tired of state income taxes. Maybe you’re just looking for your next adventure. The challenge usually isn’t the city, it’s figuring out how to make the move make sense – the right role, the right company, the right connections. If you’ve been thinking about Miami, check out moveto.miami, powered by Refresh Miami. We’re here to help.
ICYMI
- Funding news: After exiting Cal AI, 19-year-old Miami founder raises $10M to put AI on your wrist
- Dapta raises $6M to give Main Street businesses an AI advantage
- Up, up, up: South Florida on way to another strong VC year, PitchBook’s Q3 report shows
- Investor spotlight: David Blumberg on why Miami’s tech moment is still gaining ground
- Ecosystem news: Miami AI Summit grows up: New name, bigger crowd, $13B keynote
- Ambition Accelerated kicks off statewide accelerator in key sectors. Here are the 19 South Florida startups selected
- MDIA lands $3M Knight Foundation investment to expand its innovation model nationwide
- OpenFX launches venture arm; has invested in Miami’s Jeeves and Cyclops
- From Miami to the World: How a Miami 16-year-old is scaling access to tech education
- Music Tech mission from Spain heading to Miami in October
- Startup in the Spotlight: This Miami startup thinks your home should have a signature scent
- Guest viewpoints: Saif Ishoof: America’s next 250 years need Miami. Ken Griffin’s $2 billion Carnegie Mellon bet is a test of whether America can still build new engines of invention.
- Ken Griffin’s message to UM students: Work with AI, don’t fear it
- Will Claude’s new AI ‘watermark’ keep us all honest?
- And much more paywall-free #MiamiTech news here!
Have news to report? Email Nancy Dahlberg at nancy@refreshmiami.com and follow her on X @ndahlberg and on LinkedIn. Subscribe to Refresh Miami’s free weekly newsletter here featuring startup news, tech job opportunities and events.
- Carnegie Mellon names dean and VP of Miami campus. Let’s meet him. – October 20, 2026
- 10+ things to know in #MiamiTech: Neko Health Scans on way, big HQ move for Hut 8, Palantir & Ondas team up, Mana Tech & Notion partner, Jaca bags $1M & news from INMune Bio, MDC, CodePath, The Source, Google, LaunchEd & more – October 20, 2026
- From Miami to the World: How a Miami 16-year-old is scaling access to tech education – October 15, 2026
