Issue link: http://endeavor.uberflip.com/i/601215
1 CB Insights, Literature search. 2 Id. 3 Id. 4 Id. 5 Education Week, June 2013. 6 The Miami Herald, Jan 2015. space can look to many existing success stories, have a substantial mentorship network and have access to a large pool of local talent. Furthermore, Florida is the second largest health district in the U.S. that has a network of universities and hospitals that encourage innovation. In 2014, $119 Million 1 was invested in healthcare and medical devices. Furthermore, the number of yearly venture capital deals in this sector is on the rise, with approximately 12 deals occurring in 2014. 2 Food and Beverage Sector South Florida's food and beverage sector exhibits strong entrepreneurship activity despite the lack of major investments in this area. The low level of entrepreneurial investment in this vertical is evidenced by the fact that in 2014, only $4.5 Million was invested in food and beverage companies. 3 This lack of investment in South Florida's food and beverage industry is, however, somewhat counteracted by South Florida's strong existing food and beverage expertise, talent base and education for individuals entering the food and beverage industry. It is also important to note that this seemingly low level of entrepreneurial investment may be due to entrepreneurs accessing sources of funding outside of traditional venture backing. Creative Industries Sector South Florida's creative industries sector is buoyed by the regions large existing pool of multicultural creative and fashion professionals, South Florida computers and mathematical occupational employment ('000 Jobs, all company sizes) CAGR 14-22 Source: Small Business Administration, Florida Department of Economic Opportunity and Bureau of Economic and Business Research. the majority of which are aiming to strengthen local industry. The creative industries sector is also flourishing as a result of South Florida's burgeoning contemporary art scene and ever- growing network of TV production facilities, fashion designer icons and world renowned art events. In 2014, approximately $67 Million was invested in creative industries. 4 Educational Services Sector There appears to be healthy growth in the number of small and medium businesses (1-499 employees) for educational services, despite underperforming regional earnings in the educational services sector. There is low private investment activity in education, yet there is a large public investment in the classroom. Case in point, in 2013, the board of Florida's Miami-Dade County school district unanimously approved a $63 Million plan to lease as many as 150,000 digital computing devices for students as part of a far-reaching effort to upgrade the 354,000-student system's technological capabilities. 5 There is a strong government and community focus on improving high-level education programs in South Florida because leaders recognize that education is an important area to innovate in if our community is to flourish: "To compete [in other industries], Florida needs to invest a lot more in technology education. We need to lead." 6