Tamiami Angel Funds has made a second funding in Sort Designs, contributing an extra $200,000 to help the Florida-based climate-tech firm’s mission of defending coastal communities by way of sustainable innovation. This newest contribution brings the whole funding from Southwest Florida angel traders to $400,000.
“Sort Designs’ strong enterprise thesis mixed with the environmental profit provides us confidence that the corporate is on a powerful development trajectory,” mentioned Timothy Cartwright, Associate at Fifth Avenue Household Workplace and Chairman of Tamiami Angel Funds in Naples.
Sort Designs, headquartered in Miami Seaside, leverages proprietary 3D printing know-how to supply Residing Seawalls – bio-enhancing constructions that simulate coral reefs and mangroves. These concrete seawalls not solely help biodiversity and enhance water high quality however are additionally strengthened with recycled ocean plastic fibers and outfitted with embedded water-quality sensors, enabling the creation of a world water knowledge community.
The corporate is capitalizing on a convergence of regulatory and environmental developments, together with authorities mandates to boost seawalls, rising demand for sustainable constructing supplies, and the cost-efficiency of 3D printing.
“We put in the primary 3D printed seawall on this planet in Miami Seaside earlier this yr with Dock & Marine Building, which has been in enterprise right here because the Fifties,” mentioned Anya Freeman, Founder and CEO of Sort Designs.
Since receiving its preliminary spherical of angel funding late final yr, Sort Designs has considerably scaled operations. The corporate has relocated to a 50,000-square-foot warehouse alongside the Miami River, enhancing logistical entry for barge-based transport to numerous undertaking websites. Its rising fleet of cell 3D printers may be deployed on to areas, together with a deliberate 750-acre eco-resort in Bimini, Bahamas.
This funding types a part of Sort Designs’ broader $5.6 million capital increase, which has additionally drawn help from high-profile backers reminiscent of Mark Cuban. The corporate has since expanded its workforce to 14 workers and continues to ramp up manufacturing capability throughout Florida.
The Tamiami Angel Funds, primarily based in Naples, are member-managed funding teams comprised of high-net-worth people and households targeted on early- and expansion-stage corporations all through the US, with a specific emphasis on alternatives inside Florida.
