--- title: "Startup Nation Conference in Miami, February 2018 | NDA" description: "Liz Pasillas took part in Startup Nation 2018 in Miami, listed in its AR and VR session." url: https://newdiscovery.agency/news/startup-nation-conference-miami-2018/ language: en --- Conference 2 min read # New Discovery Media at the Startup Nation Conference Miami Dade College's Israel–South Florida tech conference put Liz Pasillas in its augmented and virtual reality session. Article Details Category Conference Published February 2018 Read Time 2 min Author New Discovery Agency Miami Dade College's Israel–South Florida tech conference put Liz Pasillas in its augmented and virtual reality session. [Back to News](https://newdiscovery.agency/news/) Liz Pasillas spent two days at Miami Dade College's Wolfson Campus in February 2018 for the Startup Nation Conference, where the programme listed her in the augmented and virtual reality session for New Discovery Media. The conference, held on February 26 and 27, 2018, was the second to bring Israeli and South Florida entrepreneurs together in Miami, [MDC News](https://news.mdc.edu/startup-nation-unites-the-israeli-and-south-florida-high-tech-industry/) reported. The Idea Center at Miami Dade College organised it with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and Tel Aviv University's Entrepreneurship Center, around artificial intelligence, augmented and virtual reality, and cybersecurity. Both editions grew out of an agreement between Tel Aviv University and The Idea Center, according to [AJC Project Interchange](https://www.ajc.org/projectinterchange/news/florida-start-up-nation-conference-results-from-project-interchange-miami-entrepreneurs), whose delegations of Miami entrepreneurs to Israel led to it. ## A Miami production house _on a panel of immersive-tech companies._ The conference's speaker page placed Pasillas in the AR and VR session with Guy Etgar of InSoundz, Sasha Kreindlin of ARShow and Eran Orr of VR Health, from Israel, and Alvaro Sanint of Jaibana Studios and Abi Mandelbaum of YouVisit, from Miami. New Discovery Media was already shooting in 360° by then, as [VoyageMIA](https://newdiscovery.agency/news/voyagemia-jonalex-herrera-liz-pasillas-new-discovery-media-miami/) had reported in September 2017. "Israel + Miami entrepreneurs at the 2018 Startup Nation Conference," Pasillas wrote afterwards. "Very impactful event." It came six months after the founders finished [CREATE](https://newdiscovery.agency/news/create-demo-day-idea-center-miami-dade-college-2017/) at The Idea Center, the same Miami Dade College hub that ran the conference. Her [TEDx Ciudad Juárez talk](https://newdiscovery.agency/news/liz-pasillas-at-tedx-ciudad-juarez/) tells of going blank in front of more than 30 investors in Miami, and names Startup Nation as the stage. Her posts from the time describe that pitch differently: in November 2017 she was a finalist in the Female Founders Startup Challenge at unbound Global Miami, sponsored by Babson College and WeWork, where she pitched Mersyv by New Discovery Media on the main stage to a jury. Eight women-led companies competed; KynderMed and Metastatic AI took the grand prizes. What she took to Miami Dade College was Mersyv, the prototype built the year before inside [CREATE](https://newdiscovery.agency/news/create-demo-day-idea-center-miami-dade-college-2017/) and already pitched at [unbound Miami](https://newdiscovery.agency/news/female-founders-startup-challenge-unbound-miami-2017/) three months earlier. Startup Nation Conference - ![Liz Pasillas with a Startup Nation Conference badge in Miami](https://newdiscovery.agency/assets/press-kits/news-images/startup-nation-conference-2018-1.jpg) Liz Pasillas at the Startup Nation Conference, Miami, 2018. - ![Liz Pasillas on stage at the augmented and virtual reality session, Miami Dade College Wolfson Campus](https://newdiscovery.agency/assets/press-kits/news-images/startup-nation-conference-2018-2.jpg) The augmented and virtual reality session, Miami Dade College Wolfson Campus. - ![Startup Nation Conference speaker page for the augmented and virtual reality session](https://newdiscovery.agency/assets/press-kits/news-images/startup-nation-conference-2018-3.jpg) The conference's speaker page for the session. Slide 1 of 3 More News [ Talk A HUBtalk on connecting audiences in an immersive era Technology HUB gave a Thursday evening in May 2019 to the founders, explaining VR, AR and 360° to businesses in Ciudad Juárez. Read ](https://newdiscovery.agency/news/hubtalk-immersive-audiences-technology-hub-2019/) [ Accelerator The founders finished CREATE at Miami Dade College Jonalex Herrera and Liz Pasillas went through CREATE, The Idea Center's accelerator, and closed it at Demo Day in August 2017. Read ](https://newdiscovery.agency/news/create-demo-day-idea-center-miami-dade-college-2017/) [ Award Technology HUB covered the Bridge Accelerator win Technology HUB reported the win, the $10,000 seed award, and Liz Pasillas on why the team stopped selling one-off VR builds. Read ](https://newdiscovery.agency/news/gana-agencia-local-de-vr-en-the-bridge-accelerator/) From news to proof ## The coverage tells the story. _The case studies show the work._ Each case study shows the system, the technology, and the impact behind what makes the news. [See case studies](https://newdiscovery.agency/case-studies/)