Miami Entrepreneurship Center (MEC261), is a non-profit offering a fun and hip workplace where creativity and innovation is fostered. The 12,000 sqft. center is located in the heart of DownTown Miami and its built on collaboration and innovation.  

The Founder's (Maurice Lopes) vision was to replicate 1871 from Chicago where so much impact was happening.  1871 built a strong tech startup community that is thriving in successful ventures, a much needed story for Miami.  With that in mind the only way to achieve this was to break the normal for-profit office space bubble, by offering three main things to achieve this micro-economic development:

1 - Work Space - free or inexpensive space to startups to get started, going, well into traction

2 - Mentorship -  EXPERIENCED people, not from people who only have academic knowledge, get actual successful entrepreneurs (with exits).

3 - Funding - The most obscure resource in South Florida, everyone talks about it, very few actually have it).

The center originally was meant to be a joint effort of contribution and resources, the Miami Downtown Development Agency had promised to help fund the center, but after several budgetary dodges and meeting delays the MDDA decided to spend their funding on beatifying downtown, instead of supporting a space that would help our startups create jobs in DOWNTOWN.   The founder Maurice Lopes was left holding the burden to finish the center, turned to the Knight foundation (who recently backed financially the for profit "LAB Miami"), the team at Knight Foundation clearly stated that they were not going to support any other infrastructure initiative in order to protect their investment in LAB. 

Even with all the obstacles, and lack of support from the city, the DDA and Knight Foundation MEC is full and the companies there are doing great things on their own, several of the companies at MEC have obtained substantial funding after joining.  

Membership is open to anyone (only $300 a year - includes everything), offices however start at $349 and go very fast, there is always a small wait-list to be a member visit: http://mec261.org/join 

<div style="text-align: center;"> <font size="2">Founder</font></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> <font size="2">Maurice Lopes</font></div>