Miami-based Lightning Capital is launching a $100 million Venture Fund II and bringing former Andreessen Horowitz operator Michele Griffin into the firm as general partner (GP) and COO, a move that reflects how Miami’s venture ecosystem is becoming increasingly institutionalized.
The firm, which is headquartered in Brickell, says the new fund will focus on opportunities emerging from what it calls the “AI Ripple Effects,” the industries reshaped as artificial intelligence moves from experimentation into scaled adoption.
“We’ve been headquartered here for about five years now,” CEO, co-founder, and GP Jason Albanese told Refresh Miami. “I think it’s been very exciting to be building Lightning Capital out of Miami.”
The firm has spent the last several years growing relationships across the local startup and investor ecosystem, including ties to the University of Miami and the local chapter of business groups such as YPO.
Albanese said the city’s growth and entrepreneurial culture continue to stand out.
“I find the growth in Miami to be tremendous. I also find the entrepreneurial energy to be tremendous,” he said. “I think this is a place that is, in certain ways, one of the newer homes of positive risk taking in The United States.”
That optimism came with some realism too. Albanese pointed to affordability and STEM education as areas Miami still needs to improve if it wants to compete long term with larger tech ecosystems.
“We want more talented people to keep coming here, bringing their businesses here,” he said. “We want those people to raise families here and have access to schools and have access to housing.”
Still, he feels optimistic: “The positives dramatically outweigh those challenges,” he said.
The fundraise itself also reflects how Miami’s investor ecosystem has evolved. Albanese said many of Lightning’s LPs are based across South Florida, including Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and Palm Beach, giving the firm a more relationship-driven approach than traditional institutional fundraising.
“It is not kind of a cold corporate level of institutional capital,” Albanese asserted. “We are working with a lot of family offices. We are working with endowments.”
That local network has allowed the firm to build a tight-knit investor community through events, dinners, and informal gatherings centered around technology and investing.
“People are excited to be here and excited to be part of it,” he said.
For Griffin, joining Lightning represented an opportunity to help build a different kind of venture platform in Miami. Griffin previously worked in go-to-market leadership at Andreessen Horowitz, helping startups scale commercial operations and growth.
Speaking with Refresh Miami, she said Lightning stood out because of the way it thinks about both founders and investors.
“I thought that Lightning was incredibly unique in how they built this kind of multi fund investment firm,” Griffin said. “They’ve really thought about, I think, the two most important factors, which is the founder and the LP experience.”
She also pointed to the firm’s focus on liquidity and diversified fund structures as a major differentiator. Lightning’s broader strategy spans venture capital, digital assets, and secondaries, including exposure to private companies like SpaceX and Anthropic.
“What’s going on in tech is no longer a Silicon Valley only thing,” CFO, co-founder, and GP Jock Percy added.
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Pictured above: Left to Right, Lightning Capital team R: Jock Percy, Michele Griffin, Amy Coveny (Head of Investor Relations + Venture Operations), Jason Albanese.
READ MORE IN REFRESH MIAMI:
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- Miami Angels and New World Angels are combining to form statewide network
- Big Sky Capital is the bridge between Fort Lauderdale and Central Asia
