Miami startup partners with local university

Genius Plaza, a fast-growing startup based in Miami, will supply its education technology to St. Thomas University students and join in research efforts as part of a newly announced partnership.

The university's exchange program students will utilize Genius Plaza's platform to work with classes in Africa and Spain starting in spring 2020.

"This is about five months in the making and we're super proud of having academia as partner," Genius Plaza CEO Ana Castro told the Business Journal. "We're working on a potential partnership with [Florida International University] as well."

Additionally, the company will engage in joint research projects that tap St. Thomas University's doctoral students to improve Genius Plaza's technology through their dissertation findings. Their findings will be added to the company's literature and resources, according to a recent announcement from Genius Plaza.

The company has similar partnerships with Harvard, Yale and Columbia universities. The partnership with St. Thomas University is its first in South Florida.

"Our focus is providing our students with high-quality opportunities for experiential learning, helping our students enhance their knowledge and develop key skills," said Jeremy Moreland, provost and chief academic officer at St. Thomas University. "Through partnerships we are able to leverage the expertise of well-established and highly regarded organizations, like Genius Plaza, to provide our students with more opportunities and resources that will help them in their future careers."

Founded in 2013, Genius Plaza aims to remove obstacles for educating children in underserved communities globally with its technology. The company relocated its headquarters to Miami from Clifton Park, New York last year and has about 90 open jobs across multiple offices, including one it recently opened in Central Florida. The company has about 200 employees worldwide.