Exploring the Miami Startup Scene in 2026

Miami’s startup ecosystem continues to thrive in 2026

• Miami combines a pro-business environment with a strategic role as a gateway between North and South America.
• Venture capital activity remains a major tailwind, with the metro area raising roughly $3.5–$4 billion in 2025.
• Fintech, proptech, medtech, and AI/deep tech continue to define the city’s innovation narrative.
• A busy 2026 events calendar is helping founders and investors meet, learn, and close deals.

Overview of Miami’s Startup Ecosystem in 2026

Note on sources: The funding figures, startup-density estimate, and 2026 event details referenced below are drawn from the research sources cited in the underlying brief (including TRUiC/Startup Savant, Refresh Miami, WebMobi Events, Startup OLÉ Miami, and Future PropTech Miami).

Miami enters 2026 with the momentum of a city that has moved from “emerging tech hub” to a more established startup destination—still young compared with legacy ecosystems, but increasingly hard to ignore. Several forces converge here: a business-friendly climate, a diverse and international population, and a geography that naturally positions the city as a commercial bridge between the U.S. and Latin America.

The ecosystem’s growth is visible not only in headlines about funding rounds, but also in the density of entrepreneurial activity. As of 2026, Miami is estimated to have about 248 startups per 10,000 residents, a figure that signals a high concentration of company formation and early-stage experimentation.

Interpretation note: Startup-density estimates vary by methodology (what counts as a “startup,” geography boundaries, and data freshness), so this number is best read as a directional indicator rather than a precise census.

Sector-wise, Miami’s startup identity is not monolithic. Instead, it’s a portfolio: fintech remains a flagship, supported by both consumer and business financial products and a broader interest in blockchain and decentralized finance. Proptech is rising alongside Miami’s real estate prominence, with startups applying AI, IoT, and blockchain concepts to property and development. Medtech and healthcare innovation are also increasingly visible, with companies building devices and services that aim to modernize care delivery. Meanwhile, AI and deep tech show up across domains—from energy to healthcare—reflecting a broader national shift toward applied AI.

In 2026, Miami’s story is less about whether it can attract founders and more about how it sustains growth: building repeatable pathways from idea to scale, and ensuring the city’s infrastructure and institutions keep pace.

Venture Capital Trends in Miami

Miami’s startup narrative in 2026 is inseparable from venture capital. The region has become a magnet for investors looking for growth outside traditional coastal strongholds, and founders increasingly treat Miami as a credible place to raise, hire, and build. The result is a funding environment that—while still cyclical—has demonstrated resilience and scale.

The Miami–Fort Lauderdale metro area raised between $3.5 billion and $4 billion in VC funding in 2025, described as its best year since pandemic-era records. That level of capital matters for more than bragging rights: it influences how quickly startups can professionalize, recruit, and compete nationally.

At the deal level, the end of 2025 offered a snapshot of the ecosystem’s breadth. In Q4 2025, Miami startups raised $612.7 million across 109 deals, with an average deal size of $5.6 million. Those numbers suggest a market with both volume (many transactions) and enough depth to support larger rounds.

Still, VC is not just a scoreboard. It shapes which sectors accelerate, which founders get repeated shots, and how quickly the ecosystem develops “institutional memory”—the pattern recognition that comes from seeing companies scale, stumble, pivot, and exit. In Miami, the current wave of funding is helping build that muscle in real time.

Funding Amounts and Key Players

The most concrete signal of Miami’s VC momentum is the size and variety of recent rounds. In Q4 2025 alone, several deals stood out for both scale and thematic range:

• Exowatt raised $120 million (Series AI) for renewable energy solutions.
• Lighter raised $68 million (Series B) for decentralized blockchain technology.
• Flex raised $60 million (Series B) for AI-native private banking.

These rounds illustrate a key point about Miami’s capital formation: it’s not confined to a single “Miami-only” niche. Instead, investors are backing companies that map to global themes—energy transition, blockchain infrastructure, and AI-driven financial services—while operating from a city that offers international connectivity and a growing tech community.

The broader Q4 picture also matters because it indicates activity across stages. An average deal size implies a meaningful share of early and growth-stage financings, not only mega-rounds. That mix is often what turns a startup scene into an ecosystem: seed and early-stage deals feed the pipeline, while larger rounds keep successful companies headquartered locally long enough to hire, mentor, and reinvest.

Miami’s VC landscape is also reinforced by convening power. Events that bring together active venture investors and founders—particularly those with curated attendance—help translate interest into term sheets. In 2026, the city’s calendar includes multiple such gatherings, effectively functioning as deal-flow accelerators.

Impact of VC on Startup Growth

Venture capital’s impact in Miami shows up in how quickly startups can move from concept to execution—and from execution to scale. When funding is available, founders can invest earlier in product development, compliance, go-to-market, and hiring. That’s especially relevant in sectors that dominate Miami’s scene.

In fintech, capital can determine whether a company can build robust infrastructure and compete on trust, user experience, and speed. The presence of companies like Flex—positioned around AI-native private banking—highlights how VC can push startups into more ambitious product categories that require both technical depth and market education.

In medtech, funding can be the difference between a promising prototype and a product that can be deployed in real clinical contexts. Miami’s ecosystem includes companies like DermaSensor, which develops AI-powered skin cancer detection devices and raised $16 million—a reminder that healthcare innovation often requires sustained investment to move from development into broader adoption.

VC also shapes the ecosystem indirectly. Larger rounds can anchor companies in the region longer, creating experienced operators who later become founders, angel investors, or mentors. Over time, that flywheel can reduce dependence on external validation from older tech hubs.

At the same time, Miami’s growth underscores a familiar truth: capital is an accelerant, not a substitute for fundamentals. The most durable outcomes come when funding aligns with real customer demand, strong execution, and a supportive local environment—talent, infrastructure, and community.

Key Startup Events in Miami for 2026

Miami’s startup ecosystem is not built only in offices and pitch decks; it’s also built in rooms where founders, investors, and operators compare notes, test ideas, and form relationships. In 2026, the city’s event calendar reflects a maturing scene: more specialized conferences, more curated investor access, and more structured opportunities for startups to present.

These events matter because they compress time. A founder can meet potential investors, partners, and customers in a single day—connections that might otherwise take months to build. They also create shared vocabulary: what “good” looks like in fundraising, how to navigate the current market, and which sectors are drawing attention.

Miami’s 2026 lineup includes large-scale venture gatherings, high-density curated conferences, and international-facing events that match the city’s global posture. Together, they reinforce Miami’s role as a convening hub—particularly for founders and investors who see cross-border opportunity as a feature, not a complication.

Below are three of the most visible startup events scheduled for 2026, each with a distinct purpose: one emphasizes broad venture networking, another focuses on tactical playbooks and curated attendance, and a third connects Miami to a wider international startup pipeline.

Practical note: Dates, venues, and ticketing can change—confirm the latest details on each event’s official site before planning travel or outreach.

Florida Venture Capital Conference

The Florida Venture Capital Conference is scheduled for February 23–25, 2026, at Loews Coral Gables in Miami, and is positioned as one of the largest venture events in the United States. Scale is part of its appeal: the conference is expected to draw over 1,000 attendees, including 250+ active venture investors.

For founders, that concentration of investors can be a rare opportunity—especially in a market where warm introductions and repeated interactions often determine who gets funded. The conference format includes startup pitches, panels, and networking, which together create multiple “surfaces” for discovery: a company might be noticed on stage, in a breakout discussion, or in a hallway conversation.

The ticket pricing—reported in a range from $299 to $1,199—signals a tiered experience, likely reflecting different levels of access and programming. Regardless of tier, the event’s core value proposition is density: a high number of relevant conversations in a short window.

For Miami, hosting a conference of this scale reinforces the city’s claim to be more than a regional scene. It positions Miami as a place where national venture networks show up, not just where local founders gather. That matters for perception, but it also matters operationally: when investors travel to a city repeatedly, they build familiarity with its talent, its sectors, and its deal flow.

Miami Startup Ecosystem Conference

The Miami Startup Ecosystem Conference 2026, organized by 1001 VC, runs February 12–13, 2026, at the Miami Dade College Auditorium. Unlike mega-conferences that optimize for scale, this event emphasizes curation and tactical content.

The conference is described as a two-day gathering focused on tactical playbooks for fundraising, scaling, and navigating the 2026 market—a framing that speaks to founders who want practical guidance rather than broad inspiration. The attendee list is also intentionally limited: 250+ curated attendees, alongside 23 speakers, and a rooftop after-party that likely functions as an informal networking extension of the formal program.

In a fast-growing ecosystem, curated events can play an outsized role. They reduce noise and increase the probability that a founder meets someone who can materially help—an active VC, a seasoned operator, or a peer who has solved a similar problem. They also help standardize expectations: what investors want to see, how to structure a raise, and how to think about scaling in a market that may be more selective than prior boom years.

For Miami specifically, the event’s existence is a signal of ecosystem maturity. When a city can support conferences built around playbooks and operator-level detail, it suggests there are enough founders and investors to sustain deeper, more specialized conversations.

Startup OLÉ Miami

Startup OLÉ Miami takes place April 20–21, 2026, at the James L. Knight Center, and is designed to connect startups with investors, corporations, and other ecosystem players. The event is expected to attract thousands of attendees, including startups, scaleups, and spin-offs from around the world.

This international orientation aligns naturally with Miami’s identity. This international orientation is not just a geographic fact; it’s a business advantage that can shape who participates in the ecosystem and what kinds of companies choose to build here.

For founders, Startup OLÉ’s value is often in breadth: exposure to corporate partners, potential customers, and investors who may be looking for cross-border opportunities. For investors, it can function as a scouting ground—an efficient way to see a wide range of companies, including those that might not otherwise appear in a typical U.S.-centric pipeline.

For Miami, the event reinforces a particular strategic positioning: not merely competing with other U.S. hubs on their terms, but offering a different kind of platform—one where international startups and U.S. capital can meet in a city that is culturally and commercially fluent in both directions.

Startup Density and Entrepreneurial Activity

Miami’s startup scene in 2026 is not only about a handful of large funding rounds; it’s also about how many people are building. One of the clearest indicators of that underlying activity is startup density. As of 2026, Miami is estimated to have a notably concentrated entrepreneurial environment.

Density matters because it changes the day-to-day experience of building a company. In places with high startup concentration, founders are more likely to meet peers facing similar challenges—fundraising, hiring, product-market fit—and those peer networks can become informal infrastructure. A city with many startups also tends to develop more specialized services: advisors, recruiters, legal and compliance support, and community organizers who understand the rhythms of venture-backed growth.

Miami’s density is reinforced by several structural factors highlighted in the ecosystem’s broader narrative. The city’s pro-business environment, including low taxes, is frequently cited as a draw for both founders and talent. Miami’s diverse culture and international connectivity also shape entrepreneurial activity: companies can be built with global markets in mind, and teams can be assembled from a wide range of backgrounds.

The ecosystem’s sector diversity also contributes to entrepreneurial volume. When multiple industries are active at once, the city is less dependent on a single trend. A downturn in one sector may not freeze the entire ecosystem, and founders can cross-pollinate ideas across domains.

Events play a role here too. Conferences and meetups don’t just create headlines; they create repeated points of entry for new founders and first-time entrepreneurs. In 2026, Miami’s calendar includes multiple high-profile gatherings that bring in investors and operators, which can encourage more people to start companies locally.

Taken together, the picture is of a city where entrepreneurship is increasingly normal—visible, networked, and supported by a growing set of institutions and capital sources.

Notable Startups Shaping Miami’s Future

Miami’s startup ecosystem in 2026 is often described through macro indicators—venture totals, event attendance, sector growth—but it ultimately becomes real through companies that ship products, win customers, and attract investment. Several startups stand out as emblematic of the city’s direction, particularly in fintech and healthcare innovation.

What makes these companies notable is not only their individual success, but also what they signal about Miami’s strengths. Fintech startups reflect the city’s role as a financial and international business hub, while healthcare and medtech companies point to a growing appetite for deeper technology and regulated innovation. Meanwhile, companies working at the intersection of logistics and urban infrastructure highlight Miami’s practical, city-shaped problems—mobility, delivery, and the use of space.

The ecosystem also includes startups that have become recognizable names beyond South Florida. Their presence helps Miami in a compounding way: they attract talent, inspire new founders, and give investors more confidence that large outcomes can be built locally.

Below are two areas where Miami-based startups have been particularly visible: fintech innovation and medtech-driven healthcare solutions.

Innovations in Fintech

Fintech remains one of Miami’s most prominent startup categories, and the city’s 2026 landscape includes companies spanning business banking and AI-driven financial services.

Novo, described as an online banking platform for businesses, is one of the fintech names associated with Miami’s innovation story. Business banking is a competitive space, and the presence of a company like Novo underscores Miami’s ability to support fintech products aimed at entrepreneurs and small businesses—users who value speed, usability, and modern financial tooling.

Another notable fintech company is Flex, which raised $60 million (Series B) and is positioned around AI-native private banking. The combination of “private banking” and “AI-native” is telling: it suggests fintech startups are not only digitizing existing services, but also rethinking how financial products are delivered and personalized.

Miami’s fintech strength is also linked, in broader ecosystem descriptions, to interest in blockchain and decentralized finance. That doesn’t mean every fintech company is crypto-adjacent, but it does indicate a local market where investors and founders are willing to explore new financial rails and architectures.

In practical terms, fintech startups benefit from the same forces that have helped Miami’s broader rise: venture capital inflows, a pro-business environment, and international connectivity. For companies building financial products, Miami’s role as a bridge to Latin America can be especially relevant—whether for partnerships, market understanding, or long-term expansion strategies.

Healthcare Solutions from MedTech Startups

Healthcare innovation is a growing pillar of Miami’s startup scene, with medtech companies applying advanced technology to real clinical needs. A standout example is DermaSensor, which develops AI-powered skin cancer detection devices and recently raised $16 million.

DermaSensor’s profile illustrates why medtech matters for Miami’s future. Compared with many software-only startups, medtech often requires deeper technical development, careful validation, and sustained funding. When a city supports companies like this, it signals an ecosystem capable of handling more complex innovation cycles.

Miami’s healthcare startup narrative also includes companies such as Papa, a healthcare startup providing companion care services and focused on transforming elder care. While not a device company, Papa represents another dimension of healthcare innovation: service models that address demographic realities and care delivery gaps.

The broader research landscape also references healthcare innovation through companies like OneImaging, reinforcing that Miami’s medtech and healthcare activity is not isolated to a single startup. Instead, it appears as a cluster—still developing, but increasingly visible.

For founders and investors, the implication is that Miami is not only a place for fast-moving consumer apps or lifestyle tech. In 2026, it is also a place where healthcare and medtech companies can raise capital, find talent, and participate in a growing innovation community.

Major Industries Driving Miami’s Startup Scene

Miami’s startup ecosystem in 2026 is defined by a handful of industries that repeatedly show up in funding announcements, event agendas, and the identities of its best-known companies. The city’s strength is not that it has one dominant sector, but that it has several—each benefiting from Miami’s broader advantages: international connectivity, a business-friendly environment, and increasing venture capital attention.

Three industries stand out as particularly influential. Fintech remains a flagship, with companies building modern banking and financial services and drawing strong investor interest. Proptech is rising alongside Miami’s real estate prominence, with startups applying AI, IoT, and blockchain to property and development. And AI and deep tech increasingly act as a horizontal layer—powering innovation in energy, healthcare, and beyond.

This mix matters because it reduces single-sector risk. A city overly dependent on one trend can stall when that trend cools. Miami’s portfolio approach—fintech plus real estate innovation plus applied AI—creates multiple pathways for growth, and multiple reasons for founders and investors to keep showing up.

The industries below are not isolated silos. In practice, they overlap: fintech companies use AI, proptech firms use blockchain concepts, and healthcare startups adopt machine learning for detection and decision support. Miami’s ecosystem is increasingly shaped by those intersections.

Fintech Developments

Miami is widely described as a fintech powerhouse, and in 2026 that reputation is reinforced by both recognizable startups and major funding rounds. Companies like Novo, an online banking platform for businesses, represent the continued push to modernize financial services for entrepreneurs and small companies.

At the growth-stage end of the spectrum, Flex—which raised $60 million (Series B)—highlights how Miami fintech is moving into more ambitious territory, including AI-native private banking. That framing suggests a shift from simply digitizing traditional banking to building financial products that are designed around automation and intelligence from the start.

Miami’s fintech ecosystem is also described as benefiting from strong VC support and an orientation toward blockchain and decentralized finance. While the brief does not enumerate specific DeFi products, the repeated mention of blockchain as a thriving sector indicates that founders and investors in Miami are willing to explore new financial infrastructure alongside more conventional banking tools.

The broader implication is that fintech in Miami is not a single category; it’s a spectrum—from business banking to AI-driven wealth and private banking concepts, with adjacent experimentation in decentralized technologies. That diversity helps the sector remain resilient and keeps Miami relevant as financial technology evolves.

PropTech Innovations

Proptech is another major driver of Miami’s startup identity, and it fits the city’s real-world context: Miami is a global real estate market, and real estate innovation naturally attracts attention from developers, investors, and policymakers.

The sector’s visibility is reinforced by events such as Future PropTech Miami 2026, which focuses on real estate innovation and highlights Miami’s growing role as a global hub for proptech. The event’s agenda themes—AI, blockchain, sustainability, and investment trends—mirror the technologies and priorities shaping the next generation of property and development tools.

In the ecosystem description, proptech startups are leveraging AI, IoT, and blockchain to “revolutionize real estate.” That can encompass a wide range of applications: smarter building operations, improved transaction processes, better data for investment decisions, and new models for property management. Even without enumerating specific companies, the emphasis on enabling technologies suggests Miami proptech is aligned with global innovation currents rather than purely local experimentation.

Proptech’s rise also complements Miami’s broader startup narrative. It ties innovation to a core local industry, which can create faster feedback loops: startups can pilot with local stakeholders, and successful products can then expand to other markets.

AI and Deep Tech Growth

AI and deep tech are increasingly central to Miami’s startup scene, not as a single vertical but as a set of capabilities applied across industries. The ecosystem description notes that AI startups are gaining traction in Miami, with applications ranging from renewable energy to healthcare.

Funding patterns reinforce that point. Exowatt’s $120 million (Series AI) for renewable energy solutions signals that Miami-based or Miami-associated companies can attract significant capital for technology-driven energy innovation. In healthcare, companies like DermaSensor—with AI-powered skin cancer detection devices—show how machine learning and advanced sensing can translate into tangible clinical tools.

The “deep tech” label also suggests a shift in the ecosystem’s maturity. As cities evolve, they often move from primarily software and marketplace startups toward more technically complex companies that require longer development cycles and specialized talent. Miami’s growing visibility in AI-driven energy and medtech indicates movement in that direction.

In 2026, AI in Miami is best understood as connective tissue. It strengthens fintech through automation and personalization, proptech through smarter buildings and data, and healthcare through detection and decision support. That cross-sector role makes AI and deep tech a durable driver of the city’s startup growth.

Challenges Facing Miami’s Startup Ecosystem

Miami’s startup ecosystem in 2026 is growing, but growth brings pressure points. The city’s rise has been fueled by venture capital inflows, a business-friendly environment, and international connectivity—yet sustaining momentum requires addressing structural challenges that can slow scaling or push companies to relocate.

One challenge is competition. Miami is not building in a vacuum; it faces stiff rivalry from other U.S. tech hubs such as Austin and Seattle. These cities compete for the same ingredients: venture dollars, experienced operators, and high-growth startups. Competition is not inherently negative—it can sharpen ecosystems—but it does raise the bar for Miami to differentiate itself beyond lifestyle appeal and tax advantages.

Another challenge is infrastructure. The ecosystem description notes that while Miami’s infrastructure is improving, it must keep pace with rapid growth. Infrastructure can mean many things in a startup context: transportation and connectivity that affect commuting and collaboration; physical venues and districts that support community; and the broader capacity of a city to absorb population and business growth without friction.

There is also an implied coordination challenge that comes with sector diversity. Miami’s strength is that it spans fintech, proptech, medtech, AI, and blockchain. But a multi-sector ecosystem can fragment if founders and investors operate in separate circles. Events help bridge that gap, yet the city still needs repeated, high-quality touchpoints where communities overlap and knowledge transfers.

Finally, Miami’s increasing reliance on venture capital is itself a double-edged sword. Capital accelerates growth, but it can also amplify cycles: when markets tighten, ecosystems that depend heavily on VC can feel the slowdown quickly. The long-term task for Miami is to convert today’s funding momentum into durable institutions, repeat founders, and companies that can scale sustainably.

Opportunities for Growth in Miami’s Startup Landscape

Miami’s opportunities in 2026 are closely tied to what makes the city distinctive: its global connectivity, its cultural diversity, and its ability to convene founders and investors at scale. The ecosystem has already proven it can attract capital and attention; the next opportunity is to translate those advantages into repeatable growth.

A central opportunity is global connectivity, especially Miami’s position as a gateway to Latin America—more than branding. This is more than branding. It creates practical pathways for cross-border collaboration: founders can build with international markets in mind, investors can access broader deal flow, and companies can form partnerships that span regions. In a world where many startups aim for global scale early, Miami’s international posture can be a structural advantage.

Another opportunity is the city’s diverse talent pool. Miami’s multicultural environment attracts a wide range of people and perspectives, which can be a competitive edge for startups building products for diverse customer bases. Diversity can also support multilingual operations and culturally fluent go-to-market strategies—particularly relevant for companies that see Latin America as a natural expansion path.

Miami also has an opportunity to deepen sector leadership where it already has momentum. Fintech is a clear anchor, supported by companies like Novo and Flex and by strong VC interest. Proptech can grow alongside Miami’s real estate prominence, reinforced by events like Future PropTech Miami. Medtech and healthcare innovation can expand as companies like DermaSensor and Papa demonstrate that healthcare startups can be built and funded locally.

Finally, Miami’s event ecosystem is itself an opportunity. Conferences such as the Florida Venture Capital Conference, the Miami Startup Ecosystem Conference, and Startup OLÉ Miami create recurring moments when the ecosystem becomes highly visible and highly connected. If Miami continues to host and grow these gatherings, it can strengthen its role as a place where deals happen—not only where startups are founded.

The overarching opportunity is to turn momentum into permanence: to ensure that capital, talent, and community keep compounding so that Miami’s startup scene remains resilient across market cycles.

The Future of Miami’s Startup Ecosystem

Emerging Trends and Innovations

Miami’s startup future, as suggested by its 2026 landscape, points toward continued convergence of sectors rather than isolated growth in one category. The city’s strongest themes—fintech, proptech, medtech, AI, blockchain—are increasingly intertwined, with AI acting as a common layer across industries.

In fintech, the rise of companies positioned around AI-native services, such as Flex’s approach to private banking, hints at a broader shift: financial products that are designed around automation and intelligence rather than simply digitizing legacy workflows. In healthcare, AI-enabled tools like DermaSensor’s skin cancer detection device suggest continued momentum in applied AI for clinical use cases.

Energy and sustainability also appear as part of the innovation mix, underscored by Exowatt’s large funding round for renewable energy solutions. Meanwhile, proptech’s focus on AI, blockchain, and sustainability—highlighted through Future PropTech Miami—signals that real estate innovation will remain a visible frontier, especially in a city where property and development are central to the economy.

The connective thread is that Miami’s innovation is increasingly aligned with global problem sets: financial access and modernization, healthcare efficiency and detection, sustainable energy, and smarter built environments. If the city continues to attract capital and talent in these areas, it can strengthen its position not just as a fast-growing hub, but as a place where meaningful technology categories are built.

Building a Sustainable Startup Culture

Sustaining Miami’s startup rise will depend on whether the ecosystem can build durable culture and infrastructure around entrepreneurship. The city already has key ingredients: a high startup density, a strong calendar of events, and a track record of attracting venture capital. The next step is ensuring those ingredients translate into long-term capacity.

A sustainable startup culture is reinforced when founders can repeatedly access the basics: capital, talent, mentorship, and community. Miami’s large conferences and curated gatherings help, because they create recurring points of connection between founders and investors. Over time, these events can also help normalize knowledge-sharing—tactical playbooks for fundraising and scaling, and clearer expectations about what it takes to build venture-scale companies.

Sustainability also depends on the city’s ability to keep pace with its own growth. The ecosystem description notes infrastructure as a challenge; addressing it is part of building a culture where startups can scale without unnecessary friction.

Finally, Miami’s long-term advantage may be its international orientation. If the city continues to embrace its role as a gateway to Latin America—while maintaining strong ties to U.S. venture networks—it can cultivate a startup culture that is both global and locally grounded. That combination could become Miami’s most durable differentiator in the years ahead.

Author context: This analysis is informed by hands-on work building and scaling technology businesses in regulated environments—particularly fintech/payments and multi-industry digital transformation across Mexico and Latin America—where cross-border execution, compliance realities, and go-to-market constraints materially shape what “ecosystem momentum” looks like in practice.