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DROPIT traveled 8000+ miles to move to Miami. Today it's launching its shopping app with Valley sizzle.

Nancy Dahlberg
Nancy Dahlberg
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By Nancy Dahlberg
Meet DROPIT. The startup crossed oceans and seas to move to Miami several months ago and it is already making a splash in Silicon Valley.
DROPIT created a gamified shopping app. It was selected from thousands of tech startups as a Top 10 Growth Startup by Startup Grind for the 2019 Startup Grind Global Conference now going on in Redwood City, CA.
The Miami-based startup also chose the conference for its official launch of the product, and will be presenting the company today to Silicon Valley’s top entrepreneurs and investors. DROPIT will also be part of the 2019 class of Startup Grind’s program Accelerate.
DROPIT CEO Brendan Howell explains how the app works: “DROPIT transforms the way consumers shop online with its patented drop auction system. With the app, new products are auctioned off starting at the suggested retail price and over 60 seconds, the price continuously drops. Users compete against each other to purchase the product at the price of their choice — but they have to be quick to claim the product before other shoppers.”
A differentiator of this app is that, unlike other auction platforms in which the products are sold over the course of several days, “the DROPIT app expedites the auction time frame while making the experience exhilarating and interactive,” said Howell, a serial entrepreneur trained as an aeronautical engineer.
DROPIT’s journey to the Magic City is likely one of the farthest for startups to date. Howell, his brother and co-founder Peter, and about half of its team of 22 moved to Miami in November from New Zealand, establishing the company’s HQ in the Brickell area (Some of the team is pictured above in the Miami office).
DROPIT was founded in their home country in 2017; the app is now available on iOS and Android in North America and New Zealand. Before co-founding DROPIT, Brendan and Peter together founded EKEN Pty Limited, EKEN Sports Limited and SellShed.
All the startups selected in Startup Grind’s growth category have raised at least $3 million. DROPIT has raised a total of $5.6M in its Series A and B rounds with a valuation of $21 million, the company said.
DROPIT is not the only Miami-based tech startup you’ll find at the  Startup Grind Global Conference this week.
Last week we told you that 8base, founded by Miami serial entrepreneur Albert Santalo, is also one of 60 startups chosen for Startup Grind’s 2019 Accelerate program and will also be featured at the conference. 8base offers a developer acceleration platform that empowers web and mobile developers to create software applications on a serverless back-end. 
Follow @ndahlberg on Twitter and email her at [email protected].
READ MORE ON REFRESH MIAMI: Albert Santalo’s 8base releases its first product and it is more Miami than you think
 

Nancy Dahlberg
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