Miami’s public image is often built on glitz, parties, and splashy launches, but many decisive technology collaborations happen away from the velvet rope. In that quieter space, Connecting Giants and Unicorns (CGU) emerged as a deliberate effort to align legacy corporations with agile innovators. Founded just over two years ago by Sabina Shuminov and Michael Burtov, CGU focuses on converting ideas into revenue and operational pilots by creating structured opportunities for dialogue between customers, investors, and founders.
Rather than relying on serendipity at networking parties, CGU curates interactions with intent: matchmaking sessions, pitch forums, and guided introductions that help startups meet potential buyers and mentors. The organization’s approach treats collaboration as a repeatable process: identifying strategic corporate partners, preparing startups to present viable value propositions, and following up to transform conversations into contracts or pilots. This method reflects a belief that the right meeting format can accelerate the path from prototype to paid engagement.
The model: intentional collaboration between established players and innovators
At the heart of CGU’s work is a pragmatic philosophy about corporate-startup collaboration. Instead of celebrating novelty for its own sake, the team prioritizes outcomes that matter to companies: revenue, adoption, and integration. CGU facilitates interactions where corporate leaders — the “giants” — meet startup founders and investors — the “unicorns” — in environments designed to surface commercial fit. This is guided by an emphasis on open innovation as a practical discipline: predictable processes, clear deliverables, and measurable milestones.
How CGU prepares meetings to create momentum
Preparation is central to CGU’s formula. Startups are coached to sharpen their value statements and demonstrate measurable impact, while corporate participants receive context about the startup landscape and realistic timelines for pilot programs. CGU then sequences conversations to reduce friction: discovery sessions lead to technical deep dives, which then progress to procurement discussions or pilot contracts. By structuring these stages, the organization reduces the noise that often derails early-stage partnerships and increases the odds that a promising idea becomes a funded project.
Stepping onto a larger stage: WHX Miami partnership
CGU’s model has attracted bigger opportunities. The organization was named the official Content Partner for the Future X Stage at WHX Miami, the large US and Latin America medical trade fair taking place June 17-19 at the Miami Beach Convention Center. In that role, CGU will help design keynote sessions, panels, and pitch competitions focused on healthcare innovation and emerging technologies. WHX Miami is expected to gather healthcare executives, founders, investors, researchers, and hospital leaders, with many sessions remaining free to attend for participants.
Speakers and programming that bridge practice and invention
The confirmed speaker lineup underscores the event’s practical focus. Maurice Ferré, CEO of Insightec and a medtech entrepreneur behind companies later acquired by Stryker Corporation and GE Healthcare, will bring operational experience. Surgical innovator Matthew Kroh — with leadership roles tied to Cleveland Clinic and Medtronic — will speak to clinical adoption, while biotech entrepreneur and immunologist Claudia Zylberberg will address cell and gene therapy manufacturing and AI-enabled healthcare infrastructure. These voices represent the kinds of perspectives CGU seeks to unite: investor, clinician, engineer, and operator.
Global reach, local roots
CGU’s work extends beyond Miami’s coastline. The team has taken Florida innovation overseas, including trips to Dubai to showcase local startups on an international stage. Those exchanges reinforced a sense that cities with ambitious economic plans share a similar energy: a desire to invent and attract global partnerships. For CGU co-founder Sabina Shuminov — a former paramedic raised in a family of doctors — healthcare is personal, and the partnership with WHX resonates as both professional and heartfelt. Michael Burtov, who serves as Chief Innovation Officer at Nova Southeastern University, complements that perspective with institutional innovation expertise.
Miami’s ecosystem is maturing: more seasoned talent, deeper conversations, and an expanding network of global connections. While the city will likely retain its vibrant social scene, a parallel culture of focused deal-making and product development is taking shape. With CGU convening the right people in purposeful settings, some of the region’s most consequential healthcare collaborations may begin simply by placing innovators and customers in the same room.
Michael Burtov and Sabina Shuminov are co-founders of Connecting Giants and Unicorns, and their partnership with WHX Miami highlights how targeted programming can convert conversations into concrete healthcare outcomes.
