Mac Alabre, left, leads the Lien Library team, which also includes co-founder Rohansen Joseph, center; and Sondley Northecide.
Mac Alabre
It’s a common thread among startup founders: The product or service they are building was born out of a direct experience with a problem — and figuring out a unique solution that can scale.
For Macdeur “Mac” Alabre, the founder of Lien Library, the problem was interacting with and processing lien information on properties.
Alabre, a 27-year-old Haiti native completing his MBA and Ph.D. at Florida International University, was working for the city of North Miami when he encountered the cumbersome lien processing that exists across the country. Using his programming and financial skills, he created his own system that he subsequently pitched directly to the city of Miami; they are now in talks about implementing the Lien Library system.
“I said, ‘I found something, and I think it’s big,’” Alabre told the Miami Herald.
The pitch is simple: Lien Library makes it easy to search, manage, and pay property liens.
This week, a group of startup competition judges agreed. At startup networking group Endeavor’s second-ever Pitch Competition for Black founders, Lien Library took home first place, winning $25,000 and $25,000 in credits for Microsoft’s Azure platform. The competition was sponsored by the city of Miami, the Miami Herald, and Microsoft and was judged by Dami Osunsanya, Head of Value Creation & Vice President at Softbank Opportunity Fund, Mariano Amartino, Director for the Americas at Microsoft for Startups, and Jane Wooldridge, former Business Editor at The Miami Herald.
Amartino said Lien Library creates a solution that addresses a problem encountered by many different stakeholders.
“A lien is part of an everyday process: buying and selling a house,” he said in an interview, “so having the ability to empower cities to digitally manage lien payments and information would be amazing for cities, and for the wider population.”
He continued: “The other thing is, Mac, he has such a focus and a fully developed plan in his head that was super compelling.”
Lien Library makes money through a fee system, taking the revenue from what the cities it plans to work with will charge title companies. The city of Miami Gardens is its first official client, with more on the way.
Taking home second place and $15,000 was Adam Jones, whose startup FanFest hosts livestreams for brand audiences. Amartino said there is huge potential in FanFest, which exists at the nexus of social commerce, online and e-sports consumption, and even trends like NFTs.
“If you think about how you could expand the reach of any single soccer or football club, or even any single sports or entertainment brand…this is one solution,” he said.
Finally, Chandler Malone’s BootUp, which aims to help bootcamps and vocational training schools increase enrollment and improve candidate placement rates, took home third and $10,000.
The other startups participating in the competition were:
- BeLoved Box: Danie Spikes, Founder & CEO;
- Best Candidate: Gino Herring, Founder & CEO
- BRIDGE Networks: Adrienne C. McWilliams, Co-Founder & CEO; Brandon Braswell, Co-Founder & CPO
- Grownextdoor: Jonathan Cox, Co-Founder & CEO; Vianny Guillen, Co-Founder & CEO
- Jump Start Tutoring: Chrissybil Boulin, Founder & CEO
- lifecache: Khambrel Roach, Founder & CEO; Sean Fenton, Co-Founder & COO
- PipeOne Marcio Cantelli, Co-Founder & CEO; Josiano Carvalho, Co-Founder & CTO
This story was originally published November 5, 2021 4:44 PM.
Rob Wile covers business, tech, and the economy in South Florida. He is a graduate of Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism and Columbia University. He grew up in Chicago.
