ROCO 4X4, a global automotive parts distributor led by FIU Business alumna Rebeca Olavarrieta (BBA ’09), has been selected as the 2026 winner of the City of Doral Doral Seeds Business Grant Program. She receives $50,000 to help take the company into its next stage of growth.
For Olavarrieta, participating in Doral Seeds offered something beyond the possibility of funding. Although ROCO 4X4 has been in business for 20 years, the application challenged her to explain why an established company would benefit from the program and how it could help in “planting a seed for the next stage.”
Created by the City of Doral in partnership with the Florida Small Business Development Center (FSBDC) at FIU and Banesco USA, Doral Seeds combines business education and advising with competitive grant funding for local entrepreneurs. This year, the grant increased from $40,000 to $50,000 following a $10,000 contribution from Perry Ellis International.
Doral Mayor Christi Fraga (BBA’10), speaking before the finalist presentations, said she envisioned the program as a way to help small businesses grow while creating new job opportunities in the city.
“If we want to help small businesses in Doral, we should create meaningful opportunities to help them move forward — access to education, access to capital,” Fraga said.
Brian Van Hook, regional director of the FSBDC at FIU, saw Doral Seeds as an opportunity for the center to become involved early in a program supporting the city’s small business community.
“The opportunity to partner with the City of Doral and help launch Doral Seeds was a game changer,” Van Hook said. “Our team was excited to help the participants level up and refine their pitches .”
Carlos Lamourtte, senior vice president and head of commercial and industrial at Banesco USA, described small businesses as “the true heartbeat” of Doral and pointed to capital, mentorship and visibility as resources that can help them grow.
Olavarrieta experienced that support firsthand. She participated in three pitch classes and worked with FSBDC counselors as she prepared to present ROCO 4X4 to the judges.
“I had never done a pitch,” Olavarrieta said. “It was fulfilling to see businesses asking each other questions and to see how different industries can have similar concerns.”
ROCO 4X4 began with local sales in 2006, expanded into exports two years later and pivoted toward e-commerce in 2020. Today, the company sells through Amazon, eBay and Shopify and exports to Chile, Colombia and Ecuador.
During her finalist presentation, Olavarrieta told judges that ROCO 4X4 generated $206,000 from 762 orders in the previous 20 days. The company is targeting $9.5 million in sales within 36 months as it pursues new sales channels and further expansion in Latin America, including Argentina.
Direct-to-consumer sales are expected to drive much of that growth. Olavarrieta also sees an opportunity for ROCO 4X4 to serve as a link between U.S. automotive brands and Latin American markets.
“We’re exclusive for some U.S. brands,” she said. “Many don’t consider Latin America, but we can bridge that gap.”
Technology is another part of the company’s growth strategy. “I don’t think AI is replacing jobs. It’s changing the way we work,” Olavarrieta said.
ROCO 4X4 competed against four other Doral businesses spanning media, legal technology, pet food and travel. Pangea, represented by Andrea Ciatti and Randy Wallz, outlined plans to expand its livestream and podcast business and grow its digital audience. Family Help Center presented EDIS, an AI-powered tool developed by family law attorney Dania Viñuela and Mario Duran to streamline document collection in legal cases, reducing a process that could take three to four hours to about 15 minutes.
PuPeats, founded by Andres Mirowski and Daniel Tobon, presented its fresh dog food business, which prepares customized daily meals in Doral. One 2 Trip, led by Felipe Villegas, pitched an AI-powered travel agent designed to combine online booking with the personalized service of a traditional travel agency.
The finalists fielded questions from judges about scalability, technology, security, customer acquisition and plans for sustainable growth. Among the judges was Dr. Karlene C. Cousins, chair of the Department of Information Systems and Business Analytics at FIU Business, who questioned finalists about AI, business risk and how they planned to scale.
For Olavarrieta, some of the value of Doral Seeds was apparent even before the judges selected a winner. The program introduced her to FSBDC resources, other entrepreneurs and a broader network of support for small businesses in Doral.
“Regardless of the outcome, we won so much,” she said.