In its second year, Miami’s eMerge Americas acts as a vibrant rendezvous point for tech-world innovators and global investors.
Founder of eMerge Americas Manuel Medina and Pitbull discuss the impact technology has on Miami during last year’s conference at the Miami Beach Convention Center.
In the last few years, Miami’s growing technology sector has gained substantial buzz: Tech companies are moving here, start-ups are being incubated, and venture capitalists are investing hundreds of millions of dollars in homegrown companies. Furthering this progress, Cuban-American tech billionaire Manuel Medina, backed by the Knight Foundation, launched eMerge Americas last year, a four-day conference that explores the trends and advancements in the tech realm in areas such as health, finance, education, and urban planning. Medina and eMerge Executive Director Xavier Gonzalez spoke to Ocean Drive about the event’s astonishing success, what to expect when the conference returns May 1 through 5, and Miami’s intensifying IT scene....
Why did you decide to launch eMerge?
Manuel Medina: In 2012, we felt it was the perfect time to help establish Miami as the technology hub of the Americas. There was a significant amount of growth in the Latin American technology market, and the large, established technology companies were beginning to take notice. But there was a void that needed to be filled—[there needed to be] an event that served as a platform to connect the world’s leading technology companies, entrepreneurs, and investors with the key decision makers and innovators from the Americas.
Xavier Gonzalez: We thought eMerge was something that could spark the evolution and the maturation of the technology ecosystem here.
Is this a Miami event, a global event, or both?
MM: This is a global event focused on the Americas that is meant to connect industry leaders from around the world... What we’re trying to do is bring attention to Miami for reasons that transcend beautiful beaches and hot spots.
XG: If you bring entrepreneurs from Latin America to Miami, you connect them with investors from around the world. They all start to think, Miami is really a place I can set up my business, I can expand there, I can grow there.
How did you define success in eMerge’s first year?
XG: We were thinking if we got anywhere between 3,000 and 5,000 people for our first event, big home run. We had 6,000 attendees and an additional 3,000 students. We had 400 companies and 150-plus speakers. We also had 115 start-ups that participated in a start-up competition. We had 31 countries represented. We had well over 100 sponsors.
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What can people expect to see at eMerge?
XG: When you walk in, you will see the latest innovations that are coming from the companies that everyone has heard of—the IBMs and the HPs—but you’ll also see the companies that are the next big thing. This year, we’re also expecting 12 to 15 countries to have pavilions—think of it like Epcot.
You just announced NBC as your media sponsor. How will that play into the event?
XG: The NBC piece is a game-changer, not only about the shows and the interviews but the personalities that are going to be here, the buzz it will bring, and the eyeballs of the world. You’re going to be able to walk in, and there’s going to be a set of NBC and its different properties (MSNBC, CNBC, Telemundo) where they’re going to be hosting shows.
Tell us about the simultaneous growth of the Miami tech scene.
XG: You see numerous companies and organizations that are moving into Miami and setting up operations. For instance, the one and only Microsoft Innovation Center in the US opened in Miami, in addition to many others. The next piece that’s very significant is on the investor side—since eMerge Americas, we have seen two new VCs open offices in Miami, specifically to invest in tech.
Why is Miami so appealing to tech and start-up companies?
XG: The growth in terms of the use of technology in Latin America far outpaces any other emerging or mature market. The amount of social media used in Latin America is higher than any other population on the planet. Being based in Miami is like being based in Switzerland—this is neutral. You have the ability to scale the whole region. eMerge Americas takes place May 1-5 at the Miami Beach Convention Center, 1901 Convention Center Dr.