eMerge Americas announces speakers, startup competitions

eMerge Americas, a homegrown technology conference returning to Miami Beach from April 18-19, announced 15 more speakers, including Steve Case, philanthropist, investor and co-founder of America Online.

Case, a pioneer in making the Internet part of everyday life, will join previously announced speakers Gen. Colin Powell, Monica Lewinsky, skateboarding giant Tony Hawk and Netflix co-founder Marc Randolph at the conference, which was founded by tech entrepreneur Manny Medina. Other new speakers include Ralph de la Vega, president and CEO of AT&T Mobile and Business Solutions, Bibop Gresta, COO and deputy chairman of Hyperloop, a high-speed ground transportation concept first proposed by Elon Musk, and Eduardo E. Cabrera, vice president of cybersecurity strategy for Trend Micro.

Now entering its third year, eMerge Americas also released new details about its annual Hackathon and Startup Showcase, both returning to eMerge Americas.

The eMerge Americas Hackathon, in partnership with Ironhack coding school, will host an intense coding competition April 16-17, with developers who created applications in a weekend vying to win cash and prizes. The Startup Showcase, held during the main conference, will bring together more than 100 young companies from around the globe to exhibit and compete. Participating startups can also attend a Startup Bootcamp at Venture Hive on April 17.

The startups will display their companies on the EXPO floor, and the showcase will culminate with the top companies pitching on eMerge’s Center Stage for the chance to win up to $175,000 in cash and prizes. “Our Startup Showcase highlights talented innovators of the highest caliber from across the United States, Europe and Latin America, and gives them a unique opportunity to connect with hundreds of investors and business leaders,” said Xavier Gonzalez, CEO of eMerge Americas.

Applicants for the Startup Showcase can enter one of three tracks — University, Early-Stage and Late-Stage. The deadline to apply is Jan. 31; apply at www.emergeamericas.org/startups/. Past winners include Modernizing Medicine, Hair Construction, VSNMobile and Symptify.

More than 10,000 attendees from more than 50 countries and 500 companies attended eMerge Americas last year. This year’s event will again include two summits: eGov and Women, Innovation and Technology. To see the full list of new speakers and buy tickets, visit www.emergeamericas.org.

Nancy Dahlberg

This story was originally published January 12, 2016 at 3:00 AM with the headline "eMerge Americas announces speakers, startup competitions."