Miami’s premiere tech event for the Americas scores with high marks
Ten years ago, Melissa Medina and her mega-entrepreneur father Manny Medina launched a conference and expo entitled eMerge Americas. The idea was to create an annual event where techie startups from across the hemisphere could mingle with venture capitalists and thereby accelerate the entire process of creating and funding new ideas.
That event, which passed quickly to the oversight and direction of Melissa Medina, CEO of eMerge – her father being busy creating billion-dollar companies like Cyxtera Technologies and Appgate Technologies – has become a fixture in the Miami tech ecosystem. Last year it attracted 20,000 attendees from more than 50 countries, up from 5,000 in 2014 – a gathering of innovators, executives, academics, and government leaders at the Miami Beach Convention Center.
“Ten years ago, eMerge Americas was founded with a mission to help foster a thriving tech and entrepreneurial hub in Miami,” says Melissa Medina. “Many people called us crazy [but] what occurred over the next decade went far beyond our wildest dreams for the Magic City.” Thanks in part to eMerge, Miami is now the number two city in the U.S. for tech job growth and ranked number six nationally as a startup ecosystem.
The impact and contribution of eMerge Americas has now been quantified through a study by the Washington Economics Group, an independent consultancy. Among its findings:
Melissa attributes some of eMerge Americas’ success to Miami’s pivotal location between the northern and southern hemispheres, linked by Miami International Airport, the nation’s top airport in terms of international travel. She also notes the fact that Florida is among the few states with no state income tax and no state-level property tax. Miami is also home to local populations from literally every country in the Americas, along with 1,100 multinational firms – and it has an economy driven by small businesses, with “an entrepreneurial spirit in its DNA,” she says.
Last year, eMerge pushed the edge of the entrepreneurial envelope by launching a Healthtech Innovation Hub in partnership with Jackson Health System and the University of Miami Health System. The idea, again, was to connect ideas with capital by linking startups with funders. “Every year we work on identifying emerging technology trends,” says Melissa. “The takeaways and themes we saw this year were AI, quantum technology, and the intersection of technology and healthcare.”
According to the Washington Economics Group report, “eMerge has become a year-round platform and achieved its mission of transforming the region and state into an international hub for technology scale-ups, drawing in a wealth of talent and capital to propel innovation and growth.” It pointed out that more than 1,000 investors co-mingled with more than 1,800 startups from around the world at this year’s event.
The report also noted that eMerge creates what it called “externality” benefits, which unfold when a catalyst organization like eMerge acts in harmony with the strategic objectives of regional and state leaders, such as Miami-Dade’s economic development agency The Beacon Council and the Florida Chamber’s Vision 2030. Such an alignment helps to foster innovation, attract a skilled workforce, increase capital investments, and accelerate corporate relocations – all music to the ears of Miami.
