Steve Kokinos reveals Algorand will present Miami’s hottest startup competition alongside eMERGE Americas, Florida Funders, Panoramic Ventures
Algorand & eMERGE Partnership
eMerge Americas, a venture-backed platform dedicated to transforming Miami into a global technology hub, has announced the launch of the annual 2022 Global Startup Showcase, in which participants will compete for over $400,000 in investments, including a $250,000 investment from Florida Funders, a $120,000 investment from Panoramic Ventures, and a $50,000 investment from eMerge Americas, among other prizes. With the exponential growth of blockchain-based businesses and the transition to Web3, this year’s showcase will feature Algorand, a foundational blockchain that accelerates the convergence of decentralized and traditional finance by enabling the easy creation of next-generation decentralized applications.
eMerge Americas will choose 100 entrepreneurs in three phases (University Stage, Early Stage, and Late Stage) via a competitive application process to engage in a strong multi-week program that will conclude in a grand finale pitch competition. This competition will take held in front of top venture capitalists, business enterprises, government officials, worldwide media outlets, and judges on April 18-19, 2022, during the eMerge Americas global technology conference.
Since the program’s inception in 2014, over 800 businesses have participated in the eMerge Americas Startup Showcase, with 70 of those startups raising more than $1 billion in venture capital financing.
Quotes
“We are extremely excited to be collaborating with eMerge Americas on the 2022 Startup Showcase in order to support founders and developers who are building applications and solutions of the future,” said Steve Kokinos, CEO of Algorand. “Algorand is becoming the modern infrastructure for serious blockchain-based initiatives and we look forward to fostering the Miami tech ecosystem as the innovation accelerates.”
“The Startup Showcase is the heart and soul of eMerge Americas, the cornerstone of our year-round programming, and the anchor of our annual global tech conference,” said Melissa Medina, President of eMerge Americas. “We have thoughtfully curated programming for founders to foster exposure to a diverse network of angel investors, venture capital funds and growth equity firms, as well as connect them with mentors, partners and other resources to help scale their businesses.”
“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to make a significant investment in a great seed or early stage tech company as part of the eMerge Americas Global Startup Showcase,” said Tom Wallace, Managing Partner at Florida Funders. “Many of us at Florida Funders have been there as founders and entrepreneurs and deeply understand the challenges and needs of companies at this stage. We are excited to help foster their growth through this investment.”
“We’re excited to partner with eMerge Americas to bring Startup Showdown back to Miami.” said Paul Judge, Managing Partner of Panoramic Ventures. “This partnership speaks to the collaboration across the Southeast ecosystem to support entrepreneurs and provide them the access to capital and a support network to reach the next level.”
