With the city of Miami primed as an emerging “hotbed” for investments in tech companies, organisers of regional conference TechBeach Retreat will be looking to attract investments for Caribbean tech start-ups in that locale at its first in-person event in almost three years.

The organisation’s TechBeach Miami is scheduled to take place at The Confidante Miami Beach hotel from October 27-28, 2022, with a private welcome on October 26. This is the first in-person gathering for TechBeach Retreat since its 2019 summit in Jamaica at Iberostar hotel in Rose Hall, St James.

A release from TechBeach Retreat has outlined that the conference will be “founder-focused”, with topics surrounding growth of tech companies, raising capital and financing start-ups, product market, scaling, and storytelling for entrepreneurs.

Some of the speakers slated to speak include founder and CEO of WiPay Aldwyn Wayne; Rohan Marley of Marley Coffee; Jeff Hoffman, founding CEO of Priceline.com, among others.

The main focus of the conference, however, will explore how technology, digital solutions, and new business models can drive economic growth and integration of the Caribbean and Latin America. It is for this reason,, co-founder of TechBeach Retreat Kirk-Anthony Hamilton shared, the organisers chose Miami.

“Miami is a hub that connects our islands…Miami is also the gateway for Latin Americans entering the US and we have the ambition to create the world’s most diverse conference, converging the ecosystems of the Caribbean, Latin America, Africa, and North America,” he told Jamaica Observer.

“It’s safe to say the pandemic brought good fortune to Miami. The city has gone through a renaissance and has perhaps enjoyed the most transformative narrative of any city in the world during the last two years. We have been watching the change on the tech side in awe but always noticed one missing piece, Miami has become the hotbed for Latin American entities entering the US, but no one has been talking about the Caribbean. We want to be that voice,” Hamilton added.

According to Investment Monitor, between mid-2020 to the year end of 2021, hundreds of companies, from cryptocurrency to digital marketing, have set up shop in Miami. Last year companies in that city rasied more than $970 million in venture funding, up from just $135 million in 2016.

Another company, eMerge USA, estimates that the South Florida city has managed to pull in $5.3 billion in investments in 2021, which includes a $250-million investment from global tech investment company Softbank.

In April this year, Miami was the host city for the Bitcoin 2022 conference.

As such, Hamilton said TechBeach Miami is aiming to “take advantage of Miami’s rich ecosystem in this regard.

“Most major tech companies now have representation in the city and numerous venture capital firms have moved to Miami, so we’re excited to bring all these groups,” he continued.

Already TechBeach Miami has secured the sponsorship of Flow Business, Amazon Web Services, the Mana Group, CIC Miami, among others.

The conference will also receive the support of IDB Lab — an arm of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) focused on driving innovation through finance, knowledge-sharing, and partnerships. In October 2020 IDB Lab and TechBeach Retreat signed a technical cooperation agreement to accelerate 200 tech-driven businesses from Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, and The Bahamas with mentorship, technology services, networks, and connections to enterprise opportunities and investors.

“IDB Lab is our foundation partner for TBR Labs, our accelerator programme. They are with us…and support our work to open opportunities to regional founders,” Hamilton informed Caribbean Business Report.

With this in mind, some 20-plus start-ups from Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, St Lucia, Barbados, and The Bahamas will be offered the opportunity to showcase their businesses at TechBeach Miami. Having gone through the TBR Labs programme, Hamilton said the entrepreneurs will have been prepared to engage with investors as they seek to raise venture funding to scale their operations.

Given that Miami is home to a significant number of Caribbean expats, the TechBeach Retreat believes that hosting the event there will facilitate reaching out to the Diaspora for investments.

“We have always sought to engage the Diaspora. Miami definitely serves as a strategic ground to further this effort,” Hamilton noted, adding that Canadian-born founder of Aire Ventures, Leigh-Ann Buchanan, who has Jamaican parents, has always encouraged the organisation prospecting Miami.