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News, highlights, and events throughout the Americas

Google Has A $1.2 Billion Plan For Latin America

Alphabet’s Google has committed to invest $1.2 billion in Latin America over the next five years to support economic development and digital transformation in the region, where the company has had an active presence since 2005. The investment was announced by Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai during the IX Summit of the Americas, held this week in Los Angeles, California. Of this amount, $300 million – split into $50 million in cash contribution and $250 million in advertising credits – will go to Google’s philanthropic arm, Google.org, which funds sustainability NGOs and economic opportunities for women. Part of the resources will go to Pro Mujer to help women-led businesses in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras gain access to training and microcredit. Google said the donations will also support “organizations working to protect biodiversity in the Amazon rainforest”.

- Source: Bloomberg

Broward-Born Show Agents Lets Real Estate Professionals Be In Two Places At Once

Nadia Davis sought out a marketplace for on-demand agents to show properties. When she didn’t find a suitable platform, she rolled up her sleeves and began building her own.  In Davis’ case, at first it was less about rolling up her sleeves than hitting the books to get her real estate license. That enabled her to launch Show Agents, a digital tool enabling real estate professionals to dispatch colleagues for showings.

- Source: Refresh Miami

Miami-Based Runway Telehealth Startup Launches To Help Travelers

A Miami startup is making it easier – and faster – for users to receive medications for common travel ailments. Runway aims to disrupt the $12 billion travel health industry with a telehealth service that delivers affordable medications straight to a user's door within three to five days. It's a faster and less expensive alternative to travel clinics or a traditional doctor's office, the startup says, especially for younger consumers who are less likely to have primary care physicians. The platform connects users with licensed physicians across 50 states, who can then prescribe medications for five of the most common travel ailments: altitude sickness, motion sickness, malaria prevention, sleeplessness and traveler's diarrhea.

- Source: South Florida Business Journal

Yummy Grows Its Delivery, Ride-Sharing Super App In Latin America

Less than a year after taking its first funding, Latin American local on-demand delivery and transportation super app Yummy is back with an upsized round of $47 million. Yummy was founded in 2020 by CEO Vicente Zavarce, a Venezuelan native and former Postmates and Getaround director of user acquisition. It started out as a food-delivery app and was part of Y Combinator’s summer 2021 cohort. Today, the free super app provides delivery of items — from food to medicine to clothing — ride-sharing, grocery delivery in under 20 minutes and the purchase of experiences like concerts and sporting events. The company has also moved on from its initial markets of Venezuela and Bolivia and into Peru and Panama, Zavarce told TechCrunch. In addition, it partnered with quick-serve restaurants, including KFC, Arturo’s and Burger Shack to provide exclusive offerings for customers.

-Source: TechCrunch

Mattel Makes Its Play For The Metaverse, Partners With Miami-Based OnChain

Through a new collaboration between legacy toymaker Mattel and Cryptoys, a platform for playable NFTs, which was announced last week, some of Mattel’s most beloved intellectual property—which includes the storied heroes of Hot Wheels, American Girl, Thomas the Tank Engine, Polly Pocket, Barbie, and Masters of the Universe—will be transformed into playable avatars on Cryptoys, although it was not specified which brands will be part of the partnership. The avatars will be sold as NFTs and debut on Cryptoys’ “metaverse.” Developed by OnChain Studios and funded by the likes of Andreessen Horowitz and Dapper Labs, the Cryptoys platform is built on the carbon-efficient Flow blockchain, which lets NFTs mobilize in an array of phone, tablet, or desktop mini-games.

- Source: Fast Company

Latin America Emerging As A Global Leader In Fintech

The pandemic continues to present hurdles unlike any other event in history, full of challenges that turned our lives — and the innovation economy — upside down. However, it also served as a catalyst for many industries within the venture ecosystem, especially fintech, to be disrupted with new opportunities. Fintech has arguably been the hottest sector post-COVID. The financial services sector has been notoriously slow to evolve. Still, the pandemic forced incredible digital acceleration — becoming a tipping point for institutions, small to medium-sized businesses (SMB) and even the government, to embrace fintech and invest in infrastructure. Coupled with changing consumer behavior, this has led to a surge in financial literacy and adoption while increasing demand for products and services such as contactless payments, lending and cryptocurrency.

-Source: Silicon Valley Bank

NAU Fest

June 10th-22nd| JA Americas

NAU Fest is a full-week virtual event created by JA in collaboration with Latin-American young adults, seeking to reconnect 50,000 underserved youth from 26 countries of the Americas with their future and the future of work. Our goal is to foster learning, inspiration, innovation and promote social inclusion and diversity of thought. NAU Fest is scheduled from June 10 to 22, 2022. 

Think Tank Thursday (Anniversary Edition)

June 16th| The LAB Miami

It's our anniversary! Who would have thought it's been a whole year since we started TTT! To celebrate we partnered with bartaco who is going to be our neighbor. Come network, learn, and immerse yourself in programming curated by you, the Miami Startup Ecosystem! Every month we host a Pitch Competition and thoughtful conversations with successful founders and investors. 

Miami For Everyone

June 17th-19th| Venture Miami

We're kicking it off with a 3-day Hackathon and Workshop Series from June 17th-19th hosted at Miami-Dade College. Join us for this 3-day all-inclusive tech event including educational workshops and a hackathon with over $25,000 in prizes.

SoftBank Group Operator School

June 19th Deadline| SoftBank Group

We are excited to share that SoftBank Group Operator School is open for Season 3! More than 20 Web3 and crypto executives will teach master classes on the foundations and applications of Web3. #SBOSWeb3 registration is open through June 19. Season 3 topics will include: The Latest Global Crypto Trends, Foundations of Blockchain, DeFi, Crypto Regulation, Gaming and NFTs.

eMerge Americas  2222 Ponce de Leon Blvd  Miami  FL 

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