CHARLESTON, SC — Next month, more than 2,000 entrepreneurs, investors and executives in the South’s tech industry will assemble for the DIG SOUTH Tech Summit in Charleston.

The three-day event, set for April 24-26 at the Charleston Gaillard Center, is an opportunity for startups around the South to meet corporate leaders, experts, global brands and investors, and gain more exposure for their ventures.

This is the seventh annual Tech Summit hosted by DIG SOUTH, a membership network and media platform covering startups and technology through a newsletter, multimedia channel and blog.

Keynote speakers for the event include author and speaker Greg Mckeown, known for his work exploring the philosophy of Essentialism, Lime Director of Public Affairs Taylor Bennett and serial entrepreneur Marc Gorlin, who co-founded Roadie and Kabbage.

The event also features “campfire sessions” with entrepreneur Jeremy Gilbertson, who will discuss his “52Musings” writing experiment, and Mixtroz President and Co-Founder Ashlee Ammons, who will share her entrepreneurial journey from idea stage to raising more than $1 million for her company.

DIG SOUTH kicks off on April 24 with an evening networking event, Upload Charleston Shindig, at the Gibbes Museum of Art, where attendees can enjoy craft beers and jazz music from the Robert Lewis Trio.

Two days of panels and presentations will cover topics within four content tracks:

Business Growth topics include: building a remote team, autonomous and electric vehicles and the future of transportation, business communication and funding opportunities. Talks will cover overcoming adversity with Oracle Global Startup Ecosystem VP Jason Williamson, the state of M&A in the South with LendingTree CFO J.D. Moriarty and the future of corporate-startup-government partnerships with The Farm Accelerator Managing Director Burunda Prince.

Emerging Tech will cover cloud services, clean energy, cybersecurity and data privacy, creativity in a world of algorithms, strategic investments, AI and machine learning, engineering, predictive analytics and telemedicine. There will also be a presentation from Crowdskout Chief Strategy Officer and EVP Lucy Caldwell on how to engage new generations using technology.

Digital Marketing topics include data-driven advertising, automation in marketing campaigns, native video and agile approaches to branding, a session on personal branding from Pace PR President and Founder Annie Scranton, and a presentation from AnyRoad CEO and Co-Founder Jonathan Yaffe on experiential marketing and the brand-consumer relationship.

FinTech–Blockchain–Investor (a new track addition to this year’s program) includes sessions on the failures of the financial system in 2008 and how blockchain could have prevented it, ICO/tokenization, the “crypto winter,” a panel on ICO successes and failures, and a blockchain 101 talk from Alexis Esneault of Nägele Attorneys at Law.

An extra Health Tech Track will feature sessions covering big data, wearables and IoT, and how startups can compete with established corporations that are entering the healthtech market.

DIG SOUTH CEO and Founder Stanfield Gray says one of the key additions to the 2019 program is the newly announced inaugural Founders Fellowship.

“The fellowship is awarded to startup founders and entrepreneurs growing tech and predominantly tech-enabled companies,” Gray said. “More than 200 founders will be selected from prominent accelerator and incubator programs based in the American South. The award includes two $500 general-access badges to DIG SOUTH plus the opportunity to gather onsite, network and share best practices.”

DIG SOUTH Tech Summit also includes an exhibit space,”Startup Alley,” featuring 25 selected startups.

The event will conclude on the afternoon of April 26 with a “Wild Pitch” competition, in which early- to growth-stage startups will present their products/services to a panel of judges—Jason Williamson of Oracle, Salman Solutions Founder and CEO Samira Salman, and Jill Sorensen, director of entrepreneurial programs at SCRA and executive director of SC Launch. Titania Jordan, CMO of Bark.us, will be the MC.

Gray says participating startups will receive an invitation to the private DIG SOUTH Investor Bash, and pitch winners will receive up to $10,000 in sponsorship packages and other prizes.

The pitch event also features presentations from the Spring cohort of Queen City Fintech, a Charlotte-based accelerator and seed fund supporting financial services technologies. DIG SOUTH has hosted Queen City Fintech program pitches for three consecutive years.

Entrepreneurs who are interested in participating in Wild Pitch can apply here until March 22.

DIG SOUTH Tech Summit tickets range from $499 to $799, depending on level of access to exclusive benefits and meet-and-greets.

https://wraltechwire.com/event/dig-south-tech-summit-2019/