HackTown, one of the leading innovation and tech festivals in South America, has opened registrations for its global startup program, HackTown for Startups. The event, now in its eighth year, will be held from August 1-4, 2024, in Santa Rita do Sapucai, Brazil. This city, recognized as a tech hub, is located near São Paulo, South America’s largest city, and is expected to attract over 500 startups.
The event, inspired by Austin’s SXSW, aims to outdo previous years in both scale and impact. The 2023 edition saw over 300 startups and 50 top investors, alongside a trade show that drew more than 6,000 high-level attendees daily. Major global corporations and leading companies from Brazil and beyond annually engage with the startups, reinforcing HackTown’s status as a crucial networking and business hub.
Event organizer Marcos David emphasized HackTown’s commitment to inclusivity: “Our aim is to level the playing field for startups across all geographies.” He further detailed the mission: “HackTown for Startups aims to provide opportunities for the most innovative startups from Brazil and beyond, particularly those outside major hubs. These regions, often rich in innovation, typically don’t have access to big investors. HackTown offers high-level exposure to regions with limited access to top-tier events.“
The Hello World trade show at HackTown 2024 will provide startups with a prime platform to showcase their innovations to potential clients, investors, and major corporations.
This year’s event will also feature Pitch Sessions and introduce Corporate Speed Dating, giving startups direct access to executives from top global firms. Networking opportunities will be abundant with meetups, happy hours, and Startup Talks, which allow startup founders to participate in major panels during the HackTown conference.
Additionally, the new Hack the Hack initiative will focus on open innovation, enabling startups to enhance the event experience, offer partner activations, or benefit the local community.
Startups interested in participating can register now on the HackTown for Startups website, where further details about the event are available.
