The start of October brings spooky season, pumpkin spice lattes, and (by Miami standards) cooler weather. It’s also a time to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, honoring the vibrant cultures that have shaped our community through their history, food, language, and music.
Adding to the month’s celebrations, eMerge Americas, Miami’s premier global tech conference, hosted its ¡Celebrar! Pitch Competition, part of the eMerge eMpower Series. The event, held at The LAB Miami, spotlighted five Hispanic founders, each pitching their startup ideas live (in under four minutes) to an audience of tech enthusiasts, investors, and #MiamiTech community members.
After an exciting round of presentations, a panel of judges deliberated on the pitches and selected a winner to receive a $2,500 grant and a fast track to the eMerge Americas Global Startup Accelerator + Showcase 2026. The winner also received an extra $1,000 from B.I.G. Capital.
Let’s meet the startup founders who pitched:
Interview Coach AI, a startup founded by Carmelo Colon offers AI-driven, video-based interview simulations and guided coaching to help job seekers prepare for roles in industries such as consulting, banking, and tech. The platform also offers instant feedback, progress tracking, and tailored coaching – key differentiators from its competitors, who only offer audio or generic feedback.
Invent AI, founded by Alix Gallardo, helps businesses that communicate with customers through social media platforms streamline their operations with AI-powered digital assistants. The platform allows companies to deploy chatbots across Instagram, WhatsApp, and Telegram, all managed through a unified inbox and model-agnostic, pay-per-message pricing with unlimited access. It also integrates with Shopify and Stripe.
National Energy, founded by Dave Robau, focuses on using AI-driven sorting technology and robotics for waste management by converting the organic fraction of garbage into clean, renewable energy. Their main goal is to “forever eliminate the need for landfills” and significantly reduce the impact of pollution in our land, air, and water.
One Home Service, founded by Todd Paton, is an AI-powered app that simplifies home maintenance for busy homeowners. Through its virtual assistant, “AI Ali,” the app automatically reminds users about essential home tasks, liek changing air filters or cleaning dryer vents, and keeps track of ongoing home needs. Users can also use the platform to book maintenance professionals when tasks require extra help, and store important household documents in a secure digital “vault,” eliminating the clutter of a traditional junk drawer.
Space Safe, founded by Oscar Hedaya of South Florida, is a smart-safe company bringing a “next-generation” safe to homes. The innovative safe features built-in cameras, touchscreens, and tamper sensors, all connected to a mobile app that notifies users in real-time of any unauthorized access.
And the winner was… drumroll please… National Energy!
“As a garbologist for the Air Force, my job was to put those nasty burn pits out of business. We had to develop a technology for that, and we did,” Robau said. “From waste, what’s causing the pollution is typically the organic fraction. We’re taking about 80 to 85% of waste, extracting the valuable portion of that waste stream, and turning that into energy.”
National Energy is looking for an investor to participate in their $2 million seed round. They have generated approximately $3 million in revenue through the Department of Defense.
“We’e really excited for eMerge Americas in April – it’ll be our first,” Robau said. “My advice for anyone looking to launch their own startup is to just do it – it’s never going to be perfect, so you just have to get out there and start.”
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