São Paulo, Brazil — South Summit, one the world’s largest innovation conferences, is coming to Porto Alegre, Brazil in 2026 and the organizers have just announced a new batch of speakers.
The fifth edition of South Summit Brazil, which will take place from March 25 to 27, will feature some of the leading business and technology leaders from South America and beyond, including Mercado Libre co-founder Hernan Kazah; TikTok Global Head of Creators Kim Farrell; and Nubank’s former marketing director Arturo Núñez.
Taking place at the city’s Cais Mauá port district, the summit aims to be a congregation point for startups, corporations and investment funds.
The event is a joint initiative led by Spain Startup and 4all alongside the Government of the State of Rio Grande do Sul and IE University.
In addition to the international speakers mentioned above, a host of top-level executives from Brazil have also confirmed attendance to South Summit. According to a press release shared with Brazil Reports, the Brazil delegation includes:
Microsoft CEO Priscyla Laham
Head of BYD in Brazil Alexandre Baldy
The Head for WhatsApp in Brazil, India and Indonesia, Guilherme Horn
Formula 1 Executive Director Francisco Mattos
LinkedIn General Director for Latin America and Africa Milton Beck
President of IBM Latin America Tonny Martins
Also expected to attend are the founders of some of Latin America’s biggest startups, including some of the region’s unicorns (valued at over $1 billion USD):
Gaston Taratuta, founder of Aleph
André Penha, co-founder of Quinto Andar
João Pedro Resende, founder of Hotmart
Robson Privado, co-founder of MadeiraMadeira
Mauricio Chamati, co-founder of Mercado Bitcoin
Luciano Freitas, co-founder of Facily
At last year’s South Summit, 23,000 people from 62 countries attended the event held in a 38,000-square-meter venue.
The summit gathered in total 3,000 startups, 800 speakers, 200 sponsors, 130 investment funds — in which 38 of them international — and around 900 investors managing US$215 billion in assets.
So far, the South Summit helped raise a total of US$ 14 billion for its startup competition, according to a press statement.
Registration for the summit is still open at their website.
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