Miami-Dade Small Businesses Have Until Nov. 22 to Apply for eMerge's SMB Growth Lab

MIAMI — Miami’s tech scene gets plenty of headlines for startups and venture rounds. One program is aimed at the businesses that actually keep most neighborhoods running: the bakeries, contractors, boutiques, clinics and service firms that need better digital tools more than they need a pitch deck.

eMerge Americas’ SMB Growth Lab, powered by JPMorganChase and Momentum Miami, is accepting applications for its next cohort until Nov. 22, 2026. SMB stands for small and medium-sized businesses.

Who Can Apply

The program is designed exclusively for businesses based in Miami-Dade County. According to eMerge, applicants should:

• Be based in Miami-Dade County
• Employ fewer than 200 people
• Be actively operating with regular business activities
• Be ready to embrace digital transformation

eMerge says it is seeking more than 70 businesses for the upcoming cohort. That would continue the program’s growth: last year’s cohort grew from 30 to 61 businesses, Refresh Miami reported, with participants seeing new customers, new revenue and lasting connections.

What Participants Get

The program runs in stages, according to eMerge’s program page.

Open fall workshops. Before the cohort is even chosen, eMerge is running open-session workshops for Miami-Dade businesses covering AI tools, digital marketing, e-commerce and social media management. The first was held Oct. 14. The second is scheduled for Nov. 17, five days before applications close.

A six-week hybrid bootcamp. Selected businesses go through expert-led sessions, peer learning and personalized mentorship from January to February 2027.

Three days at eMerge Americas. The program ends with the SMB Growth Lab Summit on March 2, 2027, a private day of workshops followed by a networking event with eMerge’s 2027 Startup Accelerator and Showcase cohort. Participants then get complimentary access to the eMerge Americas Global Conference and Expo on March 3 and 4, plus dedicated exhibit space in an SMB Pavilion on the expo floor, where they can meet investors, mentors and potential customers.

Key Dates

• Nov. 17, 2026: Open-session Fall Workshop #2
• Nov. 22, 2026: Applications close
• December 2026: Cohort announced
• January to February 2027: Six-week hybrid bootcamp
• March 2, 2027: SMB Growth Lab Summit
• March 3 and 4, 2027: eMerge Americas Global Conference and SMB Pavilion

Why It Exists

Momentum Miami, the Tech Equity Miami initiative that supports the program, describes the gap plainly on its project page: Miami-Dade is home to a diverse range of small and medium businesses that contribute heavily to the local economy, but many struggle to adopt digital technology effectively. It says the pandemic exposed both the importance of digital readiness and the disconnect between traditional small businesses and Miami’s fast-growing tech ecosystem.

The program’s stated aim is to be a bridge between those two worlds. Momentum Miami’s page says the effort aims to provide resources to more than 120 small businesses over two years.

Is It Worth Your Time?

For a business owner, the honest math is time. A six-week bootcamp in the first two months of the year is a real commitment for a team of five or 50. The payoff eMerge is offering is less about a single tool and more about access: mentors, peers who are solving the same problems, and a booth at one of the region’s largest tech conferences, where thousands of attendees walk the floor.

The businesses that tend to get the most from programs like this go in with a specific problem, such as moving sales online, automating scheduling or invoicing, or finally getting a handle on social media. If that sounds like your business, the Nov. 17 workshop is a low-risk way to see the program before applying.

Questions can go to eMerge Americas at (305) 407-8568 or info@emergeamericas.com, according to the program page.

Sources: eMerge Americas SMB Growth Lab, Momentum Miami, Refresh Miami.