New York Stock Exchange to Host Future Caribbean’s Largest Global AI Builder Showcase
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) will host Future Caribbean’s Global AI Investor Showcase on Friday, November 13, bringing selected emerging AI ventures before an international audience of investors, business leaders, prospective customers and industry partners.
Co-hosted by Lily Dash, Founder of Future Caribbean, and Bill Tai, Chairman of ACTAI Global and an early investor in Canva and Zoom, the showcase marks a major milestone for the Caribbean-led initiative and the culmination of its inaugural Global AI Buildathon.
“Life thrives in ecosystems. So do companies and the economic growth they drive,” said Lily Dash, Founder of Future Caribbean. “Builders need access to global capital, partnerships, computing resources and customers. Future Caribbean has been a collective effort to bring those conditions together around global solutions relevant to the Caribbean. Innovation can come from anywhere. We are creating the connections through which the next category-defining AI company could emerge,” Dash added.
Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, The Bahamas, Guyana, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia will present AI-powered solutions addressing challenges across finance, energy, tourism, healthcare, disaster management and the blue economy.
The participating companies will be unveiled at the showcase, which will also feature founder presentations, a fireside conversation and awards recognising standout innovations. The event will provide selected founders with opportunities to engage directly with potential investors, customers and commercial partners, opening pathways to capital, business development and international markets.
The showcase is sponsored by Invest Barbados and Andrik Capital, with Bookit.com, supported by Lin Dai, serving as travel partner for participating teams.Bill Tai and ACTAI Advisors were Future Caribbean’s first backers and founding partners, supporting the development of the initiative and its international network.
The November 13 showcase is the result of an international initiative that has attracted approximately 450 builders from 39 countries, supported by more than 200 advisors and judges and 48 partner organisations.
Launched in May 2026 at IDB Invest Sustainability Week in Barbados, Future Caribbean’s inaugural Global Agentic AI Buildathon set out to connect talented entrepreneurs with the expertise, resources and commercial relationships needed to transform emerging technologies into viable businesses.
The programme received 236 applications representing approximately 450 builders across 39 countries, demonstrating international interest in developing AI solutions relevant to Caribbean industries and distributed markets worldwide.
Over the course of the initiative, participants benefited from more than 660 one-to-one advisory sessions and 2,000 individual human judging reviews across quarterfinal, semifinal and final rounds.
The programme brought together entrepreneurs, engineers, researchers, investors and industry specialists, creating opportunities for technical collaboration, commercial validation and access to experienced mentors.
Now, selected ventures will take the next step: presenting their technologies at the New York Stock Exchange, one of the world’s most recognised financial institutions.
For Future Caribbean, the transition from a regional launch in Barbados to an international investor showcase on Wall Street illustrates the potential of connecting Caribbean opportunity with global partnerships and capital.
Artificial intelligence is reshaping industries worldwide, creating opportunities for entrepreneurs to build new products, automate complex processes and address problems that have historically been difficult or expensive to solve.Yet access to the resources required to build successful technology companies remains concentrated in a relatively small number of global innovation hubs. Future Caribbean was established to help change that.
Rather than treating the Caribbean solely as a market for technologies developed elsewhere, the initiative seeks to position the region as an active contributor to the global AI economy.
The Caribbean’s established strengths in financial services, tourism, insurance, corporate services and international commerce offer a valuable foundation for developing AI applications with relevance far beyond the region. These industries routinely operate across jurisdictions, currencies, regulatory frameworks and disconnected systems, creating complex challenges that emerging AI technologies are increasingly capable of addressing. By connecting entrepreneurs with industry expertise and real-world commercial opportunities, Future Caribbean aims to turn these challenges into the foundation for globally scalable businesses.
