More than a dozen startups using the massive computing power of GPU technology to redefine the possibilities of business will participate in NVIDIA's Emerging Companies Summit (ECS) 2013, to be held March 20 at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, Calif.        

A highlight of the GPU Technology Conference (GTC), ECS will feature 16 companies from around the world. This year's conference and summit have expanded to include companies focused on mobile computing, game development and cloud-based technologies. Also participating are companies advancing areas as diverse as visual search, financial services and medical diagnostics. Five top startups will be recognized for their innovation in a competition with more than $75,000 in prizes.       

As part of the fast-paced "CEO on Stage" event in front of the ECS audience, executives will present their companies to a distinguished panel of professional investors, analysts and technology leaders. The expert panelists will then challenge presenters with questions and provide insightful feedback.       

Panelists this year include: Gerald Brady, managing director of Silicon Valley Bank; Nathan Brookwood, CEO at Insight64; Rob Enderle, president and principal at the Enderle Group; Jeff Herbst, vice president of Business Development at NVIDIA; Jon Peddie, president of Jon Peddie Research; Savitha Srinivasan, partner in the Venture Capital Group at IBM; and Rik Turner, senior analyst of Financial Services Technology at OVUM.       

Participating "CEO on Stage" companies include: Athentech Imaging (Canada), BIM+ (Germany), Cortexica Vision Systems (U.K.), Fluid (U.S.), Fuzzy Logix (U.S.), Hanweck Associates (U.S.), Mainframe2 (U.S.), Morpheus Medical (U.S.), Murex (France), Oculus VR (U.S.), OUYA (U.S.), SoftKinetic (Belgium), Splashtop (U.S.), SynerScope (Netherlands), Total Immersion (U.S.) and Ubitus (Taiwan).       

Also at ECS, an industry panel will address how technology will shape the future monetization of visual content. Panelists include: Ted Mico, CEO at Mixed Media Works; Pat Moorhead, founder and principal analyst at Moor Insights and Strategy; Mark Popkiewicz, CEO of MirriAd; Steve Semenzato, vice president of Business Development at Cortexica; and Blake White, director in the Entertainment, Media and Communications advisory practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers.       

Now in its fourth year in Silicon Valley, ECS provides an opportunity to see how startups are using GPUs to transform industries and create new ones. The exhibit halls of the summit will be filled with the innovative work of companies in a diverse array of fields.       

"The universe of GPU-powered applications is dramatically expanding, and ECS is the focal point to see the action," said Herbst. "We bring together some of the best startups and best minds in the business for an event that technology leaders, investors and analysts won't want to miss."       

ECS's platinum sponsor is Cooley LLP, a San Francisco-based law firm. Supporting sponsors include Silicon Valley Bank, Deloitte, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, UBS, CCICE TechLAB, VentureBeat, Nasdaq and Hedge Connection.       

GTC 2013, to be held March 18-21 in San Jose, is the place to learn about and share how advances in GPU technology help people tackle their day-to-day computational and graphics challenges. Conference attendees include thousands of industry leaders, researchers, scientists, graphic artists, engineers, designers, venture capitalists, angel investors, entrepreneurs, press and analysts. See the GTC 2013 agenda here. Register for ECS and GTC at https://registration.gputechconf.com/.