Valencia Digital Summit (VDS2022) will position Valencia as the world capital of tech innovation. This is the statement that Juan Luis Hortelano, president of Startup Valencia, made during the press conference held to present the Valencian Community’s flagship tech event, to be hosted from the 24th to the 26th of October at the City of Arts and Sciences.
Taking part in the presentation alongside Juan Luis Hortelano were Rafael Climent, Minister of Sustainable Economy, Productive Sectors, Trade and Labour; Borja Sanjuán, Councillor for Entrepreneurship and Economic Development; and Pere Fuset, Councillor for the Digital Agenda and e-Government Delegation. Also attending were Teresa García, Head of Entrepreneurship and Cooperativism at the Generalitat Valenciana, and Antonio Torres, managing director of the City of Arts and Sciences.
During his speech, the president of Startup Valencia, a non-profit organisation that has been organising this international tech event since 2018, highlighted the importance of the event for consolidating Valencia’s position as the third leading tech ecosystem in Spain and for putting the region on the map of entrepreneurship and innovation. “Since its first edition, Valencia Digital Summit has carved a niche in the international scene and is already an essential yearly meeting point for entrepreneurs, startups, investors, corporations and institutions,” he said.
In other words, the importance of the entrepreneurial ecosystem for the Valencian economy is significant. According to data from the Startup Observatory of the Valencian Community collected by Startup Valencia, the number of startups in the region has increased by 12% since November 2021 and has reached a total of 1,133. The sectors in which these types of companies grow the most are human resources, content and sportstech. When it comes to technology, more than 50% of Valencian startups develop solutions based around artificial intelligence, big data, internet of things and cloud computing. Furthermore, nanotechnology and blockchain are the technologies that have grown the most: 20% compared to 2021.
Rafael Climent, Minister of Sustainable Economy, Productive Sectors, Trade and Labour, explained that “in the Valencian Region we are not only looking for entrepreneurship based on innovation, but also entrepreneurship that is sustainable, that generates triple impact, that transcends financial gain, and also generates positive benefits for society and the environment”. Climent said that “we must create the suitable conditions for entrepreneurs to start businesses, from the ideation phase to the financing and consolidation ones”, and for this, “it is also key that the various agents and entities that make up the entrepreneurial ecosystem, such as institutions, administrations, universities and business organisations, are committed to it and work together in the same direction”.
The Councillor for Entrepreneurship and Economic Development, Borja Sanjuán, said that “tech events like Valencia Digital Summit contribute to building the model of a city that we seek at VLC Tech City, and they are a driving force to improve the quality of life of all citizens”.
Lastly, Pere Fuset, Councillor for the Digital Agenda and e-Government Delegation, expressed the importance of “supporting and promoting these types of tech events that generate value in the Valencian entrepreneurial ecosystem”. He also stressed that “collaboration between all stakeholders is key to consolidating Valencia’s position as the world capital of innovation”.
Internationally renowned speakers
Elias Veris, Head of Global Operations at Google for Startups; Sebastian Greiss, Head of Startup Partnering at Siemens Mobility; and Mariano Amartino, Americas Managing Director at Microsoft for Startups, are some of the internationally renowned speakers who have already confirmed their participation in Valencia Digital Summit 2022.
The summit will also feature Ann Hiatt, a leadership strategist with more than 15 years of experience in Silicon Valley as Jeff Bezos’ Executive Business Partner, and Eric Schmidt, former Google CEO/Executive Chairman, who is currently based in the Valencian Community.
Furthermore, Valencia Digital Summit will address the main issues facing modern society from the perspective of innovation and sustainable development. The tech event will kick off with a panel of European investors who will give their point of view on the Valencian ecosystem. Quantum computing will be discussed by one of the Spanish stars in this field, Enrique Lisazo, Founder & CEO of Multiverse Computing. There will also be featured content on Blockchain technology, and Opentop, the open innovation hub of Valenciaport, will delve into the digitalisation of ports.
The four thematic pillars on which VDS2022 content will be based are innovation, growth, transformation and sustainability. Challenges, success stories and personal experiences to inspire attendees will be presented on each of these topics.
In the area of innovation, the roundtable on sustainable construction will feature Iker Marcaide, founder and Executive Chairman of Zubi Group; Gonzalo Galindo, president of CEMEX Ventures; and Tanja Kufner, head of Ventures at Nemetschek SE. To illustrate a growth example, Pep Gómez, founder of Fever, a startup that became a unicorn in January of this year, as well as founder of Reby, will also tell us his experience.
Iñaki Berenguer from Alicante, founder of CoverWallet, Pixable and Contactive, as well as co-founder of iPronics, which recently launched a $100 million fund aimed at software and science, will speak about sustainability in investment. In the field of transformation, it is worth mentioning the session on the problems of investing in content for Virtual Reality in which Orla Harris, COO & cofounder of SideQuet, and Carmen Alfonso Rico, founder of Cocoa, will participate.
More than 60 tech companies from sectors such as FoodTech, Industry 4.0, Health, Mobility and FinTech, among others, will participate in ‘Meet the Startups‘, a networking side event with a “speed dating” format which will allow these companies to connect and generate synergies as well as explore new business opportunities.
In addition to this, Siemens Mobility, HP, Oracle Netsuite, Helloprint, Demium, Red Eléctrica Elewit, Banco Sabadell BStartup, La Caixa DayOne, Correos, Valenciaport and many other large corporations, tech companies and startups have already confirmed their participation as exhibitors in the expo area of the event.
VDS2022 Startup Competition
The press conference held today at the City of Arts and Sciences of Valencia also served to announce the finalists of the VDS2022 Startup Competition. The Valencian startups Trebellar, Arkadia Space and Mojito360, the Barcelona-based startup Exheus, the Madrid-based startup Reental, the Slovakian startup Proky, the British startup Delivers.ai, the Italian startup BizAway and the French startup IDNow will present their projects to the more than 250 investors expected at this edition with a portfolio of more than €6 million to invest in the coming year. With this initiative, the summit seeks to promote innovative companies in the Valencian ecosystem so that their projects consolidate, scale and contribute to inspiring a better future.
An international jury made up of renowned experts from Germany, France and the United States will be in charge of selecting the winners of the Seed and Growth categories.
More than 500 startups from 35 different countries have applied to participate in this pitch competition, supported by Plug and Play and promoted by Startup Valencia. As Juan Luis Hortelano explained: “the large number of startups that have applied to this competition, which has increased by 25% compared to last year, is a sign of the Valencian Community’s potential for attracting talent and investment”.
Great perspectives
Under the slogan ‘Inspiring the Good Future’, VDS2022 will showcase how technology, innovation and digitalisation are building a better future and why they are fundamental in tackling the major social and economic challenges society faces.
In this fifth edition, entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to showcase their projects to the more than 10,000 people expected this year. The event will feature more than 300 presentations by national and international leaders of recognized prestige. In addition, it will bring together more than 150 corporations and more than 1,500 startups.
Entry to Valencia Digital Summit is completely free with prior registration through the website. At the event, attendees will be able to enjoy exhibition areas showcasing the latest trends, tech innovations and disruptive products by means of interactive experiences with the aim of highlighting the existing talent in the Valencian Community, attracting investment to the region, and creating business opportunities between corporations and startups. As a novelty of this fifth edition, the tech event will feature a B2B forum with exclusive content and activities for entrepreneurs and businesspeople: Summit Pro.
An international tech event
Since its first edition in 2018, Valencia Digital Summit has recorded exponential growth that has led it to become an internationally recognised tech event. The latest edition alone, held on the 15th and 16th of December last year, generated an economic impact of more than €4.8 million. The event, which was attended by leaders of world-renowned companies such as Airbus, Google and Amazon, as well as consolidated startups such as Jeff, Jobandtalent and Gorillas, brought together more than 5,500 people in person and more than 5,000 online. In addition, 20% of all attendees came from abroad and from up to 25 different countries.
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