Infanta Elena de Borbón, Director of Projects at Fundación MAPFRE, visited VDS 2026 today, accompanied by MAPFRE, to gain first-hand insight into the scope of the ninth edition of the international tech event organized by Startup Valencia. During her visit to the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia, she had the opportunity to experience an event that brings together startups, major corporations, investors and international leaders from the tech industry.
The visit coincided with a day marked by the announcement of strategic initiatives aimed at strengthening Valencia’s international positioning and its technology industry. Among the key highlights was the presentation of the Valencian semiconductor roadmap and the Valencian Regional Government’s technical contributions to the European Chips Act 2.0 strategy. These initiatives aim to strengthen the Valencian Community’s technological and industrial capabilities in a sector that is crucial to Europe’s competitiveness.
Another major announcement was the creation of Startup Valencia’s International Advisory Board, an advisory body made up of international business and technology leaders. Its goal is to connect Valencia’s tech ecosystem with leading global hubs for innovation, investment and business development. The program also explored advances in artificial intelligence, the future of tech talent and new investment opportunities, with a particular focus on collaboration between businesses, universities and institutions.
International entrepreneurship also took center stage with the final of the VDS Startup Competition 2026, which brought together 25 startups selected from 1,560 applications across 87 countries. Nanogrow, which develops nanobody-based therapies to treat cancer and immune-related diseases, was named Best Startup of VDS 2026. During the closing ceremony, Saeed Amidi, Founder and CEO of Plug and Play, was also honored with the City of Valencia VDS Award, while José Carmena, a pioneer in neurotechnology, received the VDS Honorary Award.
Infanta Elena’s visit was part of the strong institutional presence at this ninth edition, which brought together representatives from the business, technology and institutional sectors in Valencia. Under the theme “GENESIS. Origin of What’s Next”, VDS 2026 welcomed more than 12,000 professionals from 120 countries, alongside 3,000 startups and scaleups, 1,500 corporations, over 800 investors and more than 600 speakers. These figures reinforce its role as an international platform connecting talent, innovation, technology and investment.
