The sixth edition of Valencia Digital Summit has attracted an impressive response, with a total of 515 individuals applying from 48 different countries to participate as speakers. The international tech event, which is scheduled to take place at the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia on the 26th and 27th of October, has just closed its application process for speakers.
The presentations by the selected speakers aim to inspire attendees, under the event’s slogan of “Building a Better Future”. The speakers will share their invaluable experience and expertise in technological innovation, providing insights on how to effectively address the main social and economic challenges that our society faces today.
The profile of individuals who apply to give presentations at VDS2023 primarily consists of C-Level executives, including CEOs, CMOs, CFOs, and other leadership positions, accounting for approximately 66% of the applicants. These professionals represent a diverse range of companies, with startups comprising the largest group at 56.3%, followed by corporations, constituting 17.2% of the applicants, followed by individuals with an investor profile, making up 10.5%. The remaining 16% of speakers belong to various other entities within the innovation ecosystem, such as associations, accelerators/incubators, universities, and technology centres.
On top of this, 32.43% of the applications to present at the summit came from outside Spain, accounting for about a third of the total. These international applications originate from over thirty countries, with the top five countries being the United States, the UK, Argentina, the Netherlands and Italy.
Among the topics chosen by most of the speakers were entrepreneurship and business, software and social impact. When it comes to technologies, approximately 19.3% of the presentations were on artificial intelligence, 11.4% on big data, and 9.2% on blockchain.
About VDS2023
Once again, this year’s Valencia Digital Summit is expected to attract over 10,000 attendees from over 80 countries, as well as welcoming more than 400 international investors boasting an investment portfolio exceeding €8 billion. With a lineup featuring internationally renowned speakers, the summit will serve as a platform for over 1,500 startups to connect and collaborate.
During the week of VDS2023, the city will transform into the global epicentre of innovation, solidifying the Valencian ecosystem’s position on the world stage. The event will shine a spotlight on regional startups, such as Igenomix, PLD Space, Zeleros, Voicemod, Quibim, Internxt, Sesame, ClimateTrade, Sales Layer, ARTHEx Biotech, Fourvenues, and many more.
VDS2023 will showcase the emerging Valencia-Miami-LATAM axis, which acts as a vital business bridge connecting startups and investors. It will also host its international startup competition to which more than 600 tech startups from countries such as the United States, Sweden, Germany, Israel, the United Kingdom, Norway, India, Ireland and Brazil, among others, have already applied. The competition aims to identify and showcase the most disruptive startups. In addition, the 50 finalists will have the opportunity to show their potential at VDS2023, where they can engage with investors, corporations, and talented individuals.
During the previous edition of VDS, several notable startups presented their projects to an audience of more than 250 investors, who collectively possessed a portfolio of over €6 billion dedicated to investing in tech and innovation ventures. Among the presenting startups were Trebellar and Arkadia Space from Valencia, Mojito360 from Valencia as well, Exheus from Barcelona, Reental from Madrid, Proky from Slovakia, Delivers.ai from the United Kingdom, BizAway from Italy, and IDNow from France.
Trebellar, a startup based in the USA, won the award for best seed stage startup, while Delivers.ai, with offices in London, Istanbul and Dubai, won the award for best growth stage startup. As a result of their achievements, both Trebellar and Delivers.ai have been granted the opportunity to have their own exhibition stand at the upcoming sixth edition of the Valencia Digital Summit.
An international tech event
In the last few years, the international summit has experienced exponential growth: since its inaugural edition in 2018, it has witnessed a 1,500% increase in the number of attendees. This growth has played a crucial role in establishing the Valencian tech and innovation ecosystem as the third largest in the country in terms of investment volume, with over 1,200 startups and an investment of over €700 million in recent years.
The previous edition, held in October 2022 at the City of Arts and Sciences, achieved incredible milestones. The event set a new record with over 12,000 attendees, a third of whom were CEOs or founders, and generated a turnover exceeding €10 million. Furthermore, in terms of international participation, more than 20% of the attendees came from over 70 different countries.
This fifth edition was attended by various global tech and innovation experts, such as Elias Veris, Head of Global Operations at Google for Startups; Sebastian Greiss, Head of Startup Partnering at Siemens Mobility; Mariano Amartino, Americas Managing Director at Microsoft for Startups, and Ann Hiatt, a renowned leadership strategist with over 15 years of experience in Silicon Valley as an Executive Business partner to Jeff Bezos (Founder and CEO of Amazon) and Eric Schmidt (CEO/Executive chairman of Google).
