Credits: Startup Valencia
⦁ The international tech event closed its seventh edition, setting a record for foreign attendees
⦁ More than 2,500 startups have connected with key players in the global tech ecosystem
Valencia, October 28, 2024 - The seventh edition of VDS has succeeded in gathering investors with a collective portfolio of over €250 billion in private equity dedicated to startups. The international tech gathering, held on October 23 and 24 at Valencia’s City of Arts and Sciences, featured top investment funds like Softbank’s VisionFund, with over €100 billion under management and a portfolio including NVidia, Uber, and Slack. Other notable funds present included Pegasus Tech Ventures, with €260 million invested and 72 exits, including Airbnb, Twitter, and SpaceX.
Additional funds represented were EQT Partners, the Swedish investment group that owns Idealista, Parques Reunidos, and Solarpack, with over €210 billion invested across twenty private equity funds over the past 20 years; Archimed, with five funds and a global leadership position in healthcare investment; and Mexico’s Fondo de Fondos, which operates through nine investment vehicles backed by the Federal Government’s investment agency as anchor investor.
Attendees at VDS2024 included Techstars, Early Bird, GP Bullhound, Plug & Play, Breega, CusCapital Partners, Seaya, FNDX VC, NXTP Ventures, and more, totalling over 700 investors.
The Most International Edition Yet
The seventh edition of VDS has continued its growth trend, breaking records for international attendees once again this year. VDS2024 increased its international participation by 65%, with international attendees making up 35% of the total. Out of the 12,000 professionals who attended the event, over 4,000 were from abroad.
Year over year, this international tech event has welcomed a rising number of foreign visitors, expanding from 80 nationalities in 2022, and 91 in 2023, to 110 countries this year.
Additionally, 52% of speakers on the event’s main stages were international, including YouTube co-founder Steve Chen; Randi Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Zuckerberg Media and HUG; Juan Antonio Samaranch, Vice President of the Spanish Olympic Committee; and Prince Constantijn van Oranje, Special Envoy of Techleap from the Netherlands.
More than 2,500 startups and 1,500 corporations were able to connect with key players in the global tech ecosystem, creating connections, synergies, and business opportunities. These figures have cemented VDS as one of Europe’s most significant international tech events, transforming Valencia into a global tech hub.
Within the framework of VDS, Startup Valencia and Innovation Quarter signed a collaboration agreement to promote innovation, internationalization, and investment in their ecosystems. The agreement aims to strengthen their startup and entrepreneurial communities through joint programs, positioning Valencia and Zuid-Holland as international centers for innovation, talent attraction, and investment. Signing the agreement were Chris Van Voorden, Head of Internationalization; Nacho Mas, CEO of Startup Valencia; and Krloos Rivera, Strategic Advisor at Startup Valencia.
International Startup Competition and VDS Awards
From among the 800 startups from 65 countries that participated in the VDS international startup competition, HULO.ai, a Dutch-founded startup focused on providing a global solution to improve sustainable water supply through leak-detection algorithms, won the Early Stage category. In the Growth Stage category, Smart Point took the prize, offering AI-driven solutions to digitize retail and urban infrastructure, enhancing customer experience and operational efficiency.
The startup selected to compete in the semifinals of the Startup World Cup, organized by Pegasus Tech Ventures, the world’s largest startup competition with a $1 million investment prize for the winner, was DISS-CO from the legaltech sector, based in Hamburg, Germany. DISS-CO combines AI with blockchain technology for regulatory compliance and risk mitigation.
During the VDS Valencia Forum, Valencia Mayor María José Catalá presented the honorary award, ‘VDS City of Valencia’, to Hortensia Roig, President of EDEM, in recognition of her leadership, entrepreneurial spirit, and promotion of a culture of hard work, contributing to the Marina de Empresas, the Mediterranean’s main entrepreneurial hub.
Ana Maiques, CEO and co-founder of Neuroelectrics, also received the honorary VDS2024 award from Diana Morant, Minister of Science, Innovation, and Universities, for her inspiring character and professional trajectory. Recognized as one of Europe’s 50 most inspiring women, Maiques leads a project centered on therapies for neurological diseases like depression, epilepsy, and Alzheimer’s.
Additionally, the award for the The Challenge hackathon was presented. This project, organized by Startup Valencia and the City of Arts and Sciences in collaboration with HP, Elewit, Mapfre, and Naturgy, recognized the Naturgy team as the winner.
Credit: Startup Valencia
VDS2024: A Focus on AI
This edition aimed to explore the challenges and opportunities of artificial intelligence and how this technology is transforming and positively impacting society. It brought together AI leaders from around the world to offer solutions to the needs driven by this revolutionary technology across development, integration, application, and investment.
One of the major AI-focused presentations was delivered by Randi Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Zuckerberg Media and HUG, who discussed the pros and cons of widespread AI adoption and provided a comprehensive guide on leveraging AI tools for personal and corporate advancement.
Joaquín Cuenca, CEO of Freepik; Álvaro Martínez, CEO of Luzia; and Carlos Santana, partner at EQT Partners, engaged in a discussion on AI leadership and its future direction. Armand Ruiz, IBM’s VP of AI Product, also spoke about the future of work through AI.
VDS2024 hosted over 20 sessions on artificial intelligence, addressing topics like AI funding challenges, AI’s impact on people management, and the ethical and legal issues of AI in the audiovisual sector. These discussions took place on three of the event’s seven stages: the Main Stage, the Santander Stage, with Banco Santander as Diamond Sponsor, and the Audiovisual Stage, supported by the Generalitat Valenciana, Ciudad de la Luz, and the Film Commission of the Comunitat Valenciana.
Sustainability was also a featured topic at VDS, with its own stage—the Green Stage—supported by the Valencia City Council as part of the city’s 2024 European Green Capital initiative. Presentations at this stage focused on government roles in shaping future cities and supporting sustainable projects across Europe.
Institutional Support at Opening and Closing Ceremonies
The Mayor of Valencia, Mª José Catalá; the Regional Minister of Finance, Economy, and Public Administration, Ruth Merino; and Juan Ramón Adsuara, Deputy for European Funds, e-Government, and Innovation at the Valencia Provincial Council, attended the institutional inauguration of VDS on the first day of the event. They were joined by Juan Luis Hortelano and Nacho Mas, President and CEO of Startup Valencia, respectively; Hortensia Roig, President of EDEM; and Miguel Ángel Franco, Regional Director of Banco Santander, who participated in the Valencia Forum discussion.
The VDS2024 closing ceremony welcomed Diana Morant, Minister of Science, Innovation, and Universities; Pilar Bernabé, Government Delegate in the Valencian Community; Rebeca Torró, Secretary of State for Industry; Paula Llobet, Councilor for Tourism, Innovation, Employment, and Entrepreneurship of the Valencia City Council; Juan Luis Hortelano, President of Startup Valencia; Patricia Pastor, VDS Chairwoman; and Nacho Mas, CEO of Startup Valencia.
About Startup Valencia
Startup Valencia is a private, non-profit organization that has represented and promoted Valencia’s innovative tech ecosystem since 2017, aiming to position the region as an international tech hub.
Partners include GoHub Ventures (Global Omnium), BStartup (Banco Sabadell), Wayra (Telefónica Group), Elewit (Redeia, Red Eléctrica Group), Zeus by LLYC, Plug and Play, HP, BBVA Spark, Marina de Empresas, Banco Santander, Innsomnia, CaixaBank Dayone, CDTM, and Naturgy. Supporters include Sales Layer, RCD, Damm, Fresh People, Aktion, Voicemod, Google for Startups, Sesame, Zubi Group, OVHcloud, Opentop (Valenciaport Innovation Hub), Internxt, Tbig Finance, Next Tier Ventures, Urban Sports Club, and Qonto.
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