Written by Pat Rabbitte from 150Sec
Startup talent and innovative tech creatives get the opportunity to showcase their projects on the Iberian Peninsula next month through Madrid’s South Summit.
The tech scene in Madrid has been growing considerably over recent years. With that, it is fitting that the city has an event in South Summit which showcases that technological innovation.
The event will be held at La Nave – a space that provides for urban innovation, bringing together a network of professionals who seek to accelerate their ideas and projects within the Spanish capital. It’s scheduled to be held on October 2nd – 4th.
The origins of South Summit can be traced back to 2012 when Spain Startup got together with IE Business School with a view towards assisting entrepreneurs in the aftermath of the economic crisis. The event acts as a conduit, connecting global entrepreneurial ecosystems.
International Leaders
This years event will see the participation of internationally renowned leaders in business. Featured within the line-up of speakers for South Summit are Paul Misener, Vice-president of Global Innovation Policy at Amazon and Jennifer Kanyamibwa, Senior Director of Strategy & Operations for product design at Twitter. Additionally, Ciaran Quilty, EMEA Vice President for Facebook will participate.
Successful Entrepreneurs
The experience at the event will also be shared with successful entrepreneurs who have been through the process of taking their businesses to fruition. Amongst them will be Valentin Stalf, founder and CEO of German financial services company, N26. Carlos Pierre, CEO and co-founder of Badi will also be present. Pierre’s company empowers the sharing economy via a room rental platform.
From the world of e-commerce, Luis Sanz – founder of Olapic – will be an event participant. The Olapic platform provides a tool to optimise visual content in order to drive brand engagement in the digital marketing space. Renaud Visage, co-founder of event organisation firm, Eventbrite and Tamaz Georgadze, co-founder & CEO of Raisin are also partaking. Raisin is a pan-European savings and investment marketplace.
EnlightED
Encapsulated within the overall event, South Summit will also host EnlightED – a specific workshop with a consideration of education in the future. What will education look like in the future? What role will technology play in our future educational systems and what have been the best examples of integrating technology and innovation with education up until now? These are just some of the considerations for the EnlightED event. To address these issues, EnlighED will bring together experts gathered from around the world to lead the discussion.
The encounter will be facilitated by Fundación Telefónica, IE University, Fundación Santillana and South Summit in understanding technology’s role within education with the objective of reinventing it in the digital world. Proposals and innovative experiences will be shared and discussed, with the focus of making education accessible to everyone.
Startup Competition
One of the main highlights of South Summit is its Startup Competition. It provides a platform for fledgling businesses drawn from all over the world to compete within a number of business verticals. These include healthcare & biotech, marketing, fintech & insurtech, consumer solutions, cutting edge technologies, digital business & government, travel & tourism, smart mobility & logistics, energy & sustainability and edtech.
Previous editions of South Summit have shown that the vast majority of participating startups are still presently active today, having received more than $2.6 billion in investment. South Summit attracts some of the biggest investment funds from around the world, including Softbank Vision Fund and Northzone who – amongst others – are actively participating in the event.
Last year, the convention gathered in excess of 16,000 attendees from 100 different countries. This attendance was comprised of more than 6,700 founders, 4,300 corporates, more than 750 investors, more than 550 international leaders and more than 550 media outlets. Tickets for the event are available through the South Summit website.
