The international event on entrepreneurship, South Summit, kicked off yesterday in Madrid and will run until June 10. Numerous figures from politics and business, both nationally and internationally, have participated in the opening ceremony. Among them, Nadia Calvino, First Vice President of the Government and Minister of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation; Maria Gabriel, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth; Jose Luis Martinez-Almeidamayor of Madrid; Mary Benjumeafounder of South Summit, and Diego del Alcazar, CEO of IE University, together with Manuel Llamas, Deputy Minister of Economy of the Community of Madrid, and Paul AlvimMinister of State for Science, Technology and Innovation of Brazil.
During his speech, Calviño pointed out that “the motto ‘simplifying the difficulties’ of this edition of South Summit is just what we need today: references and guide routes to look towards the future”.
Along these lines, the vice-president recalled that “our recovery plan is the most ambitious in all of Europe. We hope that this year will be crucial in terms of innovation and development, as Spain is on the way to becoming one of the main markets for startups. We are carrying out a package of reforms that go hand in hand with the largest investment in the history of Spain”. Likewise, he has clarified that “We not only want startups to be created in Spain, but also that they grow and become pioneers and leaders worldwide. This ecosystem is an opportunity for our country.”
In this same opening ceremony, Mariya Gabriel also intervened, who remarked that “startups, investors and companies have to strengthen ties because they are the main assets of innovations. We need you to lead innovation and show that Europe can be the engine of startups”.
In addition, he has pointed out that “In 2021 there was the same level of investment in startups in Europe as in the United States. The innovative ecosystem is maturing and being able to compete before any European or world power. We will only be able to take advantage of our potential if we support innovators in all European regions. This is why we need initiatives like South Summit.”
Regarding the Spanish ecosystem, the European Commissioner pointed out during her speech at the South Summit that “Madrid is considered an innovative force in Europe. In fact, it is one of the top five ecosystems in Europe after Paris, Berlin, Dublin and London.”
Almeida highlights the role of the South Summit
The official welcome of #SouthSummit22 It has also had the intervention of José Luis Martínez-Almeida, Mayor of Madrid, who has defined the meeting as “a bright idea within a very complicated scenario as it was in 2012”. In this sense, Martínez-Almeida has also highlighted “the tools that South Summit provides: innovation, talent and future, to face the future that lies ahead”, in addition to the claim of this year’s meeting, ‘decoding complexity’, “It generates a question for the authorities: what do we have to do so that it is not difficult to create, innovate and learn”.
In his words of welcome to this tenth edition of South Summit, Mary Benjumeafounder of South Summit, recalled that “every new project implies new responsibilities. From South Summit we will continue with initiatives that guarantee the future of the next generations, where sustainability and digitization will be the cornerstone”.
After the official opening, the main stage has hosted a talk between Íker Casillas, captain of the Spanish soccer team between 2006 and 2016 and founder of SportBoost, and Andrew Saborido, director of Wayra. During this conversation, focused on the power of sport to change the world, Casillas highlighted that “technology and innovation bring great advances to sport. For example, in football it provides us with all kinds of measurements such as passes, kilometers, times…”. But he has also recognized the fears that entrepreneurs suffer in their first steps: “I was also afraid to undertake, to start in something unknown, in something you don’t know. For this reason, we created SportBoost to help entrepreneurs and people who do not have the resources and give them the push they need”.
Yesterday morning also featured discussions around the metaverse, a new technology with multiple applications in various sectors. For example, in real estate and construction, as demonstrated by: Hrish Lotlikar, CEO and co-founder of SuperWorld, and Darren Anderson, Asset Management Manager at Ferrovial USA, in the talk ‘The Real Estate & Construction Opportunity in the Metaverse’. In it, both directors have ruled that the idea of buying virtual properties “is already a reality”, and have also insisted on the idea of ”the need for governments to create regulations that legislate and regulate these new realities”.
