The report prepared by PwC also highlights the global nature of the meeting, which in its next edition will bring together 51% of attendees from outside Madrid, and its muscle when it comes to generating employment. Thus, #SouthSummit24 is expected to generate 37% more employment than in the previous edition, reaching 3,011 jobs, of which 55% will be created thanks to the arrival of attendees from outside Madrid.

"South Summit has always been 'the most valuable global network'. And there we have the results. We have a community that exceeds 36,000 startups from 184 different countries. This year's competition has surpassed 4,700 applications. The nearly 1,000 finalists in all editions of the Startup Competition have generated almost $12 billion in investment, 102 exits, and have an 88% survival rate." added María Benjumea.

For his part, Diego del Alcázar Benjumea, CEO of IE University, said that “"Entrepreneurship is key for our institution. We are a university created by entrepreneurs and for entrepreneurs. And as strategic allies of South Summit, we have supported this project since its inception and accompanied it in its growth and expansion in Europe and Latin America. And always from our commitment to innovation, sustainability, and humanities".

As a great novelty in the 13th edition, South Summit will bring to the streets of Madrid all the innovation and novelties that the entrepreneurial ecosystem can offer with the Innovation Festival, which will be held from June 1st to 5th in Plaza de España.

 The presentation ceremony was also attended by the Mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, who emphasized during the inauguration "A capacity for innovation that is especially in line with the spirit of Madrid, one of the main capitals of the world with a great capacity to retain talent and attract those who have a dream and a professional and personal project".

South Summit Madrid a Major Economic and Employment Impact for the Capital

Rocío Albert López-Ibor, Minister of Economy, Finance and Employment of the Community of Madrid, stressed that "as the South Summit motto, HUMAN by Design, says, technology must be at the service of people and we should not be afraid. We must be prepared. In the Community of Madrid, we are convinced that people must be at the centre of these innovations, receiving talent and encouraging the attraction and generation of ideas".

Finally, Mayte Ledo, Secretary of State for Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence, wanted to highlight that "Spain is a country full of ideas, in which public-private collaboration must be an essential element". In addition, we need to attract venture capital to Spain, which is essential for the early stages of startups." Ledo also stated that "Spain is one of the pioneering countries in the social debate on AI thanks to the creation of the Spanish Agency for the Supervision of Artificial Intelligence. We must remember that we are facing a technological revolution led by AI, which is moving faster than we expected and which has both benefits and uncertainties."

South Summit Madrid: Guaranteed Growth for Startups and the Ecosystem

The figures from the study 'Socioeconomic impact of South Summit in Spain 2024' not only certify the positive impact that the entrepreneurial meeting has on the capital and the Community of Madrid, but also on the hundreds of startups that participate each year in the Startup Competition to be crowned the most innovative project in the world. The 971 finalist startups that have passed through South Summit Madrid since 2012 have raised €11,895 million in investment. It should be noted that 70% of this total investment corresponds to Spanish projects, with €8,338 million, of which around half, €4,191 million, are of Madrid origin.

 The report prepared by PwC also reveals that, only in the 2023 edition, the investment raised by the Spanish startups finalists of South Summit was €597 million, which meant an increase in economic activity in Spain of €1,044 million.

The Spanish Entrepreneurial Ecosystem is Revalued

During the presentation of South Summit Madrid 2024, Alberto Tornero and Jordi Esteve, partners at PwC Spain, highlighted "how, in a context of global slowdown, the value of the entrepreneurial ecosystem – which is the result of the sum of the valuations of all startups – has maintained a positive path thanks to expectations of lower interest rates,  the increase in the number of startups and the value of unicorns, and technological advancements."

This resilience is clearly seen in the Spanish entrepreneurial ecosystem, which benefited from the implementation of the 'Startup Law' at the end of 2022, which has contributed to boosting economic and entrepreneurial activity in Spain. For this reason, the value of the Spanish entrepreneurial ecosystem grew by almost 5%, from $93.6 billion in 2022 to $98.2 billion in 2023.

The Spanish entrepreneurial fabric was also strengthened in 2023 with the creation of new startups. Specifically, at the end of last year, there were a total of 12,354 startups, 3% more than in 2022. There was also an increase in the number of incubators (118) and accelerators (221), which grew by 8% and 1% respectively.

Madrid Consolidates its Position as One of the Main European hubs

At the national level, Madrid and Barcelona remain as the entrepreneurial ecosystems of reference, although Bilbao, Malaga and Valencia are gaining more and more relevance. Madrid hosts 41% of the investors, 33% of the total investment of the national ecosystem and 31% of the startups, while Barcelona accumulates 34% of the investors, 39% of the investment and 23% of the startups.

At the European level, the consolidation of Madrid as one of the main hubs stands out. In fact, the capital has a strong entrepreneurial ecosystem made up of 2,645 startups that created 48,000 jobs in 2023, 30% more than the previous year, and raised 775 million euros in 128 operations. In addition, Madrid ranks third in Europe in terms of the number of startup accelerators and fifth in terms of attracting investment.

South Summit Madrid 2024

#SouthSummit24 will have the institutional support of the Secretary of State for Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence, the Community of Madrid and the Madrid City Council, as well as Mutua Madrileña, Google for Startups, BBVA Spark, Endesa, Wayra – Telefónica Innovation and Banco Sabadell's BStartup.

 The content of the 13th edition of this global meeting will be divided into eleven verticals: Fintech, Health & Science, Agritech & Food, Smart Infrastructures, Spacetech, Climate Tech, Digital Culture, Innovation & Ecosystem, Trust Tech, Sports Tech and Growth.

South Summit Madrid 2024 will also feature twenty unicorns such as BlaBlaCar, Clikalia, Globant and SandboxAQ, as well as international speakers such as Marc Randolph, co-founder and first CEO of Netflix; Steven Bartlett, creator of Europe's most listened to podcast, and Jeff Hoffman, co-founder of Booking.