During this meeting, organised by South Summit and the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, the challenges and opportunities these sectors face for the future were discussed, as well as the role of Bizkaia's entrepreneurial ecosystem in achieving these goals.

In this regard, María Benjumea, president and founder of South Summit, has valued Bizkaia as "an energetic territory, where innovations in industry and energy happen and where, together with the Provincial Council, we have built an incredible entrepreneurial ecosystem". Benjumea also highlighted how "during this edition the connections to do business have multiplied, with a growth of 52.72%", and, looking ahead to 2025, he reiterated that globally "we must move forward and continue working together with all the actors in the entrepreneurial ecosystem to revitalise it and make it grow".

With a significant international participation of 25%, especially representatives of foreign startups and corporations, #SouthSummitIndustryEnergy has once again put the Basque Country and Bizkaia in the spotlight of innovation in the industry and energy sectors over the last two days. This was celebrated by Joseba Mariezkurrena, General Director of Entrepreneurship, Talent and Business Competitiveness of the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, who described South Summit as "one of the best platforms to give us global visibility, attract investors and make them know us. I am convinced that many of them will be here in the future."

During his speech, Mariezkurrena also recalled the power of the industrial and energy sector in Bizkaia through its figures, as well as that of its entrepreneurial ecosystem. "Almost 25% of our GDP comes from the industrial sector, and we have leading companies in energy mobility, in the steel sector, in advanced optics and in industry 4.0." "In addition, we are the most innovative region in Spain, 10 points above the European average, surpassing countries such as France, according to the latest Regional Innovation Scoreboard", said Mariezkurrena, who also valued "Bizkaia's commitment to entrepreneurship, as in the last 30 years we have developed various tools to support our entrepreneurs throughout their journey".

Open innovation and energy transition, key in #SouthSummitIndustryEnergy

The second day of South Summit Industry & Energy was attended by Anton Arts, Managing Partner of SET Ventures, who outlined in his keynote the main steps that must be taken by the energy sector to achieve a full energy transition: "not to focus on creating new technologies, but to scale the energy technology we already have available and bring it to the market through business models and the right applications."

 Arts reminded the audience that "75% of global emissions are directly or indirectly related to energy generation", but also celebrated the continued advancement and reception of green energy among society and companies. "20 years ago renewables weren't even on the radar, but today they compete with fossil fuels."

Another of the most eagerly awaited moments of this last day was the round table on the potential of open innovation to achieve the energy transition objectives, moderated by Marisol Menéndez, CEO of Bilakatu, and in which  Carlos Kuchkovsky, CEO of QuCentroid, Nerea Martiartu, managing director of Bizkaia Lantik, and Roberto Gómez participated, Open Innovation by Moeve. All of them agreed on the importance of "collaboration between different actors such as startups, corporations, academic and financial institutions to advance in open innovation and solve complex problems such as those in the energy sector and move towards sustainable solutions". In addition, they have also insisted on "the creation of collaborative ecosystems to promote economic growth and the emergence of new business opportunities".

During the closing of #SouthSummitIndustryEnergy, attendees also participated in several building sessions, where they were able to exchange ideas, talk, and generate connections with some of the speakers and leaders who participated during these two days in the meeting.