South Summit Madrid 2024 brings together 500 speakers, 121 investment funds and 24 unicorns from all over the world
South Summit Madrid 2024, co-organised by IE University, continues to bring together world leaders and experts from the entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystem for its 13th edition, which will be held from June 5 to 7 at La Nave in Madrid under the slogan 'Human by Design'. The main meeting for startups, investors and corporations has announced its content programme in which nearly 500 speakers – 60% of them of international origin – 121 investment funds and 24 unicorns will unravel the keys for innovation and technology to be developed to improve the quality of life of human beings.
The meeting consolidates its global character, with 6 out of 10 international speakers. After Spain, the United Kingdom is the country that will contribute the most speakers to the meeting, with 12.7% of the total, followed by the United States (10%), Germany (6.7%) and France (4.5%).
South Summit 2024 will feature the presence and participation of the founders of 24 unicorns from all over the world, who will explain to the audience their trajectory and the keys to scale a startup and turn it into a successful project. Among them, the names of Uri Levine, co-founder of the mobility unicorns Waze and Moovit; Jeff Hoffman, co-founder of Booking and president of the Global Entrepreneurship Network, or Vincent Rosso, co-founder of BlaBlaCar Spain and Consentio, stand out. The first two will participate in South Summit Madrid 2024 after their successful participation in South Summit Brazil 2024 last March.
After the floods in the city of Porto Alegre and the state of Rio Grande do Sul, home of South Summit Brazil, the content related to sustainability and the environment will gain great importance in this year's edition in Madrid, thanks to the verticals of Climate Tech and Energy Transition. In this sense, María Benjumea, founder and president of South Summit, calls to act as soon as possible since "we are experiencing firsthand the harsh and sad impact of climate change, so it is more urgent than ever to respond to this global crisis that affects us all with the best innovations and technologies that we already have at our disposal through the entrepreneurial and innovative ecosystem".
The 13th edition of South Summit Madrid will host great speakers who are experts in sustainability such as Thomas Kimber, founder and CEO of Karün, a company that produces eyewear from 100% recycled materials and which, for one of its campaigns, developed replicas of Leo Messi's left boot made from garbage collected from the sea. With the aim of raising public awareness about the importance of taking care of the planet, the funds obtained thanks to the sale of the replicas are used to fulfill the environmental actions of the Join The Planet Foundation, of which Kimber is a member of the board of directors and with which they have collaborated in the cleaning of the Paraná River that crosses Rosario, the Argentinian star's hometown.
In addition to Kimber, South Summit Madrid 2024 has confirmed the participation of other renowned experts in the use of innovation to build a healthier ecosystem, such as: Greg Jackson, founder and CEO of Octopus Energy, a British multinational specialised in the construction and management of renewable energy systems with more than 7.7 million customers in 18 countries, or John Elkington, founding partner and executive chairman of Volans, and a global authority on corporate responsibility and sustainable development.
Another of the names highlighted in the 13th edition of South Summit Madrid is that of the Argentinian Mateo Salvatto, a young 24-year-old entrepreneur who, at just 18, founded the startup Asteroid Technologies, whose first product, 'Háblalo', assists more than 400,000 people with communication disabilities around the world, completely free of charge. Salvatto has been recognised as 'Global Entrepreneur of the Year 2023' by the One Young World organisation and, in 2020, his company was named one of the top 100 startups in the world by the Saudi Arabian Global Entrepreneurship Network.
Focusing on sustainability: Agritech & Food, Digital Culture and Trust Tech, new contents
The confirmed speakers for the 13th edition of South Summit Madrid will present their ideas to the public in 11 content verticals: Climate Tech, Fintech, Growth, Health & Science, Innovation & Ecosystem, Smart Infrastructures, Space Tech, Sports Tech, Agritech & Food, Digital Culture and Trust Tech, the latter three newly created.
Agritech & Food will explore the ways in which technology can ensure sustainable processes for food production, distribution and consumption. It will feature the participation of experts such as: Vincent Rosso, co-founder of Consentio, or Rita Kerbaj, co-founder and CCO of Torg, a platform that unites retail and wholesale buyers with more than 100,000 food and beverage producers from all over Europe.
Another of the new content verticals is Digital Culture, in which speakers such as Dan Wagner, CEO and founder of Rezolve AI, will present the conditions to ensure that technology is created and integrated responsibly so that humanity feels connected and safe.
On the other hand, in the Trust Tech vertical, international experts such as Khyati Sundaram, CEO of Applied, or Mateo Bogana, Co-founder and CEO of Cleafy. All these names will join the line-up of speakers led by Marc Randolph, co-founder and first CEO of Netflix, and Steven Bartlett, creator of Europe's most listened podcast.
South Summit 2024 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 BStartup of Banco Sabadell.
