María Benjumea, president and founder of South Summit, and Ainara Basurko, deputy of the Department of Economic Promotion of the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, presided over the inauguration of #SouthSummitIndustryEnergy. Both have recognised the value of the entrepreneurial ecosystem of Bizkaia and the Basque Country, two of Europe's most important technological entrepreneurship hubs.

In his speech, Benjumea stated, "Bizkaia is the epicentre of industry and energy in Spain, as well as a dynamic region where you have to be if you want to do business in these sectors, as we are with South Summit Industry & Energy". In addition, Benjumea stressed that "South Summit is much more than an event, we are the most valuable platform for entrepreneurship, so our goal in Bizkaia is to work side by side with the startups, investors and companies that make up this ecosystem".

Ainara Basurko, for her part, described energy and industry as "strategic sectors for the Basque Country and especially for Bizkaia. In 2022, the energy sector generated 15.7 billion euros. Employability of 26,000 workers, while 25% of our GDP comes from industry." Basurko also thanked South Summit Industry & Energy for its trust in Bizkaia and "putting the energy transition on the table, which not only represents a response to climate change but also a great opportunity to lead a technological and economic revolution". "In Bizkaia, we have taken on this challenge with great determination. We have a solid and well-developed ecosystem of entrepreneurship and innovation to create and implement creative solutions that help us with this goal," said Basurko.

The energy transition, to be debated at South Summit Industry & Energy Bilbao

From 21 to 22 November, the main experts, leaders and representatives of companies and startups in Industry 4.0, Energy Transition and Mobility will meet at South Summit Industry & Energy Bilbao to present the challenges and opportunities that these sectors face for the future, as well as the trends that large companies in these fields are already working on.

One of these experts was Christophe Williams, founder and CEO of Naked Energy, who focused his keynote on this first day on the challenges faced by society and business as a whole to undertake the energy transition worldwide. In this sense, Williams has pointed to heat generation as one of the main focuses where to act. "Most of the planet's energy, specifically 51%, is used to generate heat for showers, taps, heating, home air conditioning and industrial processes. A figure well above the 17% of the demand for lighting and 30% for mobility". In addition, Williams also lamented that "87% of that heat is still generated by burning fossil fuels, making it a highly polluting energy source and responsible for 40% of all global emissions."

Williams' speech was followed by a round table on the transformative potential and challenges of Industry 4.0, Mobility and the Energy Transition, in which the following participated: Sami Abou Saab, founder and CEO of Zigzag Ventures; María del Sol Santana Valencia, deputy secretary of the council of WA4STEAM; Mikel Peral, CEO of NX Technologies, and Begoña Pérez Villareal, director of EIT Food South. All of them agreed that these interconnected sectors are currently driving many advances in innovation and sustainability.

The second panel of the day focused on the opportunities offered by the entrepreneurial ecosystem of Bizkaia and the region's commitment to creating a terrain where startups can thrive. He was joined by Ekain Laka, Project Manager of Beaz Bizkaia; Joseba Villate, CEO of alterity, and María Martínez Gómez, Project Manager of ADSOL, who discussed the importance of cooperation between the different actors in entrepreneurship.

It is worth remembering the powerful entrepreneurial muscle of the Basque Country through its figures: in the Basque Country alone, more than 1,000 startups operate that employ more than 9,000 people, with a survival rate of more than 80% and a valuation of more than 1,500 million euros, according to the 'Global Entrepreneurship Monitor' report. In the case of Bizkaia, the percentage of innovative SMEs stands out in particular, which stands at 43.7% and exceeds the average for the Basque Country as a whole (42.4%) and Spain (32.3%) according to the Competitiveness Diagnosis of the Historical Territory of Bizkaia 2023.

Exchange of ideas with startups and experts

During the course of the first day of #SouthSummitIndustryEnergy, several Building Sessions have also been organized, where the audience has been able to exchange ideas and innovative solutions for the future of these sectors with some of their main references.

In addition, attendees were also able to meet some of the startups leading innovation and transformation in these fields, such as: Active Kinetic 1 (United Kingdom), Clever Solar Devices (Spain), Gaia Charge (Spain), H2Vector Energy Technologies (Spain), Haliogen Power (United Kingdom), HOFITECH (Slovakia), IPC Energy (United Kingdom), Jedsy (Switzerland), Moova (Argentina), Particular Materials (Italy), Pigro (Italy), RESONIKS (Netherlands), Solar Bot (Brazil), Structure Pal (Israel), Tumi Robotics (Peru), Volvero (Italy), Wattson Smart Charging (Spain) and Windcredible (Portugal).

Today will close with a visit to the most cutting-edge technological and industrial hubs in Bilbao and the Campos Elíseos Theatre, with the aim of allowing attendees to continue networking and generating real business opportunities.

The third edition of South Summit Industry & Energy will end tomorrow, Friday, November 22, with an agenda that highlights the round table 'Unlocking Quantum Potential for Energy Transition Through Open Innovation'. Focused on the vital role of collaboration in driving significant changes and developing solutions in entrepreneurial ecosystems, it will be attended by: Marisol Menéndez, CEO of Bilakatu; Carlos Kuchkovksy, CEO of QCentroid; Nerea Martiartu, CEO of Lantik, and Roberto Gómez, Open Innovation at Moeve.

Liz Fleming, Director of Ecosystem at South Summit; María Benjumea, president and founder of South Summit, and Joseba Mariezkurrena, general director of Entrepreneurship, Talent and Business Competitiveness of the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, will be in charge of closing the event.

About South Summit

South Summit is the global platform that brings together all the actors in the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem to promote the development of business opportunities among all of them. Its main event is South Summit Madrid, co-organized by IE University, which has been attended by more than 42,500 startups over the course of its thirteen previous editions,  while its Startup Competition, from which 7 unicorns have been born, has resulted  in more than 1,000 finalist startups, with a survival rate of 90% and 16,200 million dollars in investment raised.

The 13th edition of South Summit Madrid brought together more than 18,000 attendees from 133 countries between June 5 and 7 of this year, including more than 6,500 entrepreneurs, more than 2,000 investors with an investment portfolio of more than 500,000 million dollars -174,000 million more than last year-,  and more than 6,000 representatives of corporations from around the world, in addition to 26 unicorns of great international renown.

On the other hand, the 14th edition of South Summit Madrid will be held between June 4 and 6, 2025 at La Nave. The deadline to register for the Startup Competition is open until January 31, 2025.

After passing through Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Chile and Argentina, South Summit held its third edition in Brazil, also co-organized by IE University, last March of this year. This latest edition brought together more than 23,500 attendees from 55 different countries, including more than 3,000 startups and 900 investment funds, ready to support the best innovative ideas from around the world thanks to a portfolio of 213,000 million dollars. South Summit Brazil is already preparing its fourth edition, which will be between April 9 and 11, 2025.