María Benjumea, Founder and President of South Summit, opened the session held in the British capital saying, "It is important to be here in London, hand in hand with IE University, and connect the UK entrepreneurial ecosystem, the most important in Europe and the third largest in the world, with the Spanish ecosystem, which in recent years has become one of the most important in Europe. In this context, and as an essential part of South Summit, we believe that the collaboration of scaleups, investors, unicorns, corporations, and all the actors involved in the ecosystem is essential to generate real investment and business opportunities that make the entrepreneurial and innovative ecosystem grow.”

Later, Juan José Güemes, Vice President Finance at IE University and President of the IE Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, added, "IE University is an institution founded by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship is part of our identity. That is why we are proud to promote this ScaleUp Series with South Summit with the aim of consolidating the European entrepreneurial ecosystem and learning from the experience of unicorns, scaleups, startups, and investment funds that make a difference internationally.”

After the success of Munich and London, South Summit and IE University will take their 'Scaleup Series' to other major European cities: on March 5th they will arrive in Paris and will continue the European tour on April 11th in Milan, ending on April 18th in Lisbon.

About South Summit

South Summit is the global platform that brings together all the key players in the innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem to promote the development of business opportunities among them. Its main event is South Summit Madrid, co-organised by IE University, which has hosted more than 36,000 startups over the course of its eleven editions. Its Startup Competition, which has produced 7 unicorns, has generated more than 1,000 startup finalists with a survival rate of 90% and more than 14.9 billion dollars in investments raised.  

South Summit Madrid is preparing its 12th annual edition, after achieving record results in 2023. The South Summit will convene over 2,000 investors with a combined portfolio exceeding $326 billion. Additionally, it has attracted applications from over 4,500 startups for the competition, with 80% originating from outside Spain.  South Summit Madrid will be held between June 5th and 7th, 2024 under the slogan "Human by Design" and will have, among others, the participation of Steven Bartlett, creator of the most listened podcast in Europe. 

Additionally, following its successful events in Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Chile, and Argentina, South Summit will host its third edition in Brazil, co-organised by IE University. South Summit Brazil will take place between March 20th and 22nd this year, building upon the previous two successful editions. Last year's edition attracted over 22,000 attendees, 3,000 entrepreneurs, 900 speakers, and more than 100 investment funds (30 of which were international). Moreover, it welcomed 600 investors with a combined portfolio valued at $123 billion and $19 billion earmarked for investment in the Latin American entrepreneurial ecosystem. 

In this year's edition, under the slogan "Decoding Complexity", South Summit Brazil expects to bring together more than 140 funds and 1,000 international investors, along with top-level speakers such as Uri Levine, Co-Founder of Waze and Moovit; Paula Ganem, Regional Head of Capital Markets for Canada and Latin America at the New York Stock Exchange; Guibert Englebienne Co-Founder and President of Globant X; and Luana Ozemela, Vice President of Social Impact at iFood.