The Spanish startup Lain Tech, from the Madrid town of Pozuelo de Alarcón, has emerged as the big winner of ‘#SouthSummit25’. This project, which yesterday also won the Industry 5.0 vertical, is revolutionising the mining sector with the development of the E-LIX hydrometallurgical process, an innovative leaching method that allows complex metals, such as copper and zinc, to be recovered directly in the deposit itself through a totally sustainable electrochemical process. Thanks to the exclusive use of electrical energy and a 94% reduction in the carbon footprint, Lain Tech's technology  not only reduces operating costs compared to other methods, but has also managed to rehabilitate previously unviable deposits and extend the useful life of mines by 700%.

On the closing day, four more awards were also presented: the American Bankuish, based in Miami, was recognised as the 'Most Disruptive'; the Chilean Hera Materials received the award for the 'Most Sustainable', and the Catalan companies NeuralTrust and Remuner were awarded as the 'Most Scalable' and the startup with the 'Best Team',  respectively.

The president and founder of South Summit, María Benjumea, wanted to praise all the participating startups on the last day of the meeting with these words: "The 100 finalists are champions. We have seen impressive projects these days, you are in charge of revolutionising the world. You are not the future, you are the now."

"This edition of South Summit has brought together thousands of startups, investors, and entrepreneurship experts in an unstoppable movement of talent, ideas, business models, and investment opportunities at a global level. More than ever, the world needs the courage of entrepreneurs and innovators who respond to the new challenges we face. We will continue to promote entrepreneurship in the next editions of South Summit in Madrid, Brazil, and Korea and generate spaces where we can access more funding for entrepreneurship. All this in an environment where AI is transforming the entrepreneurial ecosystem," said Juan José Güemes, Vice President of IE University

During the closing of #SouthSummit25 the prize of the South Summit Kids Competition was also presented, organised together with Genyus School, the pioneering company and methodology in entrepreneurial education for children and young people and whose objective is to encourage the entrepreneurial spirit from an early age and value the innovative talent of projects developed by children and educational centres. The award went to the Alcaste – Las Fuentes school in Logroño (La Rioja) for its Smart Cart project, a smart cart that improves the supermarket experience. Equipped with a tablet and an app, it allows you to scan products, display useful information (allergens, price, calories, expiration), organise purchases, control the budget, and reserve items, thus promoting healthier, more efficient and connected shopping.

In addition to Lain Tech in Industry 5.0, it should be remembered that yesterday the winning startups by verticals of this 14th edition of the meeting were announced. Thus, from Barcelona, NeuralTrust emerged as the winner in Trust Tech & Data; Remuner, also from Barcelona, was recognised in Future of Work & Talent, and Trialing Health, also from Barcelona, won in the Health vertical. In Climate Tech & Sustainability, Chile's Hera Materials emerged as the winner, while Madrid-based Hoop Carpool triumphed in Mobility & Smart Cities. Another Madrid-based company, Kuikads, won in the Digital & Tech Solutions vertical, while in Consumer, Portugal's Manie won, and the US-based Sharpei, based in San Francisco, won in Enterprise. Finally, the American Bankuish was the winner of the Fintech & Insurtech vertical.

Leading in times of uncertainty: purpose, adaptation, and vision

The closing of South Summit Madrid 2025 featured an inspiring conversation between Ed so Hoo, CTO of Lenovo, and Nacho Mateo, CEO of South Summit, focused on how to lead in a changing and increasingly demanding environment. For Lenovo's CTO "normal is over. We live in an era of constant transformation marked by geopolitics, sustainability, Artificial Intelligence and the redefinition of leadership. Every day you have to climb a mountain and be able to know how you are going to do it," highlighting the need to align strategy and tactics to face current challenges.

In this new paradigm, details are more important than ever. "A leader has to build new leaders. The traditional way of leading, that of doing it from the top, no longer works. The leader is the one who is last, pushing everyone else," so Hoo said. For his part, Nacho Mateo focused on the personal challenge of leadership in times of high speed, assuring that, "we live in a world that is going faster and faster and we all feel that we must constantly adapt. The question is, how do you do it, not only as a professional, but as a leader? The most important thing for a leader is always to maintain trust in his team."

Also within the framework of this last day, Enrico Letta, former Prime Minister of Italy and current Dean of IE School of Politics, Economics and Global Affairs at IE University, moderated a conversation with Simon Schaefer, founder and CEO of The Factory, and Rupert Schaefer, General Partner of 10x Founders, in which he sent a clear message to the European entrepreneurial community:  "A common pattern in the European entrepreneur is to have a great idea, start developing it and then go to the land of dreams, which is the United States. What we have to achieve is that you want to stay, because here we have the possibilities to be in the race with the USA. We have the talent and the ideas to make the leap from startup to large company from here."

Knowledge, co-creation and leadership, keys to driving innovation

Another of the highlights of the closing day was the session 'From Deep Tech Innovation to Scale Up', which was attended by Teresa Riesgo, Secretary General of Innovation of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities; Manuel Escolano, Director of Open Innovation at Ferrovial; Esperanza Torralva, Director of Innovation at Moeves, and Natalia Álvarez, Head of Innovation at Repsol. During the meeting, public and private initiatives to promote technology transfer were presented, from funds such as Invest to open innovation projects or corporate investments in deep tech and sustainability.

All the participants in this session agreed that innovation only scales when there is real and sustained collaboration between administration, companies and knowledge centres. They also wanted to underline the importance of aligning technological developments with industrial and social needs, and of committing to co-creation models that integrate all actors from early stages. The need to reduce regulatory barriers, share risks between sectors and promote entrepreneurial talent from the university to the productive fabric has also been a point of agreement between them, while the combination of smart financing, shared vision, and coordinated leadership has been presented as the way to turn knowledge into economic and social impact.

Madrid consolidates its position as an entrepreneurship hub in Europe

This 14th edition of South Summit Madrid, which was attended by more than 600 top-level speakers, 150 investors from all over the world and 19 unicorns, consolidates Madrid as Europe's leading benchmark in entrepreneurship and innovation. This has been stressed  by Ángel Niño, councillor delegate for Innovation and Entrepreneurship of the Madrid City Council, assuring that "from the City Council we want to highlight the sandbox, the largest in Europe. We are pioneers in having such a large testing area that positions Madrid as a benchmark in attracting talent. We are looking for entrepreneurs to come to Madrid and stay."

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