What’s quickly become the ‘go-to startup conference in Spain’, VDS will be held in the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia under the theme “Embracing evolution: Invest in the leaders of tomorrow”.
This week the organization, in the run-up to the 7th edition of its conference this October 23-24, announced its agenda, with speakers and leaders at the forum including:
- Steve Chen, Co-Founder and Former CTO of YouTube
- María José Català, Mayor of Valencia
- Ruth Merino, Regional Minister of Finance of the Generalitat Valenciana
- Hortensia Roig, President of EDEM Escuela de Empresarios
- Nacho Mas, CEO of Startup Valenci
- Randi Zuckerberg, Facebook Live Creator and Founder and CEO of Zuckerberg Media and HUG
- Juan Antonio Samaranch, Vice President of the International Olympic Committee
- Constantijn van Oranje, Prince of the Netherlands and Special Envoy at Techleap
- Diana Morant, Spain’s Minister of Science, Innovation, and Universities
The international tech event, organized by Startup Valencia, will gather thousands of leaders over two days to discuss the impact of the innovation and tech ecosystem on society, with a focus on AI, sustainability, health, the future of work, the role of women in technology, and the next generation in audiovisuals.
VDS’s annual event brings together many of the world’s cutting-edge startups, on top of some of the world’s largest and most influential companies and investors. The conference is hosted by Startup Valencia, the region’s most important startup ecosystem builder. With more than 350 startups generating more than $300 million in annual, it’s difficult to put into words the importance of the organization to Spain.
Here are 3 reasons we rate this conference as must-attend.
Can’t Miss International Speakers
Speakers at this year’s VDS include AI leaders, among top dignitaries in the industry.
Tom Mason, CTO of UnlikelyAI and one of the globe’s leading figures in AI, will speak to attendees, in addition to Thomas Holl (co-founder of Babbel) and Dr. Amr Awadallah (CEO and co-founder of Vectara).
Babbel is well regarded as a tech unicorn in the industry, while Awadallah is famous for having founded Cloudera, on top of a host of other ventures.
Alessandra Sala, Senior Director of AI and Data Science at Shutterstock; Tony Beltramelly, founder of Uizard; and Dileep Thazhmon, Founder and CEO of Jeeves, will also share their insights on the future of the industry.
Additional speakers include Eliott Wertheimer, co-CEO of VanMoof; Kaspar Korjus, co-founder of Pactum AI; Ludmila Jordanova, co-founder and CEO of Plan A; Margarida Garcia, VP of Operations at Poolside; Yannis Daubis, VP for Southern Europe, Middle East, and Africa at Databricks; Alexander Weltzsch, CEO and co-founder of Dealcode; Alex Housley, Founder and CPTO at Seldon; Sebastian Schuon, co-founder of Alasco; Baptiste Pannier, CTO of Adaptive ML; Daniela Espinosa, Co-Founder and COO, now Chief Risk Officer at Kushki; and Miguel Santos, founder of Technisys.
Half-a-Dozen + 1 Stages
The discussions with the above speakers and more will take place across seven stages: the Santander Stage, sponsored by Banco Santander as the Diamond Sponsor; the Green Stage, promoted by the Valencia City Council as part of the city’s European Green Capital status for 2024; the Audiovisual Stage, supported by the Generalitat Valenciana, Ciudad de la Luz, and the Valencian Community Film Commission; the Pitch Stage, where startups will have the opportunity to present their projects to investors and major corporations; the Main Stage, where the opening ceremony, debates with international leaders, and the closing ceremony with the VDS Startup Competition awards will take place; the Discovery Stage, addressing key topics such as the Valencia Port Foundation forum; and the Workshop Room, hosting workshops by major corporations like Amazon and Google.
Big Partner Backing
VDS is being supported by a host of partners, including the University of Valencia and the Polytechnic University of Valencia back the event.
Furthermore, entities actively collaborating include the Miguel Hernández University Science Park; Ciudad de la Luz; the Valencian Community Film Commission; the Valencian Institute of Finance; the Diputación de Valencia; the Valencia City Council; Valencia Innovation Capital; the European Green Capital; the City of Arts and Sciences; the Generalitat Valenciana; NextGenerationEU European funds; the Ministry of Industry and Tourism; the Ministry of Science and Innovation; the Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan; the School of Industrial Organization; and ICEX (Spain Export and Investment).
