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In 2012, in the midst of the economic crisis, was born South Summit with the aim of opening the doors to innovation and putting Spain on the world map of entrepreneurship. Now, ten years later, it has become one of the most important events of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Southern Europe.
Like every year, South Summit has returned with force to connect entrepreneurs, investors and companies. Its tenth edition was held from June 8 to 10 at La Nave (Madrid) and welcomed a multitude of key agents from the entrepreneurial ecosystem such as Wayra, BBVA, Mutua Madrileña, AstraZeneca, Endesa, Google for Startups and Sabadell BStartups.
This year, the motto has been “Decoding Complexity”, referring to the fact that we live in an increasingly complex and interconnected world, which is why it is necessary to go back to the roots of human relationships.
Passion for sports, education and the metaverse
During the event, Telephone Y wayra they had a wide representation in panels of different themes. On June 8, it started strong with a panel led by Íker Casillas (Founding Partner SportBoost) and Andrés Saborido (Global Managing Director Wayra). Thanks to this panel, we were able to learn more about the new facet of Íker Casillas as an investor in sport tech startups and the motivations that have led him to this point.
During the talk, we were also able to pick up some interesting headlines about the SportBoost and Wayra as, currently, they are analyzing more than 120 startups in search of joint investment opportunities. On the other hand, Saborido also underlined the importance of this agreement for Wayra: “It was the best way to verticalize ourselves and enter the world of sport hand in hand with the best”.
But our morning did not end with this intervention, Jose Maria Alvarez Pallete (Chief Executive Officer of Telefónica) together with María Benjumea (president and Founder of South Summit), warned of the risks of inequality that the profound technological changes we are experiencing can entail, since many people do not have access to the opportunities that the world offers digital. Also, stressed that we are facing an unprecedented revolution and that the metaverse is going to be one of the most profound changes the internet has ever experienced.
The metaverse has been one of the common points in many of the round tables of this tenth edition. In fact, Chema Alonso (Chief Digital Officer Telefónica) in his keynote “Trick or Token” spoke about the bases for the construction of the metaversethe importance of tokenomics and how Web 3 is revolutionizing economics.
The future of innovation
The first panel that opened our participation on June 9 was “Institutions and Social Impact” with Paloma Castellano (Director of Wayra Madrid) where different corporations evaluated the social impact of their companies. From Paloma’s point of view: “Telefónica is a company focused on people. At Wayra we have always wanted to follow that line and I think we have managed to create an impact by encouraging people’s ideas. The companies in which we have invested have generated more than 10,000 jobs”. Another of the panels in which Paloma Castellano was immersed was “Bringing Web 3 Down to Earth”.
Irene Gómez (Open Innovation Director) also participated in two panels. One of them focused on Open Innovation where she spoke about the different strategies that corporations can implement in this field. On the other hand, she also participated in “Madrid, the future of gaming”, a debate dedicated to Madrid’s leadership in the gaming vertical and the possible applications of the metaverse. At this point, Irene Gómez stressed that “networking is essential for the metaverse to develop, and for this we will need more efficient communication skills. But Madrid has brutal coverage for it, we just need to use networking more efficiently”.
That same day, we were able to enjoy Marta Antúnez (Director of Wayra Barcelona) moderating the “Incredible Healthcare woman by woman” and Luisa Rubio (Head of Wayra X) in “International Mentoring & Innovation Networks”.
On the other hand, on June 10, Guenia Gawendo (Telefónica Ventures Managing Director) closed our participation in the South Summit panels with ‘LP FORUM: Investment Strategies’.
The startups at the Wayra stand
The South Summit is always a good showcase for entrepreneurs to show their projects. For this reason, some of the Wayra startups had the opportunity to have a place at the stand to present their solutions to the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Specifically, 9 startups were selected: Wiper Gaming (Wayra Builder), Kubbo (Wayra Barcelona), Exxita (Wayra Madrid), Redsift (Wayra UK), Wise (Wayra Hispam), Bonfire (Wayra UK), Climate Trade (Wayra Barcelona) , V Vision (Púlsar By Roche) and Fraud.com (Wayra UK).
The Wayra stand was visited by investors, entrepreneurs and important representatives of institutions such as the ministers Reyes Maroto and Nadia Calviño, the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, and the mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez Almeida. And, of course, that of the president of Telefónica, José María Álvarez Pallete.
Payflow, winner of the Startup Competition
Payflow, winner of the Startup Competition
To end this South Summit with a flourish, at the closing ceremony we learned that Payflow, one of the startups invested by Wayra, had become the winner of the Startup Competition. 100 finalist startups were chosen from more than 3,000 participants and had to pitch in front of a jury of experts who decided the winner.
The president of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, presented the award to Avinash Sukhwanico founder of Payflow, and finally closed the event with a closing speech where he stated that South Summit “has established itself as an unavoidable event in the Spanish ecosystem”.
