More than 3,000 participants will gather in Seville on September 22 and 23 for the fifth annual Al Andalus Innovation Venture summit.
The event serves as Spain's premier national and international forum for innovation, investment, and business development across all productive sectors. It brings together multinationals, large corporations, investment funds, small and medium enterprises, scaleups, startups, technology centres, research groups, and young entrepreneurs in the Andalusian capital.
Organisers reported four days prior to the opening that registration numbers indicate the summit will exceed all key metrics established during the 2025 gathering.
In 2025, the conference registered over 2,800 attendees, 810 startups, 250 corporate entities, and 192 investors, while coordinating 950 business and investment meetings through the official web application.
The 2026 edition features more than 200 speakers across its main auditoriums, with exhibition space hosting stands for over 145 startups and more than 25 public and private institutions.
Official opening and institutional venue
The official institutional opening takes place on Tuesday, September 22 at 9:35 AM.
Opening speakers include Jorge Paradela, Regional Minister of University, Industry, Energy and Innovation of the Regional Government of Andalusia; Álvaro Pimentel, Delegate for Economy of the Seville City Council; Lembit Uibo, Ambassador of Estonia to Spain; and Diego Vargas, coordinator of Al Andalus Innovation Venture.
All activities are scheduled at the Pabellón de la Navegación inside Seville TechPark, recognised as the leading business and technology park in Spain by revenue and employment numbers.
Estonian innovation and startup ecosystem
Estonia is participating as the official guest country, highlighted for its international reputation in talent development, remote entrepreneurship, and startup financing.
Estonian pupils ranked second globally in educational performance in the latest OECD PISA report, trailing only Japan, owing to early training in advanced technologies.
The Baltic nation also operates the E-Residency initiative, allowing international entrepreneurs to establish and manage companies remotely while benefiting from Estonian tax structures.
With a population of 1.3 million, Estonia holds the highest average startup density per capita in the world, counting more than 1,500 active startups.
The Estonian delegation traveling to Seville includes Ambassador Lembit Uibo and Guillermo Chávez, head of Estonia E-Residency for Spanish and Portuguese speaking markets.
They are joined by Martin Henk, co-founder of sales software company Pipedrive, which achieved unicorn status with a 1 billion dollar valuation; Louis Williams, co-founder of Entre Trámites; and Mario Paladini, founder and chief executive officer of Globals.
Spanish business leadership and market debuts
The conference begins on Tuesday, September 22 with a keynote panel titled Business leadership that catapults companies and investors.
The session features presentations by Spanish corporate leaders Adrián García Aranyos and Alejandro Costa Jiménez.
García Aranyos, former global president of founder support network Endeavor in New York, returned to Spain to lead the relaunch of industrial firm Thune Eureka, which was established by his father in Vilagarcía de Arousa, Pontevedra.
Costa Jiménez, an entrepreneur from Seville, founded his initial computer repair business more than 20 years ago in Bormujos, a municipality in the Seville metropolitan area.
His technology company, Éxxita, achieved a major milestone this week by commencing public trading on the Paris Stock Exchange, offering circular economy solutions across the lifecycle of IT hardware and electronic waste.
Institutional backing and scaleup competition
Public institutions across Spain are sponsoring startup delegations to attend the summit in Seville.
The Madrid City Council sponsored the participation of 10 Madrid startups, while the Aragon Development Institute sponsored regional entrepreneurs.
National agencies ICEX Spain Export and Investments, Enisa, and the Centre for Technological Development and Innovation (CDTI) are participating, alongside regional bodies including the Galician Institute for Economic Promotion (IGAPE) and Why Tenerife from the Canary Islands Government.
On Tuesday afternoon, 24 finalist scaleups, comprising 22 Spanish firms and two Portuguese companies, will pitch to investors and corporate leaders.
The winning company will receive the most investable scaleup award presented by Bolsas y Mercados Españoles (BME), granting three years of access to the BME Scaleups program, valued at 7,800 euros.
Endeavor advisory and executive mentorship
Global entrepreneur network Endeavor is conducting a targeted advisory session during the summit for 15 Spanish scaleups.
Mentors include Sergio Furio, founder and chief executive officer of Brazilian digital lender Creditas, which carries a valuation exceeding 4 billion dollars.
Additional speakers from the Endeavor Spain network include Hugo Arévalo, co-founder and executive chairman of The Power MBA; Yago Arbeloa, president of MIO Group; and Enrique Linares, co-founder of Plus Partners.
Artificial intelligence and European regulations
The conference schedule for Wednesday, September 23 features a dedicated track on agentic artificial intelligence and its operational adoption by businesses.
Industry executives participating in the AI sessions represent WordPress, Bristol Myers Squibb, Aceites del Sur, Sacyr, Acciona, Copyright Clearance Center, and Gonvarri Renewable Industries.
A central debate will address the implementation of the European Union regulation on artificial intelligence and its compliance impact on corporations.
Panelist Vincenzo Cardarelli, legal advisor for AI governance and algorithmic transparency at the European Commission Center in Seville, brings insight from the multidisciplinary team that contributed to the legal and technical foundation of Europe's AI legislation.
Dual-use defense technologies and security
A Tuesday afternoon session covers dual-use technologies and growing national security requirements driven by evolving geopolitical threats.
Corporate defense participants include Santa Bárbara General Dynamics, Oesia, Ghenova, and Devirtus, alongside investment funds Nazca, Anta, BeAble, and Impulse Tech Fund.
Emerging firms Zylon, Surcontrol, Fyla, and Idbotic will participate alongside startups Eonsea, Paratech, Hisperion Aerospace, and OBA Space.
Enrique Ávila, director of the Artificial Intelligence Reference Center at the Joint Cyberspace Command of the Spanish Ministry of Defense, will present expert analysis on civil and military technological integration.
Startup Andalucía Roadshow and Brazilian delegation
On Wednesday, September 23, the summit hosts the final of the Startup Andalucía Roadshow 2026, organised by the Regional Government of Andalusia and the Andalusian Council of Chambers of Commerce.
Twelve finalist startups will deliver three-minute pitches in alphabetical order: Academia Crew Factory, Arkalu Systems, Somos Eldes, Funecon, Glosso, Montevive.AI, Nexo Intelligence, Rmtracker Solutions, Savvy Tech Hotels, Sembla, Tacto, and Vi-Studio.
A jury will select five winners to attend the Valencia Digital Summit in October and the Slush conference in Helsinki, Finland, in November.
The exhibition area features 11 startups from Brazil selected by the regional government of Pernambuco for an internationalisation mission to Andalusia.
Representing Latin America's largest economy, the Brazilian participants include Aicury, Reminera, IAris Tech, Comeia, Arqueatec, Tact Geo, Mint, and Interato Sistemas.
Public and private institutional sponsorship
The growth of Al Andalus Innovation Venture is supported by broad public-private collaboration.
The Junta de Andalucía serves as Main Partner through Andalucía Emprende, Misión Andalucía, and the Digital Agency of Andalusia.
Gold Partners include the Seville City Council, ICEX Spain Export and Investments, and the Aragon Development Institute.
Silver Partners include Cervezas Victoria, Trenlab Renfe, the Government of Estonia, Fundalogy Unicaja, the Government of the Canary Islands, Enisa, CDTI, Madrid Innovation, IGAPE, and Keepintax.
Bronze Partners include Acciona, Santander, Growers, Red.es, and Hélice.app.
Collaborating organisations include WordPress, Bolsas y Mercados Españoles, BBVA, Sabadell Startup, Enagas, Santalucía Impulsa, Endeavor, Garantia, Vector Horizonte, Leyton, Anta, DeVirtus, and Gobo.
