Startup OLÉ returns to the load physically. After the launch of REInA, a project to promote activity in the rural world, and celebrate its third roadshow in Latin America, the start-up event is preparing its seventh edition in face-to-face format, which will be complemented remotely.
As in previous years, the city of Salamanca will be the setting for this meeting, which will take place from September 6 to 10, 2021, with the aim of reuniting the international entrepreneurial ecosystem both in person and online. “The format proposed by Startup OLÉ 2021 enables the entire entrepreneurial ecosystem to participate in person and digitally,” they specify in a note.
Thus, on September 6 and 7, it will offer an online program with activities that include matchmaking, fairs with virtual stands, round tables or pitch competitions, among others. Whenever socio-sanitary conditions allow it, the aforementioned activities will be carried out physically on September 8, 9 and 10, following a sanitary protocol. As in past editions, sessions such as the Investor / Open Innovation Forum, Accelerator Assembly, Public Administrations and Media, University Pavilion or REInA will be included, “focused on providing solutions and answers to the concerns generated by the interconnected, technological and social world ”.
In 2019, Startup OLÉ brought together more than 20,000 attendees from 120 countries, 850 start-ups and 660 speakers, with an investment portfolio of more than 50,000 million euros. In the year of the pandemic, it brought together more than 260 emerging companies, more than 120 participating countries, 50 round tables and 320 one-to-one meetings totally online.
The event has the backing of his Majesty, King Felipe VI, who will once again chair the Startup OLÉ’21 Honor Committee; the President of the Republic of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa; the President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez; and the Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth of the European Commission, Mariya Gabriel, who will participate again in this edition, after also participating in the 2020 edition.
In parallel, the vice-president of the European Commission for Democracy and Demography, Dubravka Šuica; the vice president of the Culture and Education Commission, Victor Negrescu; the president of the Official Credit Institute (ICO), José Carlos García de Quevedo; the CEO of Enisa, José Bayón; the mayor of Salamanca, Carlos Manuel García Carabayo; and the president of the Salamanca Provincial Council, Javier Iglesias, among others.
The Hospedería de Fonseca, the Colegio Arzobispo Fonseca, the R + D + i building of the University of Salamanca, the San Blas auditorium and the San Francisco park are the places where this edition will take place, since they allow “Maximize the celebration of activities in outdoor spaces” and, therefore, guarantee safety.
New technological tools
As a novelty, the organization has developed a comprehensive networking platform, which allows identifying other members according to their verticals and technologies, in addition to the role they play (start-ups, corporations, investors, etc.), as well as requesting meetings to expand contacts and generate synergies. This initiative joins the section of digital stands for sponsors and emerging companies.
Additionally, Startup OLÉ has made available to investment funds and corporations an analysis and filtering tool for start-ups based on verticals, technologies and metrics that will serve to identify and close meetings with those that best suit their needs and demands.
