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Endesa is gearing up to participate, for the sixth year running, in South Summit: the greatest innovation and entrepreneurial event in southern Europe. This year's event will take place between 2 and 4 October at La Nave – a centre for inspiration, education and open innovation, which the Madrid administration hopes will transform its citizens' economic and social futures.
South Summit is organised by Spain Startup and IE University, and will again bring the most groundbreaking startups together with major international investment funds and the most innovative corporations, including Endesa, which is one of the global partners at the event for the sixth year in a row. Last year's event included 3200 entrepreneurs and over 175 investment funds, with a $55 billion investment portfolio between them.
By participating in this event, we at Endesa manifest our continued commitment to our Open Innovation model, which forges connections with entrepreneurs to develop solutions which will revolutionise the energy model. This year, once more, we will have a stall in the "marketplace" area, presenting some of our latest initiatives in innovation and enterprise. The marketplace is a meeting point where all the participants in the event, and all visitors, can come together to hear presentations on initiatives and search out business opportunities.
Startup Competition: Endesa on the Energy & Sustainability judging panel
The three-day event—which will provide a perfect space for the establishment of new startups in Spain, attracting more entrepreneurs to our country and creating an efficient investor network—will
conclude with an awards ceremony. The 100 startup finalists will have the opportunity to present their ideas and be crowned the best in various categories: Healthcare & Biotech; Marketing & Content; Fintech & Insurtech; Travel & Tourism; Consumer Solutions; Cutting Edge Technologies; Digital Business & Government; Energy & Sustainability; Smart Mobility & Logistics; and Education with EnlightED.
Endesa will sit on the judging panel choosing the winning startups in the Energy & Sustainability category.
The 100 finalists have been selected from the 3700+ projects presented for the Startup Competition. 62% of them are international efforts, and 10% belong to the energy and industry sector.
The most important selection criteria included the innovativeness of the project described, its scalability (internal growth capacity), financial viability, the team of professionals behind it, and the level of interest that it is capable of attracting from investors.
The winners will then compete against each other and, on the last day, the ultimate winner of South Summit Madrid 2019 will be crowned, along with awards for the 'Most Innovative' and 'Most Scalable' projects and for the 'Best Team'.
In 2018, the event was won by Amadix: a project involving innovative and non-invasive tests to aid early diagnosis of colon, lung and pancreatic cancer.
Other success stories that have emerged from South Summit include Wallbox, which develops electric vehicle chargers. Wallbox won in 2017, and now has a presence in 19 different countries. Its projected revenue this year is €17 million. Another noteworthy project is the 2016 winner, Spotahome. They have attracted $65 million in funding, and are now present on the ground in 65 countries.