Five Andalusian Startups Shine at the 'Startup Andalucía Roadshow' Driving Regional Innovation

Granada has been the setting for the closing of the fourth edition of the 'Startup Andalusia Roadshow', a joint program of the Department of University, Research and Innovation and the Andalusian Council of Chambers of CommerceThe event, held within the framework of the Alhambra Venture, culminated with the presentation of awards to the five winning startups by Jose Carlos Gomez Villamandos, Councilor for University, Research and Innovation, and Javier Sánchez Rojas, President of the Chambers.

The 'Startup Andalucía Roadshow' has established itself as a key platform for identifying and promoting emerging technology companies in the region. Its main objective is to facilitate the development and scaling of these initiatives through specialized training and mentoring, as well as connecting entrepreneurs with potential investors y Sources of funding. In addition, the program seeks to promote the culture of Capabilities among Andalusian startups, strengthening the innovative ecosystem and helping emerging companies adopt business models that allow them to acquire competitive advantages and attract talent to the autonomous community.

Councillor Gómez Villamandos emphasized the importance of this type of initiative: “The value and potential of the participants are remarkable, and it is gratifying to see how the 'Startup Andalucía Roadshow' crystallizes into developed and established business ideas.". He added that "From the Board we are convinced that the recipe that works is to encourage entrepreneurship and support the concern and vocation of Andalusian entrepreneurs.”. The head of the University reiterated his department's commitment to continue collaborating with the agents of the Andalusian knowledge system to “Continue exploring avenues and opportunities that allow us to grow and improve the business competitiveness of our land.”. In this sense, he highlighted that the promotion of innovative and technology-based entrepreneurship is a “strategic line of this Government".

In the financial field, Gómez Villamandos announced the call for 2025 of three lines of incentives worth 2,2 million eurosThese funds will be used to strengthen the incubation and acceleration of innovative technology SMEs, support new business initiatives, and foster open innovation collaboration between startups and the business community. These funds will be added to another 2,5 million euros managed by TRADE, dependent on the Ministry of Economy, Finance and European Funds, aimed at innovative entrepreneurship in SMEs. Likewise, the University Department, through 'InnovAndalucía', will make available to the entrepreneurial ecosystem subsidies worth 11,4 million euros for business innovation projects. In addition to financial support, the Regional Government will collaborate with the Seville City Council and CATEC to create a European Space Agency incubator for startups in the sector.

For its part, Javier Sánchez Rojas, president of the Chambers, highlighted the “Growth and consolidation of this initiative, which becomes a launching pad and a privileged showcase for our entrepreneurs to make their dreams come true.”. He thanked the counselor for his “bet and commitment"with this collaborative project that he described as"An example of synergy and alliance, of combining efforts and resources that contributes to boosting our innovative and technological ecosystem.Sánchez Rojas also highlighted the chamber's commitment to advancing the digitalization and innovation of the Andalusian business community, especially SMEs, through the various programs they manage.

Twelve High-Level Finalist Projects In this edition, twelve innovative projects reached the final round, all receiving advice and mentoring to establish themselves as solvent initiatives capable of attracting investment and competing in international markets. The five winners were selected through a pitch or brief presentation before a jury composed of prominent figures from the entrepreneurial ecosystem, including Macarena González, founder of Axon Partners, and Joe Haslam, executive director of the Owners Scaleup Program, along with Javier González, general director of Entrepreneurship Promotion and Continuing Education of the Regional Government, and Mercedes León, managing director of the Andalusian Council of Chambers of Commerce.

The evaluation criteria considered the business model, its Scalability, the revenue forecast, the financing strategy, geographical deployment and company valuation in the market, which represented 80% of the score. The remaining 20% was allocated to the quality of the presentation, assessing the conviction, clarity and coherence of the speech.

The Five Winning Startups The award-winning startups come from different Andalusian provinces (Almería, Córdoba, Granada, Málaga, and Seville) and offer scalable and validated technological solutions in various fields:

Easychatbot (Málaga): Specialized in collection campaigns through Artificial Intelligence globally
Flamingo Biomechanical Lab (Córdoba): Offers services of personalized surgery and diagnosis through 3D recreation of organs for surgical practices, reducing operating room time.
Keplerkoord (Almería): A startup dedicated to space sector.
Minifunkids (Seville): Use the virtual reality to support children with special educational needs, including neurodiversity and functional diversity.
Veiko (Granada): Developed a used vehicle auction app that connects dealers and buyers.

These five startups will have access to high-impact business training and the opportunity to participate in important national and international events related to entrepreneurship, such as the WebSummit (Lisbon), VDS+ (Valencia), Al-Andalus Innovation Venture (Seville) or Alhambra Venture (Granada).