Unicorns and major speakers from accross the globe will be the protagonists at South Summit Madrid 2024

South Summit Madrid 2024, co-organized with IE University, will be held at La Nave in Madrid from June 5th to 7th under the slogan 'HUMAN by Design' and will generate an economic impact of almost €35 million, which would imply a growth of 25% over last year's edition and an average expenditure of €1,572 per visitor. This is one of the main conclusions of the report 'Socioeconomic Impact of South Summit in Spain 2024' prepared by PwC, which was released today during the official presentation of South Summit Madrid 2024.

The report developed by PwC also highlights the global nature of the meeting, which in its next edition will bring together 51% of attendees from outside Madrid, and its muscle when it comes to generating employment. Thus, #SouthSummit24 is expected to generate 37% more employment than in the previous edition, reaching 3,011 jobs, of which 55% will be created thanks to the arrival of attendees from outside Madrid.

South Summit, the main event for the global entrepreneurial ecosystem, once again demonstrates that innovation has no borders. South Summit run recently the third edition of South Summit Brazil, which has established itself as the main driver of the entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystem in Latin America in Porto Alegre, South Summit brought together more than 23,500 attendees from 55 different countries, including 3,000 startups and more than 900 investors with a portfolio of $213 billion.

Innovation has no borders

“The success of South Summit in Brazil, together with our Scaleup Series Europe- thanks to which we have brought together in recent months the leading startups and investors in Munich, London, Paris, Milan and Lisbon- reaffirms our conviction that innovation has no borders and that South Summit is the best platform for the most cutting-edge ideas and opportunities to converge, regardless of their origin,” said María Benjumea. 

Diego del Alcázar Benjumea, CEO of IE University, said that “Entrepreneurship is key for our institution. We are a university created by entrepreneurs and for entrepreneurs. And as strategic allies of South Summit, we have supported this project since its inception and accompanied it in its growth and expansion.”

“And always from our commitment to innovation, sustainability, and humanities.”
Diego del Alcázar Benjumea, CEO of IE University

The presentation ceremony was also attended by the Mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, who emphasized during the inauguration the capacity of South Summit “to continue growing and opening new horizons. A capacity for innovation that is especially in line with the spirit of Madrid, one of the main capitals of the world with a great capacity to retain talent and attract those who have a dream and a professional and personal project.”

Rocío Albert López-Ibor, Minister of Economy, Finance and Employment of the Community of Madrid, stressed that "as the South Summit motto, HUMAN by Design, says, technology must be at the service of people and we should not be afraid. We must be prepared. In the Community of Madrid, we are convinced that people must be at the centre of these innovations, receiving talent and encouraging the attraction and generation of ideas.” 

Finally, Mayte Ledo, Secretary of State for Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence, wanted to highlight that “Spain is a country full of ideas, in which public-private collaboration must be an essential element.” In addition, we need to attract venture capital to Spain, which is essential for the early stages of startups.“ Ledo also stated that “Spain is one of the pioneering countries in the social debate on AI thanks to the creation of the Spanish Agency for the Supervision of Artificial Intelligence. We must remember that we are facing a technological revolution led by AI, which is moving faster than we expected and which has both benefits and uncertainties.”