SOUTH SUMMIT MADRID 2026 UNVEILS ITS 100 FINALIST STARTUPS: THE MOST INTERNATIONAL, MATURE, AND AI-DRIVEN EDITION OF ITS STARTUP COMPETITION
The Startup Competition at South Summit Madrid 2026, co-organized by IE University, has reached the highest level of international representation in its history, with 26 countries represented among its 100 finalist startups.
Selected from more than 4,500 applications across 110 countries, the finalists reflect the growing maturity of the global entrepreneurial ecosystem: 57% generate more than $150,000 in revenue and 60% have raised over $1 million in funding.
Europe accounts for nearly 77% of the finalist startups, while the United States represents 6% of the total. In addition, Latin America has increased its presence in the competition, rising from 7 finalist startups in 2025 to 10 in this year’s edition.
57% of the finalist startups generate more than $150,000 in revenue and 53% are already backed by Venture Capital funds, highlighting the high level of maturity, professionalization, and investment appeal of the selected projects.
Madrid, May 18, 2026 – Under the theme 'AI Convergence', South Summit Madrid 2026, co-organized by IE University, confirms the central role Artificial Intelligence is playing in the global entrepreneurial ecosystem. This trend is also reflected in its Startup Competition, where 50 out of the 100 finalist startups use AI as the core technology behind their businesses. The competition also showcases an increasingly international and mature profile: finalists come from 26 countries, up from 22 in last year’s edition, 57% generate more than $150,000 in revenue, compared to 50% in 2025, and 60% have raised over $1 million in funding.
The 100 finalists of #SouthSummit26 were selected from more than 4,500 applications submitted from 110 countries, 80% of which were international, reflecting an entrepreneurial ecosystem that is increasingly global and interconnected. Europe represents the largest share of the competition, accounting for nearly 77% of the finalist startups, while the United States represents 6% of the total, with 6 selected startups. Meanwhile, Latin America continues to expand its presence in the Startup Competition, increasing from 7 finalist startups in 2025 to 10 in this year’s edition.
Specifically, the list of countries represented among the 100 finalists is as follows: Spain, with 44 finalist startups; Portugal, with 7 finalists; United States, with 6 finalists; France, with 5 finalists; Italy and the United Kingdom, with 4 finalists each; Germany and Singapore, with 3 finalists each; Argentina, Brazil, Finland, Israel, the Netherlands and Poland, with 2 finalists each; and Chile, Colombia, South Korea, El Salvador, Estonia, Mexico, Norway, Paraguay, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and Uruguay, with 1 finalist each.
Spain remains the country contributing the highest number of startups to the final stage, with 44 finalists, although its representation has decreased compared to the 54 startups selected in last year’s edition, highlighting the clear international growth of the Startup Competition. By region, the Community of Madrid, with 19 finalists, and Catalonia, with 15, once again account for the largest share of Spain’s entrepreneurial representation at the event, followed by the Valencian Community, with 4, Andalusia and Navarre, with 2 each, and the Region of Murcia and the Basque Country, with one startup each.
MORE EXPERIENCED FINALISTS WITH STRONGER INVESTMENT APPEAL
The finalist startups at South Summit Madrid 2026 also demonstrate a high level of business maturity. In fact, 35% of the finalists generate more than half a million dollars in revenue, while 4% exceed $5 million. In terms of funding, 53% of the finalist startups are already backed by Venture Capital funds, compared to 43% in 2025, while 22% are supported by Business Angels and 7% have accessed public funding. These figures highlight the increasing professionalization of the ecosystem and confirm the Startup Competition as an international showcase for highly scalable and investment-ready projects.
It is also worth noting that, among all selected startups, 36 are already in the scaleup stage. In addition, 46 have registered at least one patent, a clear indicator of their innovation and technological development capabilities, while 38 have at least one female founder on the team.
THE 100 FINALIST STARTUPS OF SOUTH SUMMIT MADRID 2026 ARE AS FOLLOWS, GROUPED BY VERTICALS:
3. DIGITAL & TECH SOLUTIONS: Arq Quantum Technologies (Spain), Astroteq.ai (United States), HISTRANGER (South Korea), Lokutor (Spain), LunaLift (United Kingdom), Oasy (Netherlands), OmniShelf (Singapore), Spendbase (United States), tranSkriptorium AI (Spain) and Ubicuity (Spain).
4. FINTECH & INSURTECH: Brokerware AI (Uruguay), CryptoMate (Argentina), Dalatea (Spain), Dost (Spain), EthicHub (Spain), Granter (Portugal), Initiativ (France), PagaFactu (Spain), Paynest (Portugal) and VENDY (United States).
5. FUTURE OF WORK & TALENT: Kincode AI (Spain), Diingu (Germany), Nova (Spain), OneNewOne (Turkey), Sendsteps AI (Netherlands), Space To Grow (Poland), Stemdo (Spain), Trainect (Italy), Valeria (Spain) and Worksible (Spain).
10. ENTERPRISE SOLUTIONS: anyformat (Spain), Dealcar (Spain), KonvoAI (Germany), Libertify (France), LoopOS (Portugal), Service Club (Spain), Silmaril Technologies (Spain), SmarterMRP (Spain), Soource (Italy) and Wise CX (Argentina).
The startups have been selected by a jury of experts who evaluated key criteria such as innovation, the scalability of their business model, their growth potential, investor interest and the strength of their teams. During the fifteenth edition of South Summit Madrid, which will be held from June 3 to 5 at La Nave, the finalist projects will have the opportunity to present their proposals to some of the main players in the ecosystem, from corporations to investment funds, including representatives of large international companies, with the aim of becoming the winning startup of the competition. It will also be a space to generate connections with other startups and get closer to the trends and technologies shaping the future of entrepreneurship.
#SouthSummit26 will have the institutional support of the Secretary of State for Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence, the Community of Madrid and the Madrid City Council, as well as Mutua Madrileña, Google for Startups, BBVA Spark, Wayra – Telefónica Innovation and BStartup of Banco Sabadell.
FOR SOUTH SUMMIT MADRID 2026 PRESS ACCREDITATIONS
If you want to attend South Summit Madrid 2026 as an accredited media outlet, send us your name, surname, media outlet, e-mail, telephone number, date of birth, DNI/Passport number and country of origin to: pablo.gomez@trescom.es ; ignacio.crespo@trescom.es
ABOUT SOUTH SUMMIT
South Summit is the global platform that brings together all the actors in the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem to promote the development of business opportunities among all of them. Its main meeting is South Summit Madrid, co-organized by IE University, which will hold its next edition between June 3 and 5 at La Nave. Throughout its fourteen previous editions, South Summit has brought together more than 42,500 startups, while the Startup Competition has resulted in more than 1,500 finalist startups, with a survival rate of 85% and more than 20.5 billion dollars in investment raised.
After passing through Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Chile and Argentina, South Summit held its fifth edition in Brazil, also co-organized by IE University, in March 2026. This latest edition brought together more than 24,000 attendees from 70 countries, as well as more than 800 global leaders of the entrepreneurial ecosystem, 7,000 corporations, 3,000 startups and more than 1,000 investors with an investment portfolio of 250 billion euros.
For more information: https://www.southsummit.io/e/madrid/