VDS has announced the winners of the seventh edition of its international startup competition. HULO.ai emerged as the winner in the Early Stage category, while Smart Point took the prize in the Growth Stage category. Additionally, DISS-CO was selected to advance to the Startup World Cup semifinals organized by Pegasus Tech Ventures—the world’s largest startup competition, offering a one-million-dollar investment prize for the ultimate winner.
The awards were presented during the closing ceremony of VDS2024, attended by Diana Morant, Minister of Science, Innovation, and Universities; Rebeca Torró, Secretary of State for Industry; Paula Llobet, Councilor for Tourism, Innovation, Employment, and Entrepreneurship in Valencia; Juan Luis Hortelano, President of Startup Valencia; Patricia Pastor, President of VDS; and Nacho Mas, CEO of Startup Valencia.
Ana Maiques, CEO and co-founder of Neuroelectrics, was also honored with the VDS2024 Lifetime Achievement Award for her inspiring leadership and remarkable career. Maiques, recognized as one of Europe’s 50 most inspiring women, leads a project focused on therapies for neurological conditions such as depression, epilepsy, and Alzheimer’s.
Additionally, the award for the hackathon The Challenge—organized by Startup Valencia and the City of Arts and Sciences, in collaboration with HP, Elewit, Naturgy and Mapfre —went to the Naturgy team.
VDS2024 International Competition
HULO.ai (Netherlands): Winner of the VDS Startup Competition in the Early Stage category, HULO.ai’s mission is to provide a global solution for improving sustainable water supply. They develop algorithms to design and optimize networks and detect, locate, and categorize leaks.
Smart Point (Spain): The Growth Stage winner, Smart Point offers AI-driven solutions to digitalize retail and urban infrastructure, enhancing customer experience and operational efficiency.
Both winning startups received several prizes, including an exhibition space at VDS2025, providing networking opportunities and promotion at one of southern Europe’s most prominent tech events.
An esteemed international jury, composed of Myrthe van der Erve, advisor at Antler; Andy Lurling, co-founder of LUMO Labs; Diederik Stolk, co-founder of Arches Capital; Maxime Paradis, founder and union leader at Paradise Club; and Marcus Hølland Eikeland, Program Director at Katapult, selected the best startups. These top-tier investors and corporate leaders were chosen by TNW, a Financial Times company and strategic partner of VDS, to evaluate and select the 20 finalists for the VDS Startup Competition.
This seventh edition included some new features, including 10 finalist startups in each of the two categories: Early Stage and Growth Stage. Additionally, the startup DISS-CO was automatically selected for the semifinals of the Startup World Cup, organized by Pegasus Tech Ventures. This German entity offers an AI- and blockchain-based platform for compliance and risk management, including solutions for whistleblowing and GDPR.
Among the 20 finalists in the VDS2024 international startup competition, there was a strong presence of Spanish startups: nearly half of the emerging finalists are from Spain, including Drll Surgeries Ltd., Hydros Power, IBIONS, Nidus Lab, Metacampus, NAX SOLUTIONS, PHYSIO MRI, Smart Point, and Viewed. European startups also stood out: Cardiomo, HULO.ai, and Sea02 from the Netherlands; TrollWalAI from Slovakia; BioEsol from France; Dealcode AI, Talk’n’Job by ApplyZ GmbH from Germany; and Virtaleap from Portugal. Only two international startups, Sorbet from the United Arab Emirates and Make My Day from Israel, were included.
These innovative and technology-driven companies were selected from an initial pool of 50 startups, chosen from more than 800 applications submitted from 65 different countries.
