EY continues its support for VDS, an international technology event, and will once again prepare a report on the socioeconomic impact of the gathering in Valencia, the Valencian Community, and the national economy. This event has become one of the most prominent in Southern Europe and serves as a platform transforming Valencia into a global technology hub.
The seventh edition of VDS, themed “Embracing evolution: Invest in the leaders of tomorrow,” is set to take place on October 23 and 24 at the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia. It will explore how the current technological revolution is positively affecting society and amplifying the voices of the brightest leaders in the global innovative and technological ecosystem.
Startup Valencia, the event organizer, anticipates that VDS2024 will draw over 12,000 professionals from more than 100 different countries; more than 700 investors managing assets exceeding 200 billion euros; and will feature participation from over 600 renowned speakers and more than 2,500 startups.
As highlighted in the previous socioeconomic impact report prepared by EY for VDS2023, VDS is a high-impact global event that not only offers a unique growth opportunity for the business sector but also serves as a technological ecosystem for the development and integration of the latest technologies for organizations and institutions.
Nacho Mas, CEO of Startup Valencia, predicts that in 2024 “VDS will continue its growth and generate a significantly higher economic impact than the previous year.” “This meeting has become a mandatory annual event and a comprehensive experience for anyone involved or interested in innovative and technological ecosystems globally,” he states.
David Samu, partner in charge of EY Parthenon Spain, notes that “producing this annual report as part of VDS allows for an overview of the startup ecosystem in the Valencian Community and Spain. It also aids in identifying trends in the sector and assessing the contribution this event has shown in previous editions to both the entrepreneurship ecosystem and the region’s economy. Additionally, at EY Parthenon, we are committed to fostering the entrepreneurial and innovative ecosystem in Spain, and VDS serves as a key mechanism to connect startups, corporations, and private capital, among others.”
Isabel de Dios, partner in charge of M&A for the technology sector at EY Spain and Europe, mentions that “at these events, we identify attractive investment opportunities for our private capital clients in advance, and assist startups and scale-ups in pragmatically approaching them. Furthermore, VDS helps to internationally highlight the development of the Spanish ecosystem, as in some technological segments such as SaaS, we have become the fifth European region in terms of M&A activities, as well as the fastest-growing.”
An economic impact of 12.3 million euros in 2023
VDS2024 aims to exceed the economic impact figures reached in the last edition, which were reported in the EY study for VDS2023 at 12.3 million euros.
Other significant figures from the VDS2023 report include a return on investment of 9.2; a direct economic impact on the region of 1.3 million, an indirect impact of 8.9 million, and an induced impact of 2.1 million.
Moreover, the last edition generated the equivalent of 1,118 full-time jobs and left a footprint of 5.7 million euros on the GDP of the Valencian Community.
The funds that attended VDS2023, managing assets worth 30 billion euros, enabled the participating startups, valued at over 4.5 billion euros, to aspire to secure more than 50 million euros in funding as a direct result of their participation in the event. Each attendee generated an average value of 1,027 euros per citizen to the city’s economy.
