Startup Valencia, the organizer of the international tech event VDS, which will hold its seventh edition on October 23-24 at the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia, has announced the Top 50 of its international startup competition featuring Artificial Intelligence. These innovative and tech-driven companies were selected from over 800 applications submitted this year from 65 different countries.
The VDS Startup Competition aims to find the most disruptive and innovative startups worldwide that have outstanding potential and contribute to the positive impact of the technological revolution on society.
71% of the startups selected in the Top 50 are from outside Spain, with 18% from the United States, 10% from the United Kingdom, followed by Germany, France, and a total of 22 different countries.
In terms of technologies, more than half of the startups operate with Artificial Intelligence, followed by emerging companies using Big Data. Other notable technologies include Cloud Computing, ICT Information & Communication, Blockchain, and the Internet of Things.
Most of the finalists focus their economic activity on software development, followed by sectors like Fintech/Insurtech, Cleantech/Energy/Sustainability, Health/Wellbeing/Medtech, Mobile/App, and Enterprise/Business.
16% of the selected startups are in the Pre-seed stage, 42% in the Seed stage, 24% in Series A, 6% in Series B, 2% in Series C, and 10% have not yet received funding.
Top 50 Startup Finalists
Bendi (United Kingdom): Offers rapid traceability for fashion supply chains with 24-hour risk monitoring to facilitate due diligence.
BioEsol (France): Provides innovative battery solutions for companies transitioning to renewable energies, ensuring reliable, optimized, and cost-effective power supply.
Brickbro (Spain): A digital platform specializing in the transaction of commercial properties in Spain, connecting owners with buyers and tenants through its technology.
Busker (United Kingdom): A music platform that allows independent musicians worldwide to earn fair and sustainable incomes through fan engagement experiences and unique radio exposure leveraging blockchain technology.
Cardiomo (Netherlands): A miniature wearable patch for remote and real-time health monitoring to detect and predict medically actionable cardiovascular events and send life-saving alerts.
Deaf AI (Canada): Aims to improve public life and digital world experiences for deaf people through Artificial Intelligence.
dealcode AI (Germany): Provides a fully automated sales process that enables scalable sales channels.
DISS-CO (Germany): Aims to revolutionize traditional business models and pioneer innovative solutions making a real difference.
Drill Surgeries Ltd. (Spain): Developed ZAORY™, an AI surgical guide system to assist surgeons during trauma operations.
dxMed Artificial Intelligence, S.L. (Spain): Aims to create a product that redefines healthcare and diagnostics with Artificial Intelligence.
fiskaly (Austria): Offers country-specific fiscalization APIs to help businesses across all sectors comply with tax regulations.
HOWCOW (Ukraine): AI solution that includes software and hardware to enhance agricultural production by timely detecting the fertilization period, health issues, and real-time behavior monitoring.
HULO.ai (Netherlands): Develops algorithms to design and optimize networks and detect, locate, and categorize leaks, aiming to improve sustainable water supply.
Hydros Power (Spain): Developing a module to adopt hydrogen as fuel in the logistics sector, facilitating decarbonization and improving fleet productivity.
IBIONS (Spain): Offers online nutritional treatment for cancer patients, based on the latest scientific advances and associated with psychological support and physical exercise.
Imperia (Spain): Provides a comprehensive SaaS solution for supply chain planning management and optimization.
InTempo (Ukraine): Aims to prevent panic attacks and anxiety through personalized music therapy via an app and a tactile phone cover that uses rhythm and tempo to calm.
KIDEMIS AG (Switzerland): Applies mycelium-based fermentation to recycle low-value secondary flows into proteins, producing novel and sustainable nutrition solutions for aquaculture.
Lerna AI (Canada): Offers the first privacy-preserving mobile user profiling solution.
Lighten (United Kingdom): A charitable and educational platform supporting teaching individuals and organizations.
Lodgerin (Spain): The first platform simplifying international mobility by creating a digital ecosystem for organizations and accommodation owners.
Make My Day (Israel): A leading provider of solutions facilitating the transition and operation of electric vehicle fleets, resulting in CO2 emissions reduction and significant benefits for fleet operators.
Mattr (United Kingdom: Offers advanced material technologies and complex manufacturing through brands providing products, technology, and engineering solutions.
Metacampus (Spain): Developed a learning platform to help organizations and professionals thrive in the virtual economy.
Morado (Colombia): An all-in-one online platform for beauty businesses with the mission to empower and provide economic independence to women in the beauty industry.
NAX SOLUTIONS (Spain): A leading company in precision agriculture research, development, and innovation, supporting farmers in caring for their crops.
Netto (Spain): Accelerates the adoption of carbon markets through financial instruments from an accessible product that mitigates risks associated with carbon capture projects and future financing in the Carbon Market.
Nidus Lab (Spain): Provides an innovative AI-driven tool that significantly streamlines and enhances the early stages of real estate development.
Nova (Spain): Builds financial infrastructure for private markets, eliminating paperwork and optimizing compliance.
PHYSIO MRI (Spain): Develops a new generation of MRI imaging and democratizes access.
Pocket IP (Ukraine): Offers legal services for searching, registering, and managing intellectual property objects worldwide.
SeaO2 (Netherlands): Provides scalable gigaton carbon dioxide removal technology leveraging the ocean’s carbon removal power.
Sekond (Spain): Transforms surplus and defective stock from fashion brands.
Sharpei (USA): A circular economy platform enabling retailers to integrate product rental and subscriptions directly into their checkout process in minutes.
SMART RIGHTS (Brazil): Creates technological and educational solutions for the music industry, setting the innovation standard in rights management, contracts, and payments.
Smart Point (Spain): Helps decarbonize logistics across Europe and is quickly becoming the sustainable delivery standard for products and services to smart buildings and cities.
Smart Serial Number (Portugal): Provides brands with unprecedented information on their bicycles’ lifecycle and consumer behavior.
Sorbet (UAE): A community providing freelancers with the tools to grow, connect, and succeed.
Spiny (Spain): Develops a universal device that converts all types of bicycles into electric bikes without cables or fuel.
Stemdo (Spain): Simplifies and brings transparency to recruitment processes worldwide, aiming to transform the employment ecosystem in all Spanish cities.
Talk’n’Job by ApplyZ GmbH (Germany): A voice-guided virtual job application app designed to reduce barriers for applicants.
Tennders (Spain): Believes that logistics operations can be managed efficiently and sustainably, offering digital load management software and 3PL logistics services.
The Channel Store (Spain): Leads the new generation of FAST 2.0 channels with the goal of creating, distributing, and monetizing FAST (Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV) and AVOD channels.
TrollWall AI (Slovakia): Manages social media comments using state-of-the-art AI algorithms to automatically identify and filter toxic comments from social media pages.
Valux Medical S.L. (Spain): Researches, develops, manufactures, and markets medical devices and health products, including AI software for devices.
Viewed (Spain): A proprietary SaaS platform providing the technology to send impactful, personalized emails with embedded autoplay videos.
Virtuleap (Portugal): Combines neuroscience and virtual reality to help increase attention levels and address cognitive diseases, disorders, and learning challenges.
Vexxel Biotech (USA): Uses biotechnology to reduce chemicals in the food production chain, creating non-toxic biocapsules safe for humans and the environment.
Waital (Spain): Developed an app in Barcelona that gives access to all products featured in your favorite series.
ZYON Helmets (Spain): Aims to drive safer and healthier motorcycling by redefining the motorcycle helmet industry.
A High-Level Jury
A jury carefully selected by TNW , Financial Times company, and VDS’s Strategic Partner consisting of Myrthe van der Erve, advisor at Antler; Andy Lurling, founding partner of LUMO Labs; Diederik Stolk, partner fund I at Arches Capital; Maxime Paradis, founder & syndicate lead at Paradise Club; and Marcus Hølland Eikeland, Program director & partner at Katapult, selected these 50 startups as semifinalists for the VDS Startup Competition.
Among them, this jury will choose the finalists for the VDS Startup Competition: 10 startups in the early category and 10 in the growth category, to present their projects on the main stage of VDS on October 23 before more than 12,000 professionals attending the tech event. After these presentations, the two winning startups, one in the early stage and one in the growth stage, will be designated and announced. These winners will receive various prizes, including an exhibition space for VDS2025, and will benefit from networking and promotional opportunities offered by an international event like VDS.
Additionally, this year, as a novelty, one of the two winning startups of the VDS Startup Competition 2024 will automatically qualify for them semifinals of the Startup World Cup organized by Pegasus Tech Ventures, the world’s largest startup competition, which offers a $1,000,000 investment prize to the winner.
