Between the 8th and 9th of May, the first Startup Grind Tech Summit 2023, held in the city of Mataró, was held at TecnoCampus. The event, which covered a wide variety of topics related to technological entrepreneurship, was attended by approximately 250 people, including attendees and speakers.
“I value very positively the realization of the event. We have achieved our two objectives: to turn Mataró into a meeting point for entrepreneurs and investors from all over the world and that attendees have left inspired and motivated to continue working with their new learning and connections”, explains the director of Startup Grind Mataró, Jordi Bolet Castellà.
Over the course of the two days, entrepreneurs, investors and technology experts from all over the world attended the convention. Among the most prominent participants are Àlex Corretgé, head of innovation at Vueling; Victoria Gago, co-founder of the European Blockchain Convention; Isabelle Gallo, partner of the Breega investment fund; Rytis Lauiris, founder of Omnisend or Àlex Rodríguez Bacardit, co-founder of MarsBased.
“Events like the Startup Grind Tech Summit are very important, since it is where people connect, share experiences and seek inspiration. You have to keep in mind that it is far from easy to develop a business and you need to know people to help you in the process”, explains Rytis Lauris, founder of Omnisend.
The main focus of attention of the event held in the Mataró technology park was networking and the connection between investors and entrepreneurs in the technology sector, for which several spaces were set up to have meetings and interact.
However, the Startup Grind Tech Summit 2023 also dedicated part of its two days to learning about the tech sector and entrepreneurship. To this end, 15 presentations were made in which both topics were discussed from different points of view, including legal aspects, the most recent innovations or the crises experienced by the sector.
Throughout the two days that the event promoted by Startup Grind Mataró lasted, one of the constants that appeared in the different presentations was the future of the technology sector and its impact on human society.
“When they contacted me to attend as a speaker I thought that the approach was very interesting. The proposal was that we are all going to meet, network and discuss the future of our sector”, comments Àlex Corretgé, head of Innovation at Vueling.
Among the aspects of the future discussed at the event, issues such as the involvement of Artificial Intelligence in society, hyperconnectivity, the metaverse or quantum technology were discussed. During the presentations, different postulates and perspectives could be found, although they were mostly optimistic.
“We are moving towards an increasingly technological and individualized world. Now, I am beginning to perceive that technology is helping to make social changes and I hope that the different technologies contribute to solving some of the existing problems in our society”, says Àlex Rodríguez Bacardit, co-founder of MarsBased.
This same positive vision was shared by the founder of Omnisend, Rytis Lauris, who commented: “I believe that these new technologies can help us to have a more efficient world by making people work less and have more and better results, which is a dream of our society. Although he added: "It is difficult to point out where technology is going, since we are at a disruptive point with the appearance of AI."
The role of humanity and its relationship with new technologies, especially AI, was also discussed. The general consensus was that the human being, although he would be affected by technological changes, must be the center of the new society that emerges from this transformation.
“Currently, with the appearance of AI, the third sector and some of its cognitive work linked to it are being mechanised, which can affect the population. However, this will also mean the creation of professions that we are still incapable of understanding”, says Vueling's head of Innovation. And he adds: "As technology experts we have an obligation to work to create a system in which society benefits from the intelligence of robots."
The co-founder of the European Blockchain Convention, Victoria Gago, points out that "although technology has many benefits and has made our lives much more comfortable, we must set limits so that it does not affect us socially and mentally",
“We are going to a more technological world, but in the end we have to preserve the value of people. In summary, Technology, yes, but people first”, with these words the promoter of the event and director of the Startup Grind Mataró, Jordi Bolet Castellà, summarizes the debate on the human being and technology.
The Startup Grind Tech Summit 2023 also devoted part of its time to the Pitch Competition, a short contest for a dozen startups and their founders to present their proposals to a jury made up of technology experts and investors.
“The projects presented in are of great value and with a high quality in the presentations, both in the speech itself in front of the jury and in the previous presentation to be admitted. In general, I have had positive feedback and some members of the jury have been interested in investing in a couple or three companies”, says the director of Startup Grind Mataró, Jordi Bolet.
Of the ten projects presented, the jury has selected three companies as the most promising proposals. The startups selected as winners of the contest were: FlamAid, Banding Labs and Sustein Material.
The first of the companies, Sustein Material, is a company dedicated to the production of construction elements -particleboard and thermal insulation- through recycled sanitary products.
“It is a success to have been selected among the three best proposals in the contest and I am proud that controversial initiatives like this are supported”, comments Simón González, founder of Sustein Material.
And he adds: “I created this company as a result of having worked in a factory specialized in waste management, since there I realized that there was an important and costly disinfection process so that, in the end, it was incinerated or ended up in a landfill. ”.
The second startup was FlamAid. This company has developed a personal security device for women that has two mechanisms to keep them safe: a sound one - emits a sound of more than 100 decibels - and a geolocation one - shares your GPS position with the police and your emergency contacts -.
“The project was born out of pure necessity. When I started university and began to make several trips and some at odd hours, I found myself in dangerous situations that I did not expect and needed an all-in-one solution that was always with me”, explains Julieta Rueff, founder of FlamAid.
"We are currently carrying out an open round of financing of €100,000 that will be invested in manufacturing and developing the product and in marketing," Rueff answers when asked about her company's future plans.
Finally, Banting Lab, a company that is promoting the creation of a sensor to measure blood glucose non-invasively. Currently, they have managed to develop a first model capable of identifying said particle dissolved in water.
“We have just set up and are developing the prototype. We hope that by the end of the year we can have an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) to offer to customers”, explains David Reyes, co-founder of Banting Lab.
"Before it was established, Banting Lab was known as Hoop Diabetes and was born out of the need to help my brother who suffers from type 1 diabetes and has had problems on several occasions due to the insufficient precision of the meters currently on the market," he adds. the co-founder
The three startups were rewarded for their proposal with a stay in the coworking space for three months at the Aticco Lab business accelerator and free tax advice on their projects.
“I am left with the value that people have brought to this event. Both the speakers, as well as the guests, the workers and the entrepreneurs who have participated in the Pitch Competition. We have to recover the value of people and their experience in all areas”, concludes Jordi Bolet Castellà.
