Three days of intensive entrepreneurship at Las Naves produced Valencia’s newest crop of startup founders

VALENCIA, SPAIN (June 15, 2026) — Techstars Startup Weekend (TSW) Valencia wrapped up its inaugural edition in English on Sunday night at Las Naves, València Innovation Capital, with the announcement of three winning teams whose business concepts impressed a panel of international judges across criteria of customer validation, business model clarity and scalability. The 54-hour event drew more than 100 participants, including students, developers, designers, career switchers, angel investors, entrepreneurs, volunteers, early-stage founders, mentors and speakers, from Valencia and beyond. The weekend produced 10 startup concepts spanning sectors such as mobility, health and wellness, and consumer finance, developed by cross-functional teams who had never met before Friday evening. Judges evaluated each team not on the polish of its presentation, but on the rigour of its customer discovery, the viability of its business model and the credibility of the problem it set out to solve. 

The winning teams

First place was awarded to Cuanto Cuesta for its app that compares and standardises prices and services, such as barbers and mechanics, across the Spanish internet.

Second place went to Corpdata for making companies AI-ready by integrating an AI-accessible data layer for sales teams. 

Third place was awarded to Netta, an AI-based personal CRM that helps users call up contacts based on current needs (projects, locations, etc.).

Paula Llobet, keynote speaker

Councillor for Innovation, Tourism and Investment Attraction, Paula Llobet, opened the weekend with a keynote address that set the tone for what followed. Speaking to a full room of participants on Friday evening, she said:

“Valencia is in a really good moment in the innovation and tech field. We are the city with more startups per inhabitant, and our startups received more than €200 million in 2025, a record we have never seen before. If you have an idea and you want to develop a product that is going to arrive to the market, you are in the best place to do that. Valencia is a place of opportunity, and we are going to be open to any initiative that can connect talent and help them arrive to market. Thank you for thinking of Valencia for this.”

The sponsors

València Innovation Capital (VIC) served as the main sponsor and host venue through Las Naves. A city-led strategy to establish Valencia as a leading tech and innovation hub in the Mediterranean, VIC supports the local startup community through pre-seed and seed grants, a €1 million Urban Sandbox implementation grant, and accelerator programmes to open the city up as a living lab for entrepreneurs to test and validate their ideas. The organisation’s backing of TSW Valencia reflects its commitment to connecting emerging talent with the infrastructure and funding needed to bring ideas to market. 

Additional community partners include Clover, Automaton, PR Consult, AI Tinkerers, HelloPrint, Malaga Startups, Plug and Play, Vortex Coworking, YOUNG Coffee, GuruSup, Contentoo, Causo, Teleport Dynamix, Medusa, StoneCastle Brewery, Atarazanas Sky Bar, CDTM Valencia and Universidad Europea, whose contributions made the event possible. 

From the participants

For many attendees, the weekend marked their first real encounter with the startup world. Jim Zwetsloot, 40, an AI and workflow automator from the Netherlands now living in Valencia, was a first-time participant whose team won second place. Reflecting on the experience, he said:

“Before this weekend, I assumed turning an idea into something real would take months of planning, resources and preparation. What surprised me was how much progress a motivated team can make in just 54 hours. We started with an idea, spoke to potential customers, challenged our assumptions, built an MVP, and developed a real business concept. The Techstars Startup Weekend showed me that the biggest barrier is often getting started. Building a successful company is still a long journey, but creating momentum and validating an idea can happen much faster than most people think.”

What the weekend delivered

Beyond the winning teams, the event produced measurable outcomes for Valencia’s broader entrepreneurial community. Across 54 hours, participants conducted customer interviews, developed 10 distinct startup concepts, and received mentorship from 12 experienced founders, operators and investors drawn from across Europe. More than 50% of participants had no prior startup experience, underscoring the event’s role as a genuine entry point into entrepreneurship rather than a gathering of the already converted.

Oki Alexander, Lead Organiser of Techstars Startup Weekend Valencia, said:

“What we set out to prove this weekend is that Valencia has everything it needs to build world-class startups. It has the talent, the energy, the institutions and the ambition. These teams didn’t just pitch ideas. Some of them are walking out with a pathway to test those ideas in the real city, with real users, backed by real-world advice and testing. That is rare. That is what makes this event so significant.”

Looking ahead

The organising team has confirmed its intention to apply for Community Partner status with Techstars globally and this event proved how the city is ready for a new incubator to support the existing startup community.

Report by ’24/7 Valencia’ team

Article copyright ’24/7 Valencia’