Today, Kreios Space, Saega, and Logicmelt were announced as the winners of the fair’s startup competition.
Mindtech has also brought together 46 leading speakers today at various conferences on artificial intelligence, startups, automotive, robotics, and international business opportunities.
The B2B meetings scheduled through the fair’s platform are also continuing, with 300 personalized meetings between exhibitors, visitors, and buyers taking place throughout the fair.
Mindtech Startup Event
The Mindtech Startup Event (MSE) is a startup competition promoted by the Mindtech fair in collaboration with the Regional Government of Galicia. Today, at the heart of the fair, the final of this competition was held, seeking out emerging companies with the most innovative ideas, capable of transforming Industry 4.0 with a unique technological solution.
During the final pitching, the following companies were the winners:
- Most Disruptive Startup Category
- KREIOS: Specializes in the development of advanced electric propulsion systems for satellites, focused on enabling sustainable operations in very low orbits. It has been recognized for its Air Breathing Electric Propulsion (ABEP) system, an innovative technology that allows satellites to orbit closer to Earth without using fuel, operating solely on solar energy.
- Category: Innovation in energy, logistics, and environmental systems
- Soluciones Aeronáuticas de Galicia (SAEGA): They design and manufactures hybrid fixed-wing drones with vertical takeoff and landing, designed for logistics, surveillance, rescue, and fire control missions, with a payload capacity of up to 5 kg and extended autonomy, making them efficient and reliable in real-world environments. They have been awarded for their Anduriña 25 drone.
- Category Digital processes applied to industry
- LOGICMELT: Awarded for its Logivision platform, which uses “at-the-machine” AI models to perform real-time defect detection, counting, heat mapping, and security alerts in facilities. Thanks to Edge Computing, it offers fast, reliable, and more private results than if it relied on the cloud, reducing errors and operational risks.
Enrique Mallón, Director General de la feria Mindtech, he emphasized that “the MSE highlights the entrepreneurial fabric and provides a vehicle to promote and give visibility to the most innovative projects. We seek to foster open innovation, with the winning startups helping established companies to solve various fundamental challenges for the industrial and technological sector.”
Precisely in order to boost these synergies, the event featured the participation of prominent international leaders in the startup world.
Luis Álvarez, CEO en Optare Solutions y Business Angel, explained how to scale a startup without major investors, offering the real perspective of a business angel and his success story.Darío Olivares, Project Director in Lanzadera Corporate, spoke about how the right environment makes all the difference, while Andrés del Río Sans, Head of Startups Galicia at BStartup Sabadell, explained to participating startups how to access sources of financing.
Foro IA e Industria
Today, Mindtech hosted one of the most eagerly awaited conferences of this edition. The AI and Industry Forum addressed the latest developments and trends in this groundbreaking technology and its potential to transform industrial companies, including SMEs.
Justo Sierra, President of Mindtech, highlighted during the opening of the forum: “At a fair like Mindtech, this forum on one of the most disruptive technologies we have faced in modern history could not be missing. Artificial intelligence today arouses almost as much excitement as uncertainty, which is why forums like this are key to clearing up some of the unknowns about this technology, but also to inspiring companies, including SMEs, because it is not only an opportunity for large corporations, but with small investments, advances that were previously unthinkable can also be achieved.”
Alberto Pinedo, National Technology & Security Officer at Microsoft, presented practical solutions such as Copilot to the industrial companies in attendance and provided relevant data on the economic impact this technology can have: “The adoption of AI could boost GDP by 15 points in 2025, and the return on investment is extremely high: for every euro invested in AI, organizations are seeing returns of €3.7. The challenge, in his view, lies in eliminating restrictive data policies, which would boost countries’ productivity by an average of 4.5%, especially in Europe.
For her part, Alba Meijide, Head of AI in Northern Spain at Telefónica, highlighted the importance of focusing on people and taking care of what is being developed: Any company can get involved in AI; it is not just for large corporations, and it does not require investing millions. The key is to go beyond the big models and identify where Artificial Intelligence can have a real impact on my organization, and once that focus is clear, scale up the use cases to maximize their value across the entire company.”
Pablo Fernández, General Industries Sales Manager ABB Robotics Spain, presented the latest developments in AI-supported industrial robotics: “AI enables robots to learn human skills such as learning from observation or the ability to give them instructions in natural language. There is talk of the idea that machines would replace humans, but the reality is that we already have robots and machines that communicate with each other in natural language.”
Germán León, Founder & CEO en Helvética Digital spoke about AI in security and defense and how what was science fiction a decade ago has now become reality: There are already AI applications that can “read our minds,” analyze our brain activity, and interpret human thought without us having to express ourselves. We are in a new generation of technology in which we must decide, as a society and above all as the European Union, what role we want to play and how far we want to share our data. Europe has restricted access to free data, and we are adopting a data traceability model that puts us on the slow path to developing this technology.
A dozen conferences with more than 40 speakers
The main day of the Mindtech fair brought together a total of 46 speakers today in various conferences, workshops, and networking events.
Automation and robotics were discussed at a workshop in collaboration with AER Automation, with contributions from companies Bihl+Wiedemann and HepcoMotion, as well as Galician startups Muutech, Imecnor Ibérica, Binarial, and Logicmelt.
In terms of automotive, the networking event opened by David Regades, Special State Delegate for the Vigo Free Trade Zone Consortium, addressed business opportunities with Mexico and Portugal, as well as challenges and the state of this industry with companies Borgwarner, Merasys, and Unimate Robótica.
In the international section, multiple delegations present at the fair presented business opportunities in their countries and how to approach effective collaboration in markets such as Argentina, Colombia, Uruguay, United Arab Emirates, Portugal, and Japan. There was also room for Mexico, the guest country. of this 4th edition of the fair, with whom a networking event has been organized to promote business with companies from the Iberian Pole.
A networking event was also held with Navantia, so that companies in the sector in the Iberian Pole could learn more about its tendering platform and how to explore potential projects in the areas of offshore wind power and defense with this leading company.
The Speakers’ Corner also hosted demonstrations and presentations throughout the afternoon, with presentations by Prox Consultores, Oesía, ASM Soft, the Galician Business Confederation, and the SME Digital Generation Program.
