South Summit vs VDS Event

South Summit is the leading innovation and business development platform that connects the most disruptive startups with investors and corporations from around the world seeking to improve their competitiveness through innovation.

VDS is one of Europe’s most prominent international tech events and a platform transforming Valencia into a global innovation hub. Organized by Startup Valencia, VDS has been bringing together the world’s leading startups and scaleups, influential corporates, visionary investors and public leaders at the iconic City of Arts and Sciences since 2018. This conference is built around what truly drives progress in the technology economy: high value business connections. VDS is where access to decision makers is direct, and conversations turn into business partnerships. In 2026, VDS celebrates its ninth edition, welcoming over 12,000 attendees from more than 120 countries, connecting 3,000 startups and scaleups with more than 1,500 corporates, and hosting 800+ global investors managing over €300 billion in assets. Under the concept GENESIS and the claim “Origin of What’s Next”, VDS 2026 captures a defining moment for the decade ahead. We are entering an era where intelligence becomes infrastructure, embedded across products, industries and institutions. A decade shaped by acceleration, strategic competition and the need for resilient systems capable of sustaining growth, security and societal progress.