TNW, a Financial Times company, and Startup Valencia form a strategic partnership to accelerate the internationalization of VDS

VALENCIA, Spain & AMSTERDAM, the Netherlands — February 29, 2024 — The Next Web (TNW), a Financial Times company, and Startup Valencia are announcing a strategic partnership aimed at accelerating the expansion of VDS, the international tech event, which will celebrate its seventh edition on October 23rd and 24th at the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia. This collaboration marks a significant milestone in fostering international connections, driving innovation, and promoting Valencia’s vibrant technology ecosystem on a global stage.

As a top-tier media and content provider for the tech startup market and organizer of one of the leading tech festivals in Europe — TNW Conference in Amsterdam — TNW will collaborate with the VDS team to shape the agenda and attract international investors, scaleups, corporations and government agencies as speakers. 

TNW will also host its own International Ecosystems Forum during VDS2024. This event will be dedicated to highlighting how companies in Valencia can attract talent and further drive both domestic and international growth. 

Furthermore, TNW will collaborate with the VDS team to expand its startup competition, providing additional opportunities for emerging and talented startups from all across Europe to share the spotlight at VDS2024.

This collaboration has been developed with the support of the Valencia City Council as part of its València Innovation Capital strategy. "VDS is a highly significant event for positioning Valencia on an international scale. The sixth edition of VDS brought together over 12,000 professionals from 91 countries and more than 600 national and international investors with a portfolio exceeding 8 billion euros. We support initiatives like this from the City Council because they attract investment, talent, and drive our economy forward. This agreement with TNW will contribute to accelerating our positioning as an innovative technological hub in the Mediterranean," states Paula Llobet, Councilor for Tourism, Innovation, and Investment Attraction at the Valencia City Council.

“TNW has been present in Valencia since 2018, building strong connections to the ecosystem, including with Startup Valencia. We believe that Valencia has tremendous potential, and the internationalization of VDS will accelerate this. We are delighted to continue our journey in Valencia through this strategic partnership to combine our strengths and take VDS to the next level”, says Zach Butler, Events Director at TNW, a Financial Times Company

"Having TNW as a Strategic Partner for VDS2024 to support the event's international expansion is tremendous news that will allow us to further solidify our innovation ecosystem as a prominent technological hub in Southern Europe. This strategic collaboration serves as a catalyst for VDS's global expansion efforts, with hopes of breaking records for the third consecutive year", points out Juan Luis Hortelano, President at Startup Valencia.

For further enquiries please contact: 

TNW: Zach Butler, Events Director at TNW, a Financial Times company [email protected]

Startup Valencia: Roberto Moragón, CMO at Startup Valencia [email protected] 

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About Startup Valencia:

Startup Valencia is a private non-profit organization that was founded in 2017, by the Valencia Startup Association, to represent startups in the Valencian Community and to be the benchmark of an innovative and technological companies’ ecosystem, boosting the competitiveness of the Valencian economy. Startup Valencia has been organizing VDS’ since 2018, having demonstrated, in the last fifth edition (2023), that the Valencian innovation ecosystem is still growing exponentially and that the Valencian Community has consolidated its position as an internationally recognized tech hub. 

About TNW, a Financial Times company: 

TNW is an international media organization with a purpose to multiplying the journeys of startups and technology companies through coverage in online media, international events, curated co-working communities and dedicated open innovation programs. TNW organizes the TNW Conference in Amsterdam which is one of the reference tech festivals in Europe for the past 18 years. Since 2018 TNW has developed its partnerships with the Valencia ecosystem alongside hosting TNW Valencia in March 2023. TNW is wholly owned by the Financial Times, one of the world's leading business news organizations.