Por Redaccion 
The startups Easychatbot, Flamingo Biomechanical Lab, Keplerkoord, Minifunkids, and Veiko have emerged as winners of the fourth edition of the ‘Startup Andalucía Roadshow’ program, promoted by the Ministry of University, Research, and Innovation, and the Andalusian Council of Chambers of Commerce to foster innovative and technology-based entrepreneurship. The counselor José Carlos Gómez Villamandos and the president of the Chambers, Javier Sánchez Rojas, inaugurated this event held in Granada as part of the Alhambra Venture and presented the awards to the leaders of these business projects.
The ‘Startup Andalucía Roadshow’ aims to select the best emerging technology companies and assist them in their development and scaling through a specialized training and mentoring program. Through this initiative, participating entrepreneurs have the opportunity to connect with potential investors, access various available funding instruments, and participate in significant national and international events in the field. The competition also seeks to promote a culture of internationalization among Andalusian startups, strengthen the current innovative ecosystem, and help nascent firms implement new business models that enable them to gain competitive advantages to become leading companies that attract innovative talent to Andalucía.
Gómez Villamandos highlighted «the worth and potential of the participants,» while expressing satisfaction in seeing initiatives like the ‘Startup Andalucía Roadshow’ «materialize into developed and established business ideas». «From the Junta, we are convinced that the recipe for success lies in encouraging entrepreneurship and supporting the drive and vocation of Andalusian entrepreneurs,» he added.
The University head reaffirmed his commitment to continue working and collaborating with agents of the Andalusian knowledge system to «explore avenues and opportunities that allow for growth and improvement in the business competitiveness of our land.» In this context, he emphasized that efforts will focus on promoting innovative and technology-based entrepreneurship, which is «a strategic line of this Government.»
From that perspective, Gómez Villamandos underscored that his department has already initiated the procedures to convene in 2025 three incentive lines totaling 2.2 million euros aimed at reinforcing the incubation and acceleration of innovative technological SMEs, supporting new business initiatives, and fostering collaboration in open innovation between startups and the business fabric. In addition to this 2.2 million, another 2.5 million will be allocated to innovative entrepreneurship in SMEs, which will be activated through TRADE, under the Ministry of Economy, Finance, and European Funds. Furthermore, the University Ministry will make available to the entrepreneurial ecosystem, through the ‘InnovAndalucía’ initiative, grants worth 11.4 million euros aimed at business innovation projects.
Apart from this financial support, the counselor added that the Junta will also collaborate with the City Council of Seville and with CATEC to launch the incubator of the European Space Agency for emerging companies in the sector.
On the other hand, Sánchez Rojas highlighted «the growth and consolidation of this initiative, which becomes a launching pad and a privileged showcase for our entrepreneurs to realize their dreams,» while thanking the counselor for his «commitment and dedication» to this collaboration project with the Chambers of Commerce, which is «an example of public-private collaboration, pooling efforts and resources that contribute to energizing our innovative and technological ecosystem,» he emphasized.
Likewise, he showcased the Chamber network’s commitment to driving progress in the digitalization and innovation of the Andalusian business fabric, especially of SMEs through numerous programs managed by the Chambers. Additionally, he highlighted the training, mentoring, and guidance provided to secure the necessary funding from this program to help entrepreneurs deploy their projects, as well as support them in the internationalization process.
Twelve finalist projects
The five emerging companies chosen in this final round are those that have demonstrated the best development and evolution throughout the regional competition, in which twelve innovative finalist projects participated. All twelve initiatives have received counseling and mentoring to transform their projects into viable initiatives capable of growing, attracting investments, and competing in international markets in the future.
The twelve companies that faced this final round had to demonstrate the quality and viability of their proposals in a brief ‘pitch’ or presentation before the jury responsible for selecting the top five in this fourth call. The jury comprised different agents of the entrepreneurial ecosystem, including the founder of Axon Partners, Macarena González, and the executive director of the Owners Scaleup Program, Joe Haslam, accompanied by the Director-General of Entrepreneurship Promotion and Continuous Training of the Junta, Javier González, and the Managing Director of the Andalusian Council of Chambers, Mercedes León.
In selecting the five winners, criteria such as the business model, scalability, revenue forecasts, funding strategy, geographic deployment, and company valuation in the market were taken into account. These aspects represented 80% of the score, while the remaining 20% was reserved to evaluate the presentation of the entrepreneurial projects, considering conviction, clarity, or coherence of the discourse.
The five winning startups
The five winning firms are innovative companies with a scalable business model validated by active users, commercial pilots, or recurring initial incomes. These startups offer technological solutions in the space, education, commerce, or medicine fields and come from Almería (1), Córdoba (1), Granada (1), Málaga (1), and Seville (1).
These companies are: Easychatbot (Málaga), specializing in global artificial intelligence debt collection campaigns; Flamingo Biomechanical Lab (Córdoba), a company providing personalized surgery and diagnostic services through 3D organ recreation for practice and reducing operating room times; and Keplerkoord (Almería), a startup dedicated to the space sector. Also included are Minifunkids (Seville), using virtual reality to assist children with special educational needs (neurodiversity and functional diversity); and Veiko (Granada), with a used vehicle auction app connecting dealerships and buyers.
All of them will have the opportunity to participate in high-impact business training and national and international events related to entrepreneurship, including WebSummit (Lisbon), VDS+ (Valencia), Al-Andalus Innovation Venture (Seville), or Alhambra Venture (Granada).