Creand Accelera Summit Boosts Andorra's Startup Ecosystem Amid World Cup
Over 130 startup reps, investors, and institutions gathered in El Tarter for networking, keynotes, and the launch of Andorra's first Europe-wide.
Key Points
- 130+ attendees from startups, VCs, investors, and institutions networked at the summit.
- Unique Gondola Talks paired entrepreneurs with investors in cable cars on ski slopes.
- Keynotes by Plug and Play execs on global innovation and corporate-startup partnerships.
- Launched Andorra Open Valley, Europe-wide program backed by FEDA and partners.
Creand Accelera, the entrepreneurship and innovation platform supported by Creand Crèdit Andorrà, held its Creand Accelera Summit on Friday in El Tarter, coinciding with the Women's Alpine Ski World Cup. The gathering attracted over 130 representatives from startups, venture capital, private equity, private investors, and public and private institutions, both local and from abroad.
The event sought to bolster Andorra's entrepreneurial ecosystem while establishing the country as a center for innovation, investment, and talent, capitalizing on the ski competition's international visibility. It brought together 26 startups from Creand's programs, around 30 sector entities, and numerous private investors for a schedule that mixed training, interactive sessions, unique experiences, and World Cup-linked activities.
Networking stood out, particularly through one-on-one Gondola Talks—creative encounters inside a cable car cabin on El Tarter's slopes, matching investors with entrepreneurs. Keynote addresses came from global experts, including Seena Amidi, EMEA managing partner at Plug and Play, who traced the company's evolution from a Palo Alto building to a worldwide innovation powerhouse that fosters unicorns and links startups to large corporations. Philipp Gneiting, a partner and managing director at Plug and Play, covered open innovation and partnerships between startups and big firms, while Mathieu Carenzo, a professor in the entrepreneurial initiatives department at IESE Business School, provided additional international insights.
The summit also served as the launchpad for startups chosen for the Andorra Open Valley program—Andorra's inaugural Europe-wide acceleration effort, developed with SETAP 365 and Caldea, and backed by FEDA, Andorra Business, and Ingeni Coworking. The day wrapped up with a relational après-ski session at Abarset.
Original Sources
This article was aggregated from the following Catalan-language sources: