South Summit 2025 Opens in Madrid: Focus on AI, sustainability and innovation

The 14th edition of South Summit, the global event on entrepreneurship and innovation organised by IE University, officially opened on Wednesday, June 4, in Madrid. The three-day gathering is being held at La Nave, the innovation hub of the Madrid City Council, and will run through June 6.

This year’s edition aims to surpass the success of 2024, which welcomed over 18,000 attendees from 133 countries, including 6,500 entrepreneurs and 26 unicorns. The 2025 programme features nearly 430 speakers, structured around four key thematic areas.

The first, Humanity 2.0, explores how technology can address social and environmental challenges. Sustainable Action highlights innovations in energy, agritech, climate tech and resource management. The Growth axis focuses on nurturing talent and building innovation-driven organisational cultures. Finally, Tech Horizons investigates the transformative power of emerging technologies including biotechnology, quantum computing and artificial intelligence.

Among the headline speakers are Marc Randolph, co-founder of Netflix; Marci Zaroff, CEO of Ecofashion Corp and co-founder of Textile Exchange; and Greg Hoffman, former chief marketing officer at Nike. Also joining the lineup are Mikayel Vardanyan of Picsart, Dennis Hong from UCLA, Christophe Williams of Naked Energy, and Adriana Hoppenbrouwer-Pereira from The Fabricant.

As is tradition, South Summit 2025 also features its renowned Start-up Competition, a platform offering visibility and funding opportunities to early-stage ventures. Since its launch, the competition has helped over 1,000 start-ups, boasting a 90% survival rate and nearly $17 billion in total investment. Notable alumni include unicorns like Cabify, Glovo and Jobandtalent.

The opening ceremony was attended by key officials, including the Mayor of Madrid and national government representatives. María Benjumea, founder of South Summit, welcomed guests, followed by a fireside chat between Marta Cruz of NXTP Ventures and Paul Murphy from Lightspeed Venture, moderated by Diego del Alcázar Benjumea, CEO of IE University.

A call for ethical and purposeful AI

Spains King Felipe VI also took part in the opening session, where he underscored the transformative role of Artificial Intelligence. In his keynote address, he encouraged entrepreneurs to embrace AI’s potential while maintaining an ethical, human-centric approach.

“AI is no longer a promise – it is a key driver of innovation, scalability and competitive advantage,” said King Felipe. He noted that start-ups are increasingly adopting AI in sectors such as customer service, market forecasting and energy optimisation. Spain, he added, is gaining traction in fields including digital health, cybersecurity and natural language processing, while also working on the development of ethical AI algorithms.

Acknowledging the challenges ahead, from data privacy to job displacement, the monarch called for shared responsibility among businesses, governments and civil society. He advocated for innovation with purpose: “Let us build together a Spain that does not fear artificial intelligence, because it will know how to guide it with human intelligence,” he concluded.

This article is a summary of the original prepared for FashionUnited.ES by Jaime Martínez, adapted for international readers by Alicia Reyes Sarmiento.