The connection between startups and investment firms, the focus of the CEIN Startup Day event

Ana Ollo, Second Vice President and Minister of Memory and Coexistence, External Affairs, and the Basque Language for the Government of Navarre, participated today in the opening of CEIN Startup Day, organized by the public entity European Center for Business and Innovation of Navarre (CEIN), at its Innovation Incubator in Noáin. The connection between emerging companies or innovative startups and investment firms and large corporations was the focus of this event, which brought together more than 500 people.

This is the fifth edition of the conference, which brought together startups and institutional representatives from La Rioja, Cantabria, the Valencian Community, Aragon, and Catalonia—all partners, along with Navarre, in the Tech FabLab project—whose findings were presented during the event.

As Ollo pointed out, “one of the cornerstones of the EU’s strategy for startups and scaleups—or rapidly growing companies—is financing, which is essential to any entrepreneurial process, especially when it comes to innovative or disruptive projects. In fact, this area has been one of the focal points of the Tech FabLab program.”

Alicia Echeverría, the Spanish Government’s delegate to the Autonomous Community of Navarra, also spoke at the opening ceremony, noting that the TechFabLab project “is an example of how the Regional Networks for Technological Specialization (RETECH)—a program promoted by the Spanish Government as part of the Recovery, is having a positive impact on the digital transformation of all the autonomous communities.” A project, as Echeverría emphasized, that “focuses on digital entrepreneurship.”

For her part, Uxue Itoiz, managing director of CEIN, emphasized that “investment is key at every stage of a startup’s development, which is why we must promote events like this within the ecosystem to help build bridges.”

In addition to these three speakers, the opening ceremony featured Belinda León, Regional Minister of Economy, Innovation, Business, and Self-Employment for the Government of La Rioja, and Fernando Escobar, Deputy Director General of Citizenship, Talent, and Digital Entrepreneurship at the Secretariat of State for Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence.

Bilateral meetings

In this context, during the event, 52 startups and emerging projects in the health, digital technology (digi-tech), and sustainable agriculture (agro-green) sectors presented their pitches to specialized investment funds and large corporations. Additionally, 57 startups had booths, and more than 100 pre-scheduled one-on-one meetings took place between startup representatives and investment firms and corporations.

In addition, various panel discussions explored topics such as global trends, emerging sectors, open innovation, and the keys to success in startup investing

CEIN Startup Day also served as the launch event for the Tech FabLab project, a support network for digital entrepreneurship that is part of the Regional Networks for Technological Specialization (RETECH) program. This program is promoted by the Government of Spain as part of the Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan, with a budget of 248 million euros funded by Next Generation EU, supplemented by 87 million euros contributed by the autonomous communities. Tech FabLab has a total budget of 42 million euros, of which 31.5 million euros are provided by the Ministry for Digital Transformation and the Civil Service and 10.5 million euros by the six participating autonomous communities.

Leading companies

This year’s CEIN Startup Day included an event held yesterday afternoon, during which awards were presented to new companies and startups associated with CEIN programs, as well as to Navarran firms that received the “Top 101 Spain Up Nation” distinction.

The five startups from Navarre recognized at the TOP101 Spain Up Nation Awards for innovative entrepreneurship received their awards from Garbiñe Basterra, Director General of Energy and Digital Transition, Business R&D&I, and Entrepreneurship. These companies are Allbiotech, Hemotic, Human AI, Nulab, and Yenxa.

With regard to Ruta 31, the Navarre Business Idea Accelerator, funded by the Navarre Employment Service – Nafar Lansare (SNE-NL), two grants of 1,500 euros—provided by Caja Rural de Navarra—were awarded to two companies launched this year that have completed the entire program.

The awards were presented by Miriam Martón, managing director of SNE-NL, and Víctor Iriarte, head of Caja Rural de Navarra’s Inicia Line. The first award went to Adapting Algebraic Tech, a consulting firm that combines AI and applied mathematics to generate scalable predictive models. The award was accepted by its founders, Enrique Millán and Juan Martínez de la Pedraja. Also honored was ‘Pattas, naturalmente animal,’ a pioneering center for holistic wellness for dogs and cats that combines a pet store, an integrative veterinary clinic, and dog training. Its founder, María Fernández, accepted the award.

CEIN’s managing director, Uxue Itoiz, presented the “Award for the startup based in CEIN’s Innovation Incubators in 2025 that creates the most jobs,” which consists of six months of free space in the incubators. The award went to Nucaps Nanotechnology, a biotechnology startup that designs and produces a new generation of functional ingredients. It currently employs 16 people. Its R&D director, Ana Luisa Martínez, accepted the award.

Finally, General Director Garbiñe Basterra presented Madergia with an award for its achievements as a company based in the CEIN Innovation Incubator. The company began its journey at the Incubator in 2005, led by Diego Núñez and Óscar Landa-Arroitajauregui, in the emerging sector of sustainable construction, offering engineering and construction services using wood as the primary raw material. Today, it has 46 employees and offices in Madrid, Barcelona, Lugo, Málaga, and Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The award was accepted by its founders, Diego Núñez and Óscar Landa-Arroitajauregui.