On 25 March, the workshop “SCAIRA networking B2B and B2F: start-ups, industry and investment” took place at CTA’s headquarters in Seville. The activity formed part of Service 14 of the SCAIRA acceleration programme. The session was designed to enable beneficiary start-ups to present their projects to experts and investors and to receive specialised guidance in key areas such as access to finance, business acceleration, technology scaling and solution validation.
In this edition, the start-ups selected in the programme’s second call were at the centre of the event. Following the welcome address, five of the six initiatives chosen in this round — Mauricio Castro y Luis do Rego (Enigma 2024), Gonçalo Melo (Planta Smart Homes), Mariana Vásquez (CeroZero), Miguel Ángel Chamizo (Janus AIgen) and Tonny Velin (AICRUM IT) — presented their proposals to sector specialists, once again demonstrating the diversity and innovative potential of the SUDOE ecosystem, while receiving valuable strategic recommendations.
One of the central moments of the day was the round table “Impact Investing: Business Angels in Europe”, which featured Jerónimo Béjar (EONIQ Fund), Marta Escobar (AXON Partners Group), Juan Carlos Bugallo (Startups.st) y Alexandre Grandremy (Planet Impact Advisory).
During the discussion, moderated by Silvia de los Santos, Senior Innovation Consultant in Aerospace and Defence, the criteria influencing investment decisions in innovative start-ups and SMEs were examined, along with the emerging trends showing the greatest potential in Europe and the key factors for optimising funding search processes.
Talent that connects
This was followed by a speed mentoring session, which enabled each entrepreneur to hold one-to-one meetings with the participating experts. These sessions facilitated direct and practical exchanges aimed at addressing the specific challenges of each project and identifying opportunities for growth.
The day concluded with a networking catering session that encouraged interaction between start-ups, investors and stakeholders from the innovation ecosystem in a friendly and collaborative atmosphere. The SCAIRA project, whose main objective is to support the creation and acceleration of technology companies in the aerospace and automotive sectors in France, Portugal and Spain, is now entering its final phase, with completion scheduled for 31 December 2026.
Representing CTA, those also in attendance were Clara Fernández, Project Manager; Juanita Zenteno, Innovation Consultant; and Manuel Silva, Communications Officer.