A year of training, mentoring and business development support has enabled 14 new projects to transform promising ideas into entrepreneurial ventures. These projects formed part of the eighth edition of ViaGalicia, the startup accelerator promoted by the Vigo Free Trade Zone Consortium and the Regional Government of Galicia (Xunta de Galicia). Over the past 13 years, ViaGalicia has supported the creation and growth of 106 startups, most of which share a common focus on innovation.
The closing event for this edition took place at the auditorium of the Porto do Molle Business Centre, located in the Free Trade Zone’s business park in Nigrán. The ceremony brought together all participating teams, who received their diplomas from David Regades, State Delegate of the Vigo Free Trade Zone Consortium, and Covadonga Toca, Director of IGAPE (the Galician Institute for Economic Promotion). The entrepreneurs also had the opportunity to present their projects, which now become part of Galicia’s business ecosystem, helping to strengthen its competitiveness and growth potential.
The event was also attended by Juan González, Mayor of Nigrán; Rosa Méndez, Director of Innovation at IGAPE; and Ana Ortiz, Regional Delegate of the Xunta de Galicia in Vigo.
“Today you complete this stage and begin the journey of growth and consolidation,” said David Regades, who highlighted that “while studies show that only 10% of projects become long-term businesses, ViaGalicia has achieved a 54% survival rate.” He also noted that during the last year, startups supported by the accelerator generated more than €45 million in revenue and secured funding rounds worth €70 million, creating over 700 highly skilled jobs. “These figures reinforce ViaGalicia’s position as a benchmark programme for innovative entrepreneurship,” he added.
During this eighth edition, entrepreneurs with innovative, investable and scalable business proposals benefited from a comprehensive one-year support programme designed to help them refine their business models and unlock their full potential with greater chances of success.
Financial support remains one of the programme’s key strengths. Participating startups receive a non-refundable grant of €25,000 to help launch their projects. In addition, a €1.5 million investment fund is available to the most promising and investable startups to support their growth and scalability. The fund is managed through the venture capital firms Vigo Activo (Free Trade Zone) and XesGalicia (Xunta de Galicia), both driving forces behind the programme.
Across its eight editions, ViaGalicia has supported more than 250 projects selected from over 1,500 applications, establishing itself as one of Spain’s leading startup accelerators. The programme has fostered the development of products and services across a wide range of industries, including food, textiles, ICT, aerospace and Industry 4.0-related sectors, many of which have become market leaders in their respective fields.
ViaGalicia’s success stories include Alén Space, a startup specialising in nanosatellite launches and one of the pioneers of the emerging New Space sector; Beta Implants, currently a leader in the Iberian market for animal prosthetics and veterinary solutions; Alice Biometrics, an innovative biometric identification platform; OpositaTest, Spain’s leading online platform for civil service exam preparation; and VigSec-Drone, a software solution for the comprehensive management of airspaces where unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and manned aviation operate during emergency missions.
cloud technology axon
The investment will enable Forage to further scale its platform and ex...
