The Startup Arena of the Mindtech Startup Event hosted the final of the innovation contest promoted by ASIME, in collaboration with the Xunta de Galicia, within the framework of the Mindtech industrial fair. In this edition, the Galician startup Kreios Space was recognized as the most disruptive startup of the event. The project, which is part of the accelerator Business Factory Aero (BFAero), was presented by Yago Recarey, Project Manager of the company.
Along with Kreios Space, other companies from the BFAero ecosystem also participated as finalists, Vig-Sec Drone, represented by its CEO, Rubén Gil Fontán, in the same category of “Most Disruptive Startup”, and AGUIA Analítica, with the intervention of Macarena Álvarez, head of business development, in the category of “Digital processes applied to industry”.
On the other hand, during the Mindtech Awards ceremony, also held during the fair, the company Centum, participant of the second edition of the Business Factory Aero, was awarded in the Innovation category. The jury recognized its advanced solutions in the field of engineering and aerospace industry, highlighting especially its disruptive approach, its proprietary methodology and its open innovation model.
Institutional support for innovative entrepreneurship
The director of Igape, Covadonga Toca, participated this morning in the opening of the Mindtech Startup Event, a meeting that brings together entrepreneurs, investors, tractor companies and institutional representatives in the framework of the Mindtech industrial fair in Vigo and in which she highlighted the importance of the connection between industry and entrepreneurship to boost the competitiveness of the Galician economy.
Toca Carús highlighted the collaboration between the Xunta de Galicia, through the Igape, and ASIME, an alliance that has been maintained since 2019 and that resulted in the consolidation of the Mindtech Startup Arena, an exhibition space that hosts accelerators, incubators and startups with high technological content.
The Mindtech Startup Event focuses in this edition on key issues for the growth of new technology companies: early stage financing, project scaling, entrepreneurial ecosystem and the finals of the startup competition in three categories: most disruptive project, innovation in energy and environmental systems, and digital processes applied to industry.
Comprehensive support for Galician startups
In this scenario, stressed Toca Carús, the Xunta reaffirms its commitment to innovative entrepreneurship with a set of support instruments ranging from the earliest stages to international expansion. Among them, the director of the Igape highlighted the line of aid endowed with 1.5 million euros to cover 100% of the costs of Galician startups in their early stages, with contributions of up to 20,000 euros per project.
These measures, he recalled, are complemented by the network of sectoral accelerators Business Factory -BFAuto, BFFood, BFAero, BF Clima Tech-, which this year will have new additions in the areas of health, sport and renewable energy. “This model of comprehensive support makes Galicia a particularly attractive territory for entrepreneurship,” said Toca, who insisted that “entrepreneurship is not only an economic strategy, but also a way to build community and future.”
Metallurgical industry and internationalization
The director of Igape also referred to the good moment of the Galician metallurgical sector, with more than 60,000 jobs in 2024, a growth of 3% and a productive occupation of more than 90%. This sector, she explained, is gaining weight in high-value areas such as defense, aeronautics and offshore wind power, which makes it necessary to strengthen the connection with the education system and attract new talent.
En paralelo, la internacionalización sigue siendo una de las grandes apuestas de la Xunta. En 2024, Galicia consiguió una cifra récord de exportaciones por valor de 31.019 millones de euros, con un crecimiento interanual del 12 % en marzo de 2025. Toca destacó que los productos exportados son de alto valor añadido —automoción, alimentación o biotecnología— y que los destinos se diversifican cada vez más.