The event, curated by us and celebrated at the new Google Campus Madrid, connected entrepreneurs, investors and institutions from both countries
Spain and the United States can complement each other in terms of innovation and entrepreneurship. Those who live on the other side of the Atlantic have the opportunity to find new investment options and young start-ups chomping at the bit to crack into the global marketplace in Spain. The Spanish entrepreneurs, on the other hand, can learn from the business know-how that has characterized the United States' entrepreneurial trajectory.
IN3 Spain, Incubating a New Spain was born from the desire to encourage the interlinking of these ecosystems, which took place last week in Madrid (Spain) and was initiated by the U.S. Embassy in Spain, Chamberí Valley and Google for Entrepreneurs. We were the company selected to organize this event, designed to generate a more hospitable climate for entrepreneurs, investors and institutions from both countries to meet and create a collaborative link between the ecosystems of each country.
“This was the most important event that Opinno has ever organized,” as Opinno´s Production Director, Teresa Martin, explained, while alluding to the difficulties involved in reuniting such prominent and important political figures and businessmen. Amongst the event´s speakers and participants, several deserve special mention: the King of Spain, Felipe VI; the President of Google, Eric Schmidt; the U.S. Ambassador to Spain, James Costos; the Spanish Industry Minister, José Manual Soria; the President of Inditex, Pablo Isla; and the President of Banco Santander, Ana Botín; with Opinno´s CEO, Pedro Moneo, as Master of Ceremonies.
All of the aforementioned public figures formed part of the activities during IN3, which was celebrated from June 18-20th. The first activity consisted of a gala dinner to introduce the attendees in a relaxed atmosphere. The “main course” of IN3 was served the following day, on Friday, June 19th at the newly inaugurated Google Campus Madrid.
“This was about laying the cornerstone upon which we can build a healthy and collaborative relationship between the United States and Spain which promotes a prosperous future for innovation in both countries,” said our Content Director, Sonia Sánchez-Gómez. For almost 10 hours, participants shared their experiences, learned from each other’s successes and mistakes through conferences, debates and workshops. In his opening speech, the U.S. Ambassador to Spain encouraged attendees to have “the freedom to fail” when creating a start-up.
Beyond business ecosystems, technology underpinned many of the main topics at IN3, such as artificial intelligence, deep learning, big data and energy futures. To explain the relevance of these different sessions, our Contents Director points out: “It´s about connecting entrepreneurs from USA and Spain so they can share both countries’s know-how”.
The backdrop for all of these activities was the collaboration between Spain and the United States to encourage and support entrepreneurship and to create a prosperous innovation ecosystem. The total sell-out of tickets to attend the event, and the satisfaction of the organizers speak to its success and the quality of our company´s talent in producing such events.
We thus add another triumph to our list of successfully organized events of this type. From early experiences in the production of MIT Technology Review´s emerging technology conference, EmTech, we have graduated to the production of events for third parties, like the recent Harvard Business Review Summit and the IE Business School’s Alumni Forum. All these events are possible thanks to the coordination of the our departments of Opinno People: Marketing and Communication, CRM and alliances, Contents and Design.
