Last December 13th, the MIT Enterprise Forum Spain, the local Chapter of the MIT Enterprise Forum, a global organization based at MIT devoted to promoting Entrepreneurship and Innovation worldwide (see www.mitef.org), held its 7th annual Investor´s Forum, with the CEO of BBVA, Carlos Torres Vila (MiT BS 1988) as opening speaker.  Also, this year was the official first event with Juan A. Latasa, Founder and CEO of J21 Partners (MIT BS 1991), as new President of  MiTEF Spain.

Additionally there was also a Panel with high level speakers about “Disruptive Technologies: The impact of Big Data, AI and Industry 4.0”. The picture below taken at the beginning of the Panel shows (from left to right):

• Fernando Sandoval (Manager Enel Innovation Hub Madrid / Endesa)
• Arturo Derteano, (Partner, Head of Business Consulting for the Financial Sector, EY)
• Clara Pombo (Patron & Co-founder MIT Enterprise Forum Spain, General Manager Clarke, Modet & Co)
• Carlos Torres Vila, CEO BBVA
• Ana Segurado (Managing Director Telefónica OpenFuture / Wayra)
• Beatriz Giménez (Head of Strategy, New Digital Businesses, BBVA)
• Juan A. Latasa, President MITEF Spain

The main part of the event was the speed-dating among Entrepreneurs and Investors (this year there were over 45 selected startups, and 26 professional investors). With over 30% investment ratio from other years (over 300 startups have been present in total during the 7 editions), the MITEF Forum has become one of the reference events in the industry in Spain.

Needless to say,  J21 Partners is excited to support the entrepreneur / investor ecosystem in Spain through the Presidency and active membership of the MIT Enterprise Forum for this event and other activities.

Please refer to some of the media coverage of the event for more information (see some examples below):

https://www.bbva.com/es/innovacion-abierta-clave-transformacion-bbva/

http://www.efeemprende.com/noticia/torres-vila-bbva-investors-forum/

http://www.ciospain.es/finanzas/gracias-a-open-talent-bbva-ha-contactado-con-700-startups-y-puesto-en-marcha-20-pilotos-en-2017