VDS 2026, the Valencia Digital Summit, takes place on Wednesday 21 and Thursday 22 October 2026 at the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia, Spain. Regular-price passes on the official site cost €179 for Thursday only and €299, €599 or €799 for the two-day Ecosystem, Business and Investor passes. Headline speakers include Carl Lewis, César Azpilicueta, ClickUp co-founder Chris Cunningham and analog astronaut Carmen Köhler.

All times are Central European Summer Time (CEST, UTC+2), local time in Valencia.

Key facts

  • Dates: 21–22 October 2026, the ninth edition of an event that has run since 2018
  • Venue: City of Arts and Sciences, Av. del Professor López Piñero 7, Valencia
  • Organiser: Startup Valencia, a non-profit association
  • Concept: "Genesis", with the motto "Origin of What's Next"
  • Organiser's projections: 12,000+ attendees from 120+ countries, 3,000 startups and scaleups, 1,500+ corporates and 800+ investors who, by the organiser's count, manage more than €300 billion

Schedule highlights

The official agenda, as published on 5 October 2026, sets these anchor points on the Main Stage. Sessions can still move, so check the VDS app.

Wednesday 21 October

  • 09:40 – opening remarks with Startup Valencia CEO Nacho Mas and Valencia mayor María José Catalá
  • 11:00 – Carmen Köhler, Mars analog astronaut with the Austrian Space Forum
  • 11:20–12:05 – Carl Lewis, nine-time Olympic champion, on performance and leadership
  • 12:25 – Chris Cunningham on B2B growth when feeds are flooded with AI content
  • 16:00 – "Europe is Rearming. Can It Deploy?", a defence panel with speakers from the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency and Defence Innovation Network Finland
  • 18:00–21:00 – happy hour in the lake area

Thursday 22 October

  • 12:00 – César Azpilicueta on sports technology and athlete longevity
  • 13:20 – Preply co-founder and CTO Dmytro Voloshyn on generative AI in learning
  • 15:00–18:00 – final of the VDS Startup Competition, with 25 finalists pitching
  • 18:00–18:45 – awards ceremony and closing remarks
  • 18:45–22:00 – closing party in the lake area

Passes and prices

Four pass types were on sale on vds.tech as of 5 October 2026, in a regular price phase that the site says runs until 22 October:

  • Thursday Pass, €179: 22 October only, with access to the stages, expo village, meeting area, matchmaking app, pre-bookable 1:1 meetings and the closing party.
  • Ecosystem Pass, €299: both days, plus the Wednesday happy hour and after-work party, side events, badge printing the day before and a listing in the VDS Startup Playbook.
  • Business Pass, €599: adds a business lounge, priority access and a one-year Startup Valencia membership for new eligible members, which the organiser values at €150.
  • Investor Pass, €799: adds a dedicated investors' area, investor-only side events and full access to the Startup Playbook.

The terms of purchase bar attendees from reselling passes or buying them from anyone other than the organiser, and VDS warns that emails offering its attendee list are scams.

Speakers and tracks

The organiser's agenda announcement of 29 September 2026 counts more than 600 speakers, 46% of them international, and representatives of 17 unicorns, including ClickUp, Miro, ElevenLabs, Poolside, Preply, Hostinger, Kraken and Qonto. The programme has more than 200 sessions across eight stages. The speaker list also includes Ana Sandra Ruiz, senior director of growth at Spotify, Read AI CEO David Shim, NVIDIA's Yasmina Benkhoui and Plug and Play founder Saeed Amidi.

Content runs across eight tracks: AI and deep tech, climate and energy, defence and aerospace, talent and the future of work, health, mobility and logistics, digital wealth, and policy. More European AI coverage is in our AI section.

Startup Competition and Capital4Startups

Applications for the VDS Startup Competition, run with Plug and Play, have closed. An international jury narrows the field to a Top 100, then 50 semi-finalists and 25 finalists. The winner, named Best Startup of VDS 2026, receives €150,000 in Microsoft Azure credits and joins Santander X 100. Semi-finalists may also be considered for a VDS Investment Award of up to €100,000, which the organiser stresses is neither a cash prize nor a guaranteed investment.

Capital4Startups is a single application that the organiser shares with more than 35 venture funds, family offices and corporate investors; interested investors contact founders directly. For funding news on young European companies, follow our Startups section.

Getting there

The organiser's travel page lists these options:

  • Metro: Ciutat Arts i Ciències – Justícia station (Ciudad Artes y Ciencias – Justicia in Spanish) on Metrovalencia line 10
  • Bus: EMT lines 13, 15, 19, 24, 25, 35, 40, 94, 95 and 99
  • Car: the City of Arts and Sciences car park
  • Travel discounts: 5% off Renfe trains to Valencia between 19 and 24 October, and €7 off a first Freenow taxi ride paid in the app between 20 and 24 October 2026, with a code requested through a form on the travel page and limited to the first 2,000 redemptions

For other events this autumn, see our 2026–27 European conference calendar and the Conferences section.

Frequently asked questions

When is Valencia Digital Summit 2026?

On 21 and 22 October 2026. The Main Stage opens at 09:40 CEST on the first day, and the second day ends with closing remarks at 18:00 and a closing party until 22:00 CEST.

How much does a VDS 2026 pass cost?

As of 5 October 2026, prices run from €179 for the Thursday Pass to €799 for the Investor Pass. The two-day Ecosystem and Business passes cost €299 and €599.

Are the talks in English?

Most sessions on the agenda that state a language are marked English. A small number, including the opening remarks, are in Spanish.