One-liner: the city's subsidised stand slot at Web Summit Lisbon — up to 24 València startups get exhibition space on the Startup Island, as in-kind aid worth €1,100 each, with no cash changing hands.
What a founder gets
- 1.5 m of exhibition space on the Web Summit Startup Island, allocated in rotating exposure slots (so the space is shared across the event, not held all day).
- Valued at €1,100 per startup as non-monetary aid.
- Access to Web Summit's networking, investor and international-market layer — which is the actual point; the €1,100 is the accounting figure, not the benefit.
Who it's for
Startups meeting one of two gates:
- Headquarters in València or its metropolitan area, or
- Participation in an acceleration/incubation programme run by a local entity between 1 January 2024 and the application deadline.
Plus a thematic fit with the Fundación's priority areas: GovTech, Agrotech, Salud Digital y Bienestar, Semiconductores, Emergencia/Seguridad y Defense Tech, Tecnologías Inmersivas y Videojuegos, Urban Tech y Turismo Sostenible. These are the same eight areas that run through VIC's whole instrument stack — see VLC Startup Awards 2026 and VIC Innovation Grants 2026.
⚠️ Note the second gate. Having been through any local accelerator or incubator since Jan 2024 qualifies you even without a València HQ — a genuinely wide door that is easy to miss.
How to engage
- Run by the Fundación València Innovation Capital; final selection and evaluation is done by the Web Summit Lisboa organisation, not by the city — so meeting the city's gate gets you submitted, not selected.
- 2026 deadline: 6 September 2026 — closed (four days before the 2026-09-06 scan, which is why it was missed then and is recorded here as a closed find rather than a live one).
- Recurring. Web Summit Lisbon runs each November, so watch VIC's convocatorias index from ~July 2027.
Key facts
- This is the kind of instrument the Brain exists to surface: no money, real access. A founder filtering for "funding" would never see it.
- Sits alongside Startup Valencia Soft Landing Program and Valencia International Alliance (Program) in the internationalization layer.
2026-09-16 — the selection filter, from the bases (this is the decisive part)
The earlier write-up had the money and the eligibility gate but not the scoring, which is where most applicants would actually fail. BDNS 920541; total call budget €26,400 ex-VAT (24 × €1,100). The stand is eight 1.5 m spaces used in rotating turns, which is how 8 spaces serve 24 startups.
The criteria are applied by the Web Summit organisation, not by the Fundación — and the maximum is 10 points, of which you must score all 10. That makes it not a ranking but seven cumulative pass/fail conditions:
| Condition | Pts |
|---|---|
| Own software solution or hardware device, at least at MVP stage | 2 |
| Not a consultancy, agency, development shop or public entity | 2 |
| A working website that clearly shows the product | 2 |
| Independent company, not a subsidiary of a larger organisation | 1 |
| Not already registered as an exhibitor at the event | 1 |
| Fewer than 150 employees | 1 |
| Founded less than six years ago | 1 |
⚠️ Failing any single one is disqualifying — turning six years old, or having a site that doesn't show the product, is enough. The "not a consultancy or development agency" condition is the one that quietly excludes a large share of the Valencian tech-services sector.
⚠️ And 10/10 still does not guarantee a place. The bases state participation is conditional on Web Summit's final validation and on actual availability, and the organisers may check public information from corporate websites and business sources to verify claims. Selected startups are then assigned a category — ALPHA, BETA or GROWTH.
Two-step circuit: the Fundación verifies the formal requirements and forwards admitted candidacies to Web Summit, which evaluates and selects. Instruction sits with VIC's technical services; the Dirección-Gerencia resolves. Late or incomplete applications are not accepted. In practice this behaves less like a grant and more like a candidacy filed on your behalf by the city — VIC cannot guarantee the place even with a flawless file.
Sibling instrument: Startup Island Valencia Digital Summit 2026 — same shape, €500 per startup, 24 places, but it requires a València HQ and an ecosystem link, where this call accepts either. Independent requirements, scoring and windows; do not read across.
Primary sources: bases reguladoras on the BDNS (idDocumento 1497499) and the signed
resolution R213-26-Resolucion-aprobacion-bases-conv.especie_WSL-26-1_firmado.pdf hosted by
VIC. The detail above was read from a secondary aggregator (eurofunds.es) that cites both;
the figures should be confirmed against the resolution itself before anyone relies on them
for the 2027 edition. #status/verify
Relations
- Run by: Valencia Innovation Capital
- See also: Valencia International Alliance (Program)
- See also: Startup Valencia Soft Landing Program
- See also: VLC Startup Awards 2026
- See also: Startup Island Valencia Digital Summit 2026