Andalusia TRADE has coordinated the participation of 29 Andalusian companies —including startups and technology providers— at 4 Years From Now (4YFN26), the reference event for emerging companies in the technology sector that takes place annually in Spain. The event took place from March 2 to 5 as part of the Mobile World Congress Barcelona (MWC26), a globally recognized fair in the field of technology that brings together an average of 100,000 professionals from more than 200 countries each year.
The Ministry of Economy, Finance, European Funds, and Social Dialogue, through this public agency, structured the Andalusian intervention around two axes: the internationalization of the participating firms and technology transfer. The aim was to facilitate access for the most dynamic startups in the community to international funding opportunities and attract foreign capital that contributes to their global projection.
To this end, Andalusia TRADE had an institutional stand in the regional exhibition space, from where the participating companies held dozens of professional meetings in B2B format. In parallel, a program of activities was launched aimed at promoting alliances within the international technology ecosystem.
One of the central axes of the Andalusian presence was the co-organization of the international technology transfer days MWC Open Innovation Challenge 2026, held in parallel to the event through the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN). Andalusia TRADE acts as coordinator of the consortium that forms the EEN Andalusia Node (Ceseand), which also includes the Confederation of Employers of Andalusia (CEA) and the Andalusian Council of Chambers of Commerce.
These days are structured in rapid bilateral meetings (B2B) designed for startups to present their solutions to technological challenges previously formulated by large corporations. Held in the 4YFN pavilion, they generated more than 2,500 meetings lasting between 20 and 30 minutes aimed at creating global alliances. In total, 17 Andalusian entities —15 of them companies— scheduled appointments, both in-person and remotely, with participants from more than 700 attendees from 43 countries. The program also included 76 technological challenges posed by 44 large corporations from 10 different countries.
On Tuesday, March 3, eight startups from the delegation made pitching presentations at the Banco Sabadell stand, as part of a collaboration with Andalusia Emprende. The companies that participated in that session were Hermes Security Solutions (Huelva), Bioherent (Málaga), MetaMedicsVR (Málaga), La Curva Tech (Granada), Sicloo Circular Ventures (Sevilla), Beeconnected Comex (Sevilla), Firmafy Soluciones Tecnológicas (Granada), and Seguros Tech Correduría de Seguros para Empresas Profesionales (Granada).
Also with Andalusia Emprende, the selection of Andalusian companies for a matchmaking meeting with investors organized by CaixaBank's DayOne program was promoted. On Wednesday the 4th, three startups selected by the financial entity participated in those meetings: Novelingo (Málaga), Bioherent (Málaga), and AgPhotonics (Málaga). The next day, Thursday the 5th, AgPhotonics took part as a finalist in the Spin-off Pitch Battle, a competition focused on innovative technological projects originating from research and university fields.
In total, 17 Andalusian companies traveled to Barcelona to explore international business opportunities. They come from different provinces: from Córdoba, InTheSk I; from Granada, Firmafy Soluciones Tecnológicas, MS2S Innovación, La Curva Tech, and Seguros Tech Correduría de Seguros para Empresas y Profesionales; from Huelva, Hermes Security Solutions and Yasir Doulfikar Jouhri; from Málaga, W3S, Algorath Software Lab, AgPhotonics, Novelingo, MetaMedicsVR, Bioherent, and Bogdan Yosava; and from Sevilla, EonSea, Beeconnected Comex, and Sicloo Circular Ventures.
Another twelve companies and institutions participated in the B2B interviews of the MWC Open Innovation Challenge days, alongside five firms also present in the area of internationalization: AgPhotonics, W3S, MetaMedicsVR, Novelingo, and InTheSk. The new entities added to these days were Atenxia (Granada), Biotfy (Málaga), Catec (Sevilla), IThreex Global (Málaga), Kids&Clouds (Sevilla), Mube (Granada), Onversed Technologies (Málaga), PinMy (Málaga), Robotics Lab Aicia-University of Sevilla (Sevilla), Secmotic Innovation (Sevilla), Tumanag3r – Influencers Management Agency (Málaga), and Xproplay (Sevilla).
The participation of Andalucía TRADE in this action is co-financed with funds from the European Union, under the Operational Program FEDER of Andalucía 2021-2027, endowed with a community contribution of 85%, or other European programs that may co-finance the action.
4YFN is a parallel event to the MWC focused on the technological entrepreneurial ecosystem, which fosters networking, access to investment, and the internationalization of emerging business models. In its twelfth edition, the congress brought together more than 100,000 attendees from over 200 countries, with expectations of surpassing the economic impact of the previous edition, which reached 561 million euros. The Fira de Barcelona provides a suitable environment for early-stage companies looking to expand their networking with the main agents of the entrepreneurial ecosystem, explore sector trends, and connect with investors through a program of conferences and networking activities.