- CaixaBank, through DayOne, has presented the national awards of the 19th edition of the EmprendeXXI Awards, which have become a benchmark for the entrepreneurial ecosystem of Spain and Portugal.
- This year, eight Challenges of Tomorrow awards were presented, along with two cross-cutting runner-up prizes for Social Impact and Disruptive Innovation, and the Alumni Career Achievement Award.
- start-ups The winners of the Challenges of Tomorrow Awards have been Batea Oncology, Second Hundred, REWOOX, Voltic, Veganic, Aridditive, GPT Advisor and ATOM H2
- In addition, the cross-cutting runner-up prizes went to Polar Nanopharma for Social Impact and AjaxDNA for Disruptive Innovation; and the Alumni Career Achievement Award for its growth was given to Idoven.
CaixaBank, through DayOne, its division specializing in technology companies and their investors, has presented the national awards of the 19th edition of the EmprendeXXI AwardsThese awards, aimed at innovative technology-based companies headquartered in Spain and Portugal and established after January 1, 2022, have become a benchmark recognition for promoting, supporting, and fostering the entrepreneurial ecosystem. The awards are co-sponsored by the Ministry of Industry and Tourism, through Enisa in Spain, and Banco BPI in Portugal, at the regional level.
In this edition, the EmprendeXXI Awards have focused on identifying ideas that generate projects through innovation, improve people's lives, and protect the planet with technological solutions. To this end, prizes have been awarded. eight Tomorrow's Challenges Awards, structured into three main categories: business transformation, Human & Wellbeing y Living Planet.
start-ups The winners of the Challenges of Tomorrow Awards have been Batea Oncology, Second Hundred, REWOOX, Voltic, Veganic, Aridditive, GPT Advisor and ATOM H2In addition, two cross-cutting runner-up prizes have been awarded: the Social Impact AwardFor a company whose value proposition focuses on generating a positive impact on society through its business model, and the Runner-up Disruptive Innovation, to recognize the most disruptive technological innovation, deeptech o Frontier TechThese awards have been given to Polar Nanopharma (Catalonia) and AjaxDNA (Valencian Community), respectively.
Finally, the Award to Alumni journey to Idoven (Madrid), a company in the DayOne AlumniXXI community with a distinguished track record due to its growth and global impact.
The winning startups of the Challenges of Tomorrow
The National Challenges of Tomorrow Awards have recognized companies with the greatest potential to address the main challenges facing society and the current economic environment. This year, eight awards were presented, covering a range of challenges:
- Human & Wellbeing
- Health Challenge – Healthtech & Bio: Batea Oncology (Galicia) has been awarded in the challenge dedicated to digital health solutions, telemedicine, diagnosis, monitoring, personalized medicine, mental well-being, prevention, fitness and physical activity. Batea Oncology Horus ML is developing an innovative medical device to transform the treatment of glioblastoma, the most common and aggressive brain tumor. Their technology aims to improve therapeutic options and the quality of life for patients, driving a new approach to managing this highly complex disease. The finalist company was Horus ML.
- Generation + Wellbeing Challenge: Second Hundred (Catalonia) has been the start-up winner of this challenge, which recognizes solutions linked to the silvereconomyactive aging and improving the quality of life of older people. Second Hundred It allows for blood tests to be performed at home using an automatic, painless, and easy-to-use extraction device. The samples are sent to accredited laboratories, and the user receives a report, facilitating health monitoring without the need to travel. The finalist company was Marisma Biomed.
- Challenge: Education, culture and leisure REWOOX (Andalusia) has been recognized as the best start-up of this challenge, geared towards digital education projects, e-learning, personalized learning, digital entertainment, cultural experiences, socialization and connection. REWOOX It provides immersive training experiences based on Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence. Its technology allows for the creation of practical, realistic, and customizable simulations to improve how people learn and train new skills. The finalist company was Foxtery.
- Tourism and travel challenge: Voltic (Balearic Islands) has been the start-up awarded in this challenge, which recognizes solutions for responsible tourism, mobility and traveltech with an impact on the tourism sector. voltic It helps hotels quickly and easily reduce their energy consumption, without construction or complex installations. Its plug-and-play wireless system allows for climate control and room energy consumption monitoring, optimizing building efficiency from day one. Thanks to its technology, hotels can reduce their energy costs by up to 30%, improving operational management without compromising the guest experience. The finalist company was DareMapp.
- Human & Wellbeing
- business transformation
- Challenge: Agriculture, livestock, fishing, forestry and related industriesVeganic (Valencian Community) has been the start-up winner in this challenge, aimed at projects that promote the transformation of the agri-food sector and related activities through solutions such as IoT sensors, crop optimization, food traceability, animal welfare or forest risk management. Veganic DeepFarm develops vegan and cruelty-free biosolutions for crop nutrition and protection, offering sustainable and environmentally friendly alternatives. Their solutions help farmers responsibly improve productivity, driving more efficient, ethical, and sustainable agriculture. The finalist company was DeepFarm.
- Industry 4.0 challenge, manufacturing, construction and transport: Aridditive (Catalonia) has been recognized as the best start-up of this challenge, focused on robotics solutions, digital twins, new materials, proptechAutomation and other technologies with transformative capacity for industry, construction and transport. Aridditive It is transforming the construction sector through 3D printing technology, developing sustainable elements with low-environmental-impact materials. Its proposal combines complete traceability, design flexibility, and more efficient processes to drive more innovative, sustainable, and future-proof construction. The finalist company was EXXN Engineering.
- Challenge: Financial services, commerce and business support GPT Advisor (Valencian Community) has been the start-up awarded in this challenge, which recognizes projects fintech, e-commerce, regtech, legaltech, SaaS solutions, marketplaces and platforms aimed at facilitating the digital transformation of companies. GPT Advisor Reveni develops generative AI agents for the wealth management sector, designed to boost the productivity of financial advisors. Their solutions automate tasks such as data analysis, report generation, and investment proposal creation, ensuring secure, auditable, and more efficient processes. The finalist company was Reveni.
- Living Planet
- Environment and decarbonization challenge: ATOM H2 (Catalonia) has been the winner of this challenge, aimed at projects that contribute to the ecological transition and sustainability through solutions in renewable energy, energy efficiency, waste management, carbon footprint, climate monitoring or water management. ATOM H2 It intelligently captures and stores surplus renewable energy, combining lithium batteries for immediate response with solid-state hydrogen for long-term needs. It is capable of replacing all diesel generators currently used as backup power systems, while providing clean and reliable energy. The finalist company was S. Lab.
- business transformation
The awards are supported by different companies within the group, business areas and divisions of CaixaBank: AgroBank, imagin, VidaCaixa, CaixaBank Seniors, MicroBank, CaixaBank Real Estate & Homes, CaixaBank Sustainable Banking, CaixaBank Private Banking, CaixaBank Wealth Management, CaixaBank Business, CaixaBank Dualiza, CaixaBank Tech, CaixaBank Payments & Consumer, the Innovation area of CaixaBank, CaixaBank Hotels & Tourism and CaixaBank Business.
Cross-cutting awards and AlumniXXI Recognition
In addition to the eight Challenges of Tomorrow Awards, the EmprendeXXI Awards have given two cross-cutting runner-up prizes among the companies registered in the call.
El Social Impact Award It has been for Polar Nanopharma[Company Name], a company that develops smart nanomedicines to improve cancer treatments. Its technology, based on biodegradable synthetic polymers, allows drugs to be targeted to the tumor more effectively and with less toxicity.
El Runner-up Disruptive Innovation has relapsed into AjaxDNA[Company Name], a company that develops technology to accelerate the creation of new therapies in the pharmaceutical industry. Its approach combines digital models of biological systems, which allow for simulations of cell behavior before laboratory testing, with a pioneering cell teleprogramming platform. With this, the company aims to make the research, development, and production of new treatments faster, more precise, and more efficient.
Also, the Alumni Career Recognition It has been for Idoven, winner of the EmprendeXXI Awards in Madrid and at the national level in the category Health in 2019-20 and is part of the DayOne AlumniXXI community, which has stood out for its growth trajectory and global impact. Idoven is a start-up pioneer in eHealth which has developed an assistant for diagnosing cardiac arrhythmias to prevent serious problems, including heart attacks and sudden death. To achieve this, it combines cloud-based data analysis using artificial intelligence algorithms with medical technology. wearable.
Recognition, international support and investment boost
The eight winning companies of the Challenges of Tomorrow Awards have received a financial endowment of 15.000 euros each. Meanwhile, the two companies that won the cross-cutting runner-up prizes received 9.000 euros each. In addition to the financial award, the start-ups Winners and finalists of the Challenges of Tomorrow Awards and the runners-up will have access to a international support program Moonshot Thinking for Entrepreneursorganized in collaboration with ESADE and ICEX in Berlin. Furthermore, all the companies awarded in this 19th edition have obtained the Direct approval of the Innovation Degree of the Emerging Companies Certification of the Government of Spain, granted by Enisa.
The winning companies will become part of the AlumniXXI community, which has become a meeting point for the exchange of knowledge, ideas and experiences among the founders of the companies awarded throughout the history of the EmprendeXXI Awards.
19 years driving the entrepreneurial ecosystem
Since their creation in 2007, the EmprendeXXI Awards have established themselves as one of the most prestigious recognitions for start-ups in Spain and Portugal. In its 19 editions, the program has invested more than 10 million euros in prizes and support actions, which have benefited more than 560 companies.
In this edition, in addition to the national phase, 19 regional awards have been given to the companies with the greatest impact in their territory: 17 in Spain, one for each autonomous community, and two in Portugal, corresponding to the north-central and Lisbon South and Islands areas.
About CaixaBank DayOne
DayOne is CaixaBank's division specializing in technology companies and their investors. Its objective is to support all fast-growing, globally operating technology-based companies that provide value-added services with specific solutions throughout their growth phases.
DayOne has expanded its value proposition with an instrument of venture debt, with an initial allocation of 150 million euros intended to boost growth in scale ups y start-ups established technology-based companies in Spain and Portugal. It also has specialized services for investors who support the growth of the ecosystem (business angels, venture capitally corporate).
Furthermore, it develops a relationship banking role with the different actors in the ecosystem, facilitating relationships, synergies, knowledge and innovation through strategic alliances.
Currently, DayOne has physical locations in Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia, Zaragoza, Bilbao, Málaga, and Girona, and business managers in Murcia, Castile and León, the Canary Islands, Seville, Galicia, and Catalonia. It now provides specialized services in 14 autonomous communities. DayOne centers are designed as hubs for the meeting of talent and capital. Its main function is to serve as a meeting point between the founders of technology companies, the partners who help them grow their business, and investors interested in innovative companies with growth potential.
About Enisa
The National Innovation Company is a public company attached to the Ministry of Industry and Tourism, whose mission is to support innovative and viable projects. start-ups and Spanish SMEs, facilitating their development and competitiveness in the global market.
It offers participatory loans of between 25.000 and 1,5 million euros, without requiring guarantees or collateral, beyond a solid project and the professional solvency of the management team.
In addition, Enisa acts as a certifying body for emerging companies that wish to take advantage of the tax incentives of the Startups Law, a pioneering regulation in Europe.
In 2025, Enisa granted 514 loans totaling €86,2 million. The average loan amount was around €167.000.
Historically, Enisa has provided 9.700 loans to more than 8.400 companies, with a total investment of 1.500 billion euros.
