Out of 35 startups, one comes from Uruguay. It is a small detail that says something about the ambition of Canarias Destino Startup: to be a meeting point between three continents, not just a local fair.
The fourth edition ran from 7 to 9 October 2026 at the Palacio de Congresos de Canarias, Auditorio Alfredo Kraus, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, with free entry. Of the 35 selected projects, 15 are from Gran Canaria, 9 from the rest of the Canaries, 10 from mainland Spain and one from Uruguay. It is organised by AJE Canarias (with AJE Las Palmas, AJE Tenerife and AJE Under 30), with institutional backing from the First Vice-Presidency of the Cabildo of Gran Canaria. Sponsors also include the Canarian Government, Las Palmas City Council (through Turismo LPA), Red.es and CaixaBank DayOne.
The pitch final was scheduled for Friday 9 at 12:00, with a 10,000 euro prize. At the time of writing I found no source saying who won, so we do not treat it as known.
For anyone living here, the most interesting part is in the programme. Day two included the sandboxes: an urban sandbox in Las Palmas and a tourism one in Tenerife, meaning spaces where a technology can be tested under regulated conditions before it spreads. Day three was devoted to new technologies and public infrastructure for blue and digital innovation. Day one themes included innovation in large Canarian companies and R&D from knowledge centres. The expo area had ULPGC, the University of La Laguna, the Canarian Technological Institute, SODECAN, SPEGC, FULP, PROEXCA and the Canarian Business Confederation.
On the money side, the “Encuentro con Inversores” round table brought together, among others, Guillermo Soto (Banclubs), Jesús Ávila (Seedway Ventures), Teresa Domínguez (WA4STEAM), Nacho Alonso (Pinama Capital), Orfeo Balboa (First Drop), Jorge Martínez (Enterprise Tech34) and the business-angel network RECABA, moderated by Patricia Fraile of Archipélago Next. Another session covered SODECAN’s financing lines and European opportunities through EIT Community.
An Ecosistema Startup article recalls three Canarian companies with ENISA financing, Evocons, Kanzo Tech and Wedge Global, and the University of La Laguna spin-off Wooptix. The text does not say they took part in this edition, so they stand only as examples of the local ecosystem.
What remains to be checked? How many of the 35 projects will find an investor, and how much of the sandboxes will become a real service in Las Palmas or Tenerife. The event lines up the right players, but results will show in the coming months.
