Valencia, May 28, 2026 – Opentop, the open innovation hub of Valenciaport, has officially presented the sixth edition of the Valenciaport Hackathon for Startups. The event will be held in person on June 30 and July 1, 2026. At the iconic Clock Building of the Port of Valencia, and registrations are now open at opentop.es.
The presentation day featured broad representation from challengers, collaborators, and mentors. It began with welcome remarks from Jorge Marcos, Project Lead at Opentop, followed by Juan Manuel Díez, Head of Innovation at the Port Authority of Valencia. Díez highlighted the opportunities the Hackathon offers for startups to test their solutions in the Valenciaport Sandbox. Afterwards, Antonio Torregrosa, CEO of the Valenciaport Foundation, expressed his satisfaction with the growth and consolidation of the event. Now with an international format targeting startups addressing the three proposed challenges.
Paula Vivó, from Innova y Acción, organizing partner of this edition, explained the methodological innovations to be applied, resulting from the experience accumulated in over 30 hackathons by her organization, along with the use of Opentop’s matchmaking service as a key tool to connect startups and challengers with better alignment.
Three high-impact challenges for the sector
The challenges of this edition were presented during the event.
Rafael Company, Director of Security and Protection at the Valenciaport Foundation, on behalf of the Valenciaport Cluster Innovation Committee. Presented the Disruption Response Challenge: creating an AI-based monitoring and response platform to anticipate and manage disruptions at the Port of Valencia.
Raúl Cascajo and Pilar Agramunt, representing VPI Logística, introduced the Access and Smart Mobility in the ZAL Challenge: designing a model to manage access, security, and mobility for the Port of Valencia’s Logistic Activity Zone.
Alex Holland, Director of Industry Solutions at Hitachi Energy, presented the Multi-Vector Energy Management System Challenge: developing an EMS for the port sector integrating renewables, storage, and new energy vectors such as OPS, reefers, and electric vehicles.
Awards and ecosystem support
Winners of this edition will compete for a first prize of €6,000 and a second prize of €3,000. The latter supported by the Juan Arizo Serrulla Foundation (FJAS).
The event is backed by a broad port and innovation ecosystem. Supporters include the Asociación Naviera Valenciana (ANV), APMT, Boluda, Infoport, Nealis Innovation Hub , and The Whiteam Technology Services, with València Innovation Capital, Ideas UPV, Invest in Valencia, and Startup Valencia joining as innovation ecosystem entities.
The Valenciaport Hackathon has established itself as the international reference event for open innovation in the maritime-logistics sector and is now part of the permanent calendar of the global port innovation ecosystem.
About the call
The call targeted startups, scale-ups, and tech SMEs with a functional and innovative product or MVP. Capable of providing solutions to challenges in areas such as smart logistics, artificial intelligence, mobility, and energy transition.
Through this initiative, Valenciaport Hackathon aims to connect entrepreneurial talent with real challenges in the logistics-port sector and reinforce Valencia’s positioning as a strategic environment for innovation.
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