BStartup returns to 4YFN 2026 as Main Partner: four days of innovation and opportunities
Once again, BStartup by Banco Sabadell was at 4YFN as Main Sponsor. Four days at Fira Barcelona where we were able to connect with startups, scaleups, investors and corporations at this leading innovation platform that we have supported since its inception.
Yolanda Pérez, Deputy Director of Banco Sabadell and BStartup Director: “We have supported 4YFN since its first edition and we continue to do so because we believe it is an excellent showcase for the Spanish innovation ecosystem. Additionally, we have presented our value proposition as a partner for startups and scaleups not only with highly specialised banking products but also through equity investment in more than 100 companies”.
‘@BancoSabadell invirtió 15,3 millones en #Startups en 2025 y las financió con 500 millones de euros’ https://t.co/Iapb2rjn9j vía @elconfidencial#4YFN26 #MWC26
cc @BStartup #SabadellVentureCapital pic.twitter.com/BMjshON6ey— Sabadell Prensa (@sabadellprensa) March 5, 2026
From our stand we hosted portfolio startups, organised panels and meetings with key ecosystem players, and took part with our own sessions at the Agora Stage and the Banco Sabadell Stage. Here is how we experienced it, day by day.
Monday, 2 March
The day closed with the Meet Young VC gathering, titled “How much has AI really changed us“, with Lluis Llorens from Plug and Play, Sandra Castells from Lanai Ventures, Tristán Conde from Abac Nest Ventures,Arnau Bosch from Soundstorming, Anna Niubó from Sabadell Venture Capital and Arnau Segura from BStartup Banco Sabadell.
Tuesday, 3 March
ACCIÓ organised a startup meeting. Junta de Andalucía presented the “Pitch Session: Andalusian Talent in the Spotlight“. Barcelona Health Hub moderated the panel “The digital revolution in health: from research to the patient“. CEEI Asturias organised “Asturias Talent Paradise“. 101 Area held its “Demo Day Acceleration Program“. Port de Barcelona presented the session “Driving innovation and sustainability at the Port of Barcelona“. SeedRocket organised the talk “From zero to exit: the complete startup journey“, with Laura Martínez from The Hotels Network.
Agora Stage: “Is SaaS dead or is it just mutating?”
All three speakers agreed that SaaS is not dead, but rather it is undergoing a transformation driven by artificial intelligence. Laura Urquizu noted that the companies that disappear are those that fail to adaptand identified three competitive differentiation elements for vertical SaaS: el brand moat, el data moat y el distribution moat. Toni Berga identified pressure on development costs as the main factor that will redefine the sector’s pricing. Luis Garay argued that the reduction in the cost of building software puts pressure on margins, but that reliability, security and maintenance costs continue to favour specialised providersover in-house development.
Banco Sabadell Stage: “Building the next wave of AI-native companies”
Elisenda Bou defined AI-native companies as those that build their products through agents and adopt an agentic-first organisational culture across all their areas. She identified the main technical challenge as the leap from prototype to production: getting an agent to work at 95% is achievable, but the remaining 5% requires curated and reliable data. “The internet was not built for agents“, she noted, placing there the raison d’être of Cala: a curated data infrastructure that enables agents to operate in real production. She added that the speed of AI adoption has created a new dynamic in which large companies hire startups to improve their internal workflows.
Alexander Martynau noted that the startups that scale successfully share two characteristics: they build for the global market from the start, and their founders show high resilience. “The most successful AI-native startups build for the world, not for their region, not even for Europe“.
Eduardo Ordax Duque highlighted that organisations that had previously invested in their data strategy are the ones that adopt AI most easily. He warned that adopting AI cannot be an end in itself: “It’s not about being AI-first. AI is simply a journey, and you need to enjoy the journey and learn from it“. He anticipated that agentic AI will become mainstream in two to three years, with a direct impact on entry-level roles in organisations, and that companies will need to adapt to working with probabilistic outcomes.
Wednesday, 4 March
Agora Stage: “Scaling the Energy Transition: Investment and Technological Innovation”
Jan Lozek identified the founding team as the most decisive factor in climate tech investment, above and beyond the technology: “The best investments in our portfolio have been driven by the right founders: resilient, motivating, committed. It’s not about the technology or the energy transition first: it’s about having people with passion and ambition“. He also underlined the need for collaboration between startups, corporations and investors: “The energy system needs to operate 24/7, and to innovate within it you have to work together“.
Diego Díaz Pilas highlighted the electrification of the economy as the most direct path to decarbonisation: “Electricity currently represents only a quarter of the total energy mix. The great challenge now is to grow that share from 25% to 30%, 35%, 40%. If we achieve that, we will be effectively decarbonising the economy, because we are already decarbonising electricity“.
Fernando Casado addressed the relationship between corporate pilots and scalability: “To make good innovation work, you have to reduce the fear of failure. Pilots that drag on for 6, 9, or 12 months just so a startup can use a corporation’s logo in their pitch don’t help anyone. Failing faster is, without a doubt, the best path to scaling faster“. He argued that a climate tech startup must be able to compete on price or operate without relying on enabling regulation or a green premium.
Thursday, 5 March
The final day of the event once again featured xNova International, Soundstorming, Plesh, NeuralTrust and Cofers at the stand. BlueTechPort organised the session “Blue Economy Innovators: start-ups scaling innovation across the Blue Economy“. Barcelona Health Hub closed its panel series at the BStartup stand with the session “Connected health: data, devices and decisions“.
Thank you to all the institutions and ecosystem players who joined us at our stand and a very special thank you to all those who took to our stages to share your knowledge and vision. Thank you also to the 15 startups from our portfolio who were present during these days. See you at #4YFN27!
