The University of Navarra Recognizes Its Students' Entrepreneurial Talent on the 10th Anniversary of Innovation Factory

The University of Navarra held a special edition of Innovation Day yesterday , during which it recognized the best entrepreneurial projects developed by its students. The event coincided with the tenth anniversary of Innovation Factory, the University’s innovation and entrepreneurship center, and with Global Entrepreneurship Day. The workshop the students’ talent and the strength of the projects that emerged from the classrooms, reflecting their ability to transform knowledge into initiatives with real market potential.

The awards were presented to the best projects from Fast Track, the University of Navarra’s business plan competition, which is open to students from all degree programs and is characterized by itsmultidisciplinary approach , as well as to the winning projects from The Investinn Hour, a program in which participants present the projects they wish to launch to a multidisciplinary jury multidisciplinary of students from degree scroll in Innovation and Entrepreneurship (GPIE), which evaluates the proposals and decides which initiatives receive financial support to help launch them.

At the Madrid campus, the Fast Track Awards for Master's Degree students Master's Degree presented earlier this year. The project was Venture Mining, led by Marta Valor, a student in the Dual Master's Degree Technological and Industrial Innovation, and Diana Paucar, a student in the Master's Degree Technological Innovation. The proposal on harnessing surplus solar energy for data mining.

In Pamplona, the first award went to Nomaddesk, developed by Victoria Apesteguía Oficialdegui, Pablo Losantos Parra, and Alba López-Dóriga Zubeldía, students in the Leadership and Governance program—a marketplace that connects companies with work to facilitate new work models. The second award to Nexia Trials, led by Sara de la Calle, Tessa Forns, Nuria Fuentes, Verónica Landa, Bartomeu Riera, and Ignacio Vaquero, students in Master's Degree Innovation and development (MIDI)—an AI-based solution that optimizes the selection of hospitals and predicts patient recruitment for clinical trials. The third award to Asclepio, developed by Federico Capriles Juaristi and Amelia Franchin, students in Degree Medicine program, which proposes digital tools based on clinical simulation to improve diagnostic reasoning among health sciences students. The winners from Pamplona will enjoy an international trip to visit Amsterdam’s entrepreneurship ecosystem.

At The Investinn Hour, the first award, worth €4,000, went to Scinergics, developed by Paula Domínguez, Carlos Luri, and Julen Torrens, alumni of Degree Biology, an initiative focused on communicating scientific and technological solutions applied to the field of biotechnology. The second award went to MTRYX, led by Jordi Borrut Burgal, a student in Business Administration and Management, and Jorge Martínez-Iñiguez García, a student in Architecture—a technological solution that enables pharmacies to create and manage their online sales channel by integrating their management inventory systems. The third award to Oratorium, led by Javier Etayo, a student of Law and Business Administration and Management, and Diego Salazar, a student of Philosophy, along with Cristian Veizaga, a student of Industrial Engineering at the Public University of Navarra. This initiative uses virtual reality and artificial intelligence to train communication skills in immersive environments through automated feedback. The winners of the second and third award will award receive financial support of €4,000 and €2,000, respectively.

Connection to the entrepreneurial ecosystem

Innovation Day brought together students, alumni, investors, and professionals from the innovation ecosystem for a workshop combined inspiration, recognition of entrepreneurial talent, and networking with the business world.

The program featured Andrés Saborido, CEO of Wayra, Telefónica’s corporate venture capital arm and open innovation platform that drives the growth of tech startups through investment and partnership large companies; Mariano Oto, CEO of Nucaps Nanotechnology, business specializing in molecular encapsulation technologies with applications in nutrition and health; as well as University of Navarra alumni Mario Fernández, CEO of Camby, a platform that automates the process of switching energy providers and optimizes electricity consumption to help reduce invoice ; and Julia Franch, CEO of Destino Dubai, business supports professionals and companies in their process of establishing operations in the United Arab Emirates.

“Fast Track was the first environment where we were able to test our idea with mentors, investors, and other entrepreneurs. Innovation Factory helped us structure the project understand how to turn an idea into a proposal . Beyond the knowledge, it gave us the confidence we needed to take the plunge and launch our own project, projectJulia added.

Innovation with a social impact

This edition also had a strong charitable focus, as 100% of the ticket proceeds went to project by Pablo Sánchez Bergasa, founder of Medical Open World and award of Girona Social award , whose goal to manufacture low-cost incubators for premature babies in Africa. During the event, attendees were also able to contribute directly to this initiative.
The workshop with a musical bingo game and, finally, with refreshments and a DJ on the esplanade of the University of Navarra Museum, fostering meeting students, entrepreneurs, alumni, and professionals in the innovation ecosystem.

Ten years driving innovation and entrepreneurship

The tenth anniversary also served to highlight the achievements of Innovation Factory, a cross-disciplinary university initiative aimed at connecting training, research business, with the goal transforming knowledge into solutions that have a real impact on society.
Innovation Factory works with students through educational activities ranging from multi-year training programs to intensive workshop experiences. It also offers guidance aimed at developing ideas, acquiring entrepreneurial skills, and transforming projects into viable business plans. 

Since 2019, Innovation Factory has registered 16 portfolio companies and reviewed 101 projects through its Startup Incubator; it has worked with 744 student projects, supported 76 alumni projects, and mentored 5,482 students in training sessions or activities, training a total of 2,859 hours of training . In the 2025–26 academic year, the center has 20 projects underway in the incubator, has worked with 145 student-led projects, and has supported 1,119 students through training and mentoring. As Belén Goñi, director of the Innovation Factory, points out, “our goal is goal for students to start a business , but rather for them to acquire the experience and knowledge so that, when the time comes, they can do so with confidence and understand everything that it entails.”

She also emphasizes that one of the center’s major challenges is to ensure that a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship is naturally integrated into all the Schools, supporting students in the development projects that can generate real impact on society. Among the new initiatives, the center will soon launch a bootcamp designed to support those students who, after validating their business plan with investors, want to take the step toward creating their own business.

With this special edition of Innovation Day, the University of Navarra reaffirms its commitment to fostering its students’ entrepreneurial talent and to development capable of generating economic and social impact.