The Universidad del Desarrollo held the fifth edition of Startup Connect within the framework of the País Digital Summit 2026, an event organized by Fundación País Digital between October 6 and 8 at the W Hotel in Santiago.
The meeting brought together entrepreneurs, SMEs and large companies to discuss the future of innovation and digital transformation in Chile, with the aim of generating new business opportunities between actors in the ecosystem.
The event included the participation of the Minister of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation, Ximena Lincolao, who stated that Chile faces structural challenges such as the shortage of risk capital and the need to transfer more knowledge from universities to entrepreneurship.
“The world has changed and, therefore, the way we do research, innovation and how we unite the world of science with the world of entrepreneurship must also be rethought,” said Ximena Lincolao.
Ernesto Silva, pro-rector of the UDD, underlined the value of space: “Innovation does not happen alone; it requires people, institutions and spaces that allow that meeting. That is why Startup.Connect is so valuable, because it creates bridges that allow problems to meet those who may have solutions.”
Debates on AI, digitalization and the role of startups with the State
The presentations of the day addressed the role of startups as developers of digital infrastructure for the State, the relationship between science and entrepreneurship, and Chile’s challenge of going from consumer to producer of AI solutions.
Felipe Pacheco, ambassador of Anthropic and founder of Poweredia, called for Chile to evolve towards the development of its own infrastructure, talent and governance in artificial intelligence. Maurice Poirrier, director of the Digital Government Secretariat, also spoke; José Ignacio Mujica, executive vice president of Corfo; and Cristóbal de Solminihac, founder of Autofact.
A panel moderated by Ángel Morales, executive director of UDD Ventures, brought together Francisca de la Piedra, founder and CEO of Umano; Mariana Thielemann, venture manager of Sofofa Hub; and Madeleine Valderrama, co-founder and CEO of Bruna.AI.
The panelists agreed that the success of the relationship between startups and large companies does not depend mainly on technology, but on the ability to understand the client’s real problems and build trust in the long term.
Meet&Connect: 20 startups, 15 companies and conversations aimed at closing deals
In parallel to the presentations, Startup Connect developed the Meet&Connect space, an instance of bilateral meetings that brought together 20 startups and 15 companies with the aim of moving towards pilots, contracts and concrete commercial relationships. The format aimed to go beyond traditional networking and facilitate conversations with the potential for closure.
The event was held within the framework of the 25 years of Fundación País Digital, which on the opening day of the Summit presented the book to President José Antonio Kast «The Moment is Now: an invitation to write the future of Chile»first publication of the Santiago Consensus, an initiative to promote a long-term conversation about the country’s development.
With more than 6,000 attendees, 200 speakers and 70 participating companies and institutions, the Digital Country Summit 2026 closed consolidated as the main meeting on digital economy and culture in Chile.
