Who traveled, and who they met
The mission was led by Paula Llobet, City Councillor for Tourism, Innovation and Investment Attraction, and vice-president of Valencia Innovation Capital (VIC). She was joined by the Valencia Chamber of Commerce and Startup Valencia.
This wasn’t a ceremonial trip. Over the course of the week, the delegation held working meetings with OpenAI, NVIDIA, Google, and Anthropic. It also covered Stanford University, the innovation hub Plug and Play, and the GovAI Coalition — the world’s largest public-sector coalition for responsible AI use, driven by the city of San José. The delegation also visited the city halls of Los Angeles and San José to exchange urban innovation models.
What was on the table
Conversations centered on AI applied to public services, tech governance, talent attraction, and knowledge transfer. Valencia didn’t show up empty-handed: it brought its public innovation model, including the Urban Sandbox, Spain’s first GovTech Accelerator or the Committee on AI Ethics and Governance.
That model sparked real interest among the world’s AI leaders. No coincidence there — few European cities can show off projects at that level of maturity today.
Why Valencia, and why now
The numbers back up the ambition. The city has 1,689 active startups, more than 20,000 skilled tech jobs, and a record €229 million in investment raised in 2025 — making it Spain’s third innovation hub, behind only Madrid and Barcelona. Spain, meanwhile, is already Europe’s third-fastest-growing AI ecosystem, according to the Dealroom 2026 report.
That combination — startups, talent, investment, and an administration willing to experiment — is what makes Valencia a credible counterpart for giants like OpenAI or NVIDIA. This isn’t just about attracting a headquarters or a one-off investment. It’s about the city having a seat at the table where decisions on global AI deployment are being made.
What comes next
The mission wasn’t a finish line. By the time the delegation returned to Valencia in early July, the City’s Innovation Office was already working on the first concrete agreements with the companies it had met.
If these agreements turn into pilots in the coming months, Valencia won’t just cement its role as the Mediterranean’s tech hub. It will position itself as a European reference case for how a mid-sized city can sit at the table where technology’s future is decided — and walk away with more than just photos.
An open door for digital nomads
This momentum isn’t just for city hall and big tech. Valencia’s growing weight in AI and innovation also opens real doors for the digital nomads already choosing the city as their base. As the local tech and startup scene expands, so do the chances to plug into it directly: coworking spaces filling up with founders, meetups and demo days multiplying, and a wave of new GovTech and AI initiatives looking for outside talent, not just local hires. For remote workers building a life in Valencia, the timing couldn’t be better — the region’s tech community is actively looking outward, and there’s genuine room to become part of it rather than just work alongside it from a distance.