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    Case study · Madrid · June 2024

    The startup that won Mobility & Smart Cities at La Nave.

    At South Summit Madrid 2024, under the «Human by Design» motto, NaviLens was named winner of the Mobility & Smart Cities vertical of the Startup Competition co-organised by IE University, against hundreds of projects from around the world.

    Stage at South Summit Madrid 2024: large screen with the slide «NaviLens · Mobility & Smart Cities Winner — Startup Competition #SOUTHSUMMIT24» on a pink background; at the foot, on the stage lit in blue and red, two representatives exchange the award trophy in front of the audience and the red neon «South Summit» sign

    5–7 Jun 2024

    South Summit Madrid · La Nave

    Mobility & Smart Cities

    Winning vertical · Startup Competition

    «Human by Design»

    Official motto of the 2024 edition

    IE University

    Co-organiser of South Summit

    The setting

    South Summit Madrid 2024
    La Nave · IE University

    South Summit, co-organised by IE University, is one of the largest gatherings of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in southern Europe. The 2024 edition was held from 5 to 7 June at La Nave in Madrid under the «Human by Design» motto, with 24 unicorns, more than 500 speakers and investors, and the Startup Competition split into six thematic verticals.

    In that setting, NaviLens — a Murcian startup that makes signage accessible for blind and low-vision people through codes that can be detected from several metres away — competed as a finalist of the Mobility & Smart Cities vertical and was named winner against international entries.

    Just one hour before receiving this recognition, Javier Pita and NaviLens had been honoured that same day at another forum — a sequence that made clear the moment the company was living in 2024: a consolidated product, an active urban rollout and market recognition.

    § The challenge

    Convincing the jury, the investor and the visitor on the same afternoon.

    1. 01

      Making the technology understandable in a 6-minute pitch

      Facing an international jury and hundreds of investors, Javier Pita had to explain why a colour code changes the lives of the 285 million visually impaired people in the world, and demonstrate traction in transport, packaging and the city.

    2. 02

      Turning the stand into a continuous demo

      South Summit's audience is demanding and won't settle for a brochure: a space was needed where anyone could pull out their phone, scan a real code and understand in three seconds what NaviLens does — on a cereal box, on a Japanese TV channel or on a bus shelter counter.

    3. 03

      Proving it belongs in Mobility & Smart Cities

      Competing in the mobility and smart-cities vertical meant telling the urban use case: accessible shelters, stations, taxi stops, events. The narrative had to hold both the jury and the investor who signs Series A cheques.

    Javier Pita, CEO of NaviLens, on the South Summit Madrid 2024 stage wearing a black T-shirt printed with the NaviLens logo and the motto «Empowering visually impaired — NaviLens.com»; in the background, a deep blue curtain with the «SOUTH SUMMIT» text and green, yellow and red light bars from the Mobility Stage set

    § The solution

    Pitch + stand + live demo.

    NaviLens came to South Summit with three coordinated layers: a pitch by Javier Pita on stage covering product, market and international traction; a demo stand where visitors could scan real codes on packaging, counters and signs; and the formal entry in the Mobility & Smart Cities vertical of the Startup Competition.

    The stand combined three worlds in a single display: packaging with Special K «Classic» and «Dark Chocolate» boxes and a Pringles tube, a screen showing a Japanese TV news bulletin with NaviLens codes on screen, and a demo card «NaviLens Accessible Code®» with links to the Android and iOS apps so visitors could leave with it already tested.

    The result: the jury of the Mobility & Smart Cities vertical chose NaviLens as the winner from hundreds of entries.

    § The NaviLens stand

    From the cereal in the pantry to the bus shelter in the city.

    NaviLens stand at South Summit Madrid 2024: on a black-and-white counter with the NaviLens logo, two Special K cereal boxes — Classic, in blue, and Dark Chocolate, in brown — next to a red Pringles Original tube, all with visible NaviLens codes; behind, a screen plays a Japanese TV news bulletin showing NaviLens codes; in the foreground, a visitor holds a «NaviLens Accessible Code» card with links to Google Play and the App Store, and another visitor scans with their phone the code stuck on the stand's plinth

    The stand showed the three NaviLens lines in a single gesture: accessible packaging (Special K, Pringles), broadcast and communication (codes over TV graphics) and a mobile app with immediate download for the visitor.

    § Why it matters

    An award that puts accessibility at the heart of the smart city.

    Category

    Winning Mobility & Smart Cities — and not «Impact» or «Inclusion» — sends a clear message: sensory accessibility is already urban infrastructure, not a social cause.

    Platform

    Three days at La Nave with 24 unicorns, 500+ speakers and hundreds of investors accelerated the conversations that later became deployments with transport operators and public administrations.

    Narrative

    The stand showed live what the pitch told: the same technology serves a cereal box, a TV bulletin or a bus shelter. A single platform, a thousand contexts.

    § And your headquarters?

    Your office can also welcome in 42 languages.

    Tell us about your building, your services and your visitors. We’ll show you how NaviLens would make your office truly accessible.

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