Green Innovation Forum brings together leading professionals and companies from the biotechnology and agri-food sectors in Salamanca for its sixth edition
- The event, organized by AseBio and the Salamanca City Council, was held this Tuesday at the Congress and Exhibition Center of the Tormes capital. It brought together 120 attendees from 75 organizations across five countries, as well as eight investment entities.
- The program has provided a global overview of the challenges and opportunities in food innovation, foodtech, and green biotechnology, with the participation of various stakeholders who analyzed how to drive the development and application of new solutions.
- It has also offered a space for generating new business and investment opportunities, thanks to its partnering platform, which enabled nearly one hundred bilateral meetings.
April 21, 2026, Salamanca. – The Salamanca Congress and Exhibition Center hosted today the sixth edition of the Green Innovation Forum. Organized by the Spanish Bioindustry Association (AseBio) in collaboration with the Salamanca City Council, the event brought together more than 120 professionals from 75 organizations across five countries, who discussed the opportunities biotechnology offers as a key tool to address the challenges facing the agri-food industry.
The Mayor of Salamanca, Carlos García Carbayo, and the President of AseBio, Cristina Nadal, led the institutional opening of the summit. Carbayo noted that the Green Innovation Forum “fits perfectly” with Salamanca and its need to promote an innovative, sustainable, and collaborative ecosystem that drives economic development, scientific progress, and improved quality of life. The mayor also recalled that the Salamanca City Council has been a member of AseBio since 2024, “a decision consistent with a very clear city strategy, as Salamanca is promoting a new industrialization based on knowledge, technology, research, and logistics.”
García Carbayo noted that the Abioinnova biosanitary business incubator is the standout name in Salamanca when it comes to biotechnology. This space has recently doubled its activity with the addition of ten new business projects, reaching a total of 18 active initiatives. The activity generated by Abioinnova has resulted in 54 jobs, and the mayor announced that a new call will soon be launched to host more companies within Salamanca’s biotech ecosystem.
On the other hand, the mayor emphasized that Salamanca is a city that has committed to green infrastructure in a “serious, planned, and participatory” way. It currently has more than double the amount of municipal green space recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), with over 127,000 trees and 55,000 shrubs. In addition, since the end of last year, 30,000 trees have been planted, and another 30,000 will be planted this year.
From innovation to application: biotechnology, regulation, and new opportunities in the agri-food sector
The program has focused—through seven sessions and 33 speakers—on regulatory testing environments, highlighted by the pioneering launch of the AgriFoodTech Sandbox, which will allow companies and entrepreneurs to test technologies, products, and services in a controlled setting, thereby accelerating their path to market. At the same time, the journey from scientific innovation to commercial application was examined, covering everything from patents to industrial scaling, as well as the opportunities that arise to turn new technologies into viable business projects.
Biotechnology applied to food has been another of the forum’s central themes. It explored how tools such as precision fermentation, the use of enzymes, and microbiome-based solutions are transforming the development of more sustainable and nutritious foods and ingredients.
The forum also addressed the revolution taking place in the biostimulants sector through biotechnological innovations. Finally, it focused on how to monetize and transform CO₂ into high-value products, analyzing real-world cases, emerging business models, and the regulatory and financial challenges that still limit the scalability of solutions aimed at defossilizing, decarbonizing, and extracting value from CO₂.
Boosting innovation: connecting startups, investment, and industry at the Green Innovation Forum
Beyond strategic discussions, the Green Innovation Forum has provided a space for connecting innovation and investment. Thanks to its partnering platform, attendees were able to hold direct meetings with startups, investors, corporations, and experts, generating collaborations and real business opportunities.
In addition, specialized funds, companies, and entities from the agri-food sector took part in the event alongside startups that presented their solutions, creating a unique environment where knowledge, investment, and industrial capacity came together to drive and scale innovation in food and biotechnology.
“The Green Innovation Forum reflects the biotechnology sector’s commitment to transforming the production and food system, placing innovation at the service of major global challenges. From AseBio, we will continue to promote spaces that connect talent, industry, and investment, and that enable the acceleration of market access for technologies with real and sustainable impact,” concluded Cristina Nadal, President of AseBio.
The Spanish Bioindustry Association (AseBio) brings together 350 organizations and represents the entire Spanish biotechnology sector. Its mission is to lead the country’s transformation by positioning science, innovation, and especially biotechnology as drivers of economic growth and social well-being. Its members include companies, associations, foundations, universities, and technological and research centers that carry out activities directly or indirectly related to biotechnology in Spain.