WMF draws 250 to San Francisco AI event, crowns TerraSpark, Salute360 and MON5

WMF’s second AI For Future event brought 250 founders, investors and AI leaders to San Francisco on Nov. 5, strengthening its cross-border push between Europe, the U.S. and Asia. TerraSpark, Salute360 and MON5 won the startup competition and will get added visibility across WMF’s 2027 events.

Why it matters: - WMF is using San Francisco as a bridge between European, U.S. and Asian innovation ecosystems. - The event connected startups with investors, corporations and institutions in one of the world’s most important AI markets. - The startup winners gained access to WMF’s global event network in 2027.

What happened: - WMF – We Make Future and Search On Media Group held the second edition of AI For Future in San Francisco on Nov. 5 at Mind The Bridge. - The event drew 250 founders, investors, venture capitalists, corporate leaders, AI experts and institutional representatives. - Attendees came from the United States, South Korea, Japan, China, Singapore, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Luxembourg, San Marino and Italy. - The program centered on artificial intelligence, its applications and emerging market opportunities. - Veronica Maffei hosted the event. - Institutional remarks came from Leonardo Nasi, Vice Consul – Economic Attaché at the Consulate General of Italy in San Francisco, and Giosafat Riganò, Trade Commissioner at the Italian Trade Agency in Los Angeles.

The details: - The event emphasized networking and B2B meetings among startups, corporations, investors and institutions. - Sponsor Five Degrees supplied AI agents designed to match participants with relevant needs and opportunities. - ITA – Italian Trade Agency and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation supported the event. - Event partners included San Marino Innovation, POLIMI School of Management and the Digital Innovation Observatories of Politecnico di Milano. - Five Degrees and Durana Tech Park served as sponsors. - Leonardo Nasi said Silicon Valley remains the natural place for this conversation, but the key challenge is turning innovation into real-world applications, scaling solutions and attracting investment. - Cosmano Lombardo, founder and CEO of Search On Media Group and creator of WMF, said the company is building an ecosystem of startups and open innovation players that connects Italy to the global market. - Jerry Kaplan, Silicon Valley entrepreneur and AI expert, said generative AI may become the single most important innovation in human history and told founders that starting a company now requires less capital than in the past. - Andrea Sguazzi, managing director North America at Mind The Bridge, joined the discussion. - Alberto Acito, managing director of INNOVIT, highlighted two-way exchange between Italy and Silicon Valley and pointed to Physical AI, advanced manufacturing, cybersecurity and dual-use technologies as areas where Italy and Europe can contribute. - Acito also said European startups entering the U.S. should validate the market before raising capital. - A panel titled “Beyond the AI Hype: Who Will Build, Fund, and Own the Future?” featured Alicia Hanf of LG NOVA, Angelo Del Priore of HP Tech Ventures, Jeffrey Abbott of AI Salon and Nium’s Jazz Samra. - The panel covered how AI companies are built, financed and made competitive, plus the role of human oversight in adoption. - Alessandro Piva, director of the European Digital Tech Watch at Politecnico di Milano, addressed European AI adoption trends. - WMF announced “Beyond the Game,” a new Sports Innovation Track that will debut at WMF – We Make Future 2027 from June 10–12 at BolognaFiere in Bologna, Italy. - The track will bring together sports, AI, technology and entrepreneurship across health and longevity, SportsTech and the business of sports. - Durana Tech Park used the event to present Albania’s first science and technology park, a 126-hectare campus between Tirana and Durrës. - The park is structured as a special economic zone and already hosts more than 85 resident companies, 52% of them international.

Between the lines: - WMF is expanding beyond a conference model and into a deal-making platform with curated meetings, startup exposure and international roadshows. - The San Francisco stop signals a strategy to convert WMF’s Italian base into a global innovation network with recurring touchpoints across major tech hubs. - The focus on market validation, B2B matchmaking and cross-border exchange suggests WMF is positioning itself as a practical gateway for startups seeking investors and international expansion.

What happened: - The AI 4 Future Startup Competition featured nine startups: Daidalos, Mulan AI, Salute360, Prodigy, Handy Signs, MON5, TerraSpark, Nuhpro and Vertalis. - TerraSpark took first place. - TerraSpark is a Luxembourg-based company developing commercial space-based solar power systems. - TerraSpark had already won the WMF 2026 Startup Competition and was selected for the final stage of the Startup World Cup. - Salute360 finished second. - Salute360 is a digital health platform that integrates the full patient care journey and serves 200,000 users and 8,000 healthcare professionals. - MON5 finished third. - MON5 is a cybersecurity platform focused on industrial environments and critical infrastructure.

What's next: - The three winners will gain exhibition opportunities across WMF’s major international events in 2027, including AI Festival in Milan, WMF – We Make Future in Bologna and Saudi Makes Future in Riyadh. - The winners will also receive dedicated meetings with venture capital funds from the WMF network. - All nine selected startups will be able to pitch at WMF – We Make Future 2027 in Bologna from June 10–12. - Finalists that did not place in the top three will get additional opportunities to participate in the Startup District. - The WMF International Roadshow continues on Nov. 17 in Bengaluru, India, and Nov. 19 in Thessaloniki, Greece. - WMF will return to the U.S. for CES in Las Vegas from Jan. 6–9, 2027, then go to Barcelona on April 9 and Tallinn on May 20. - The roadshow leads into WMF – We Make Future 2027 at BolognaFiere and expands to Saudi Makes Future in Riyadh on Nov. 14–16, 2027. - WMF said the roadshow is designed to bring ecosystems developed across the network into the 2027 main event in Bologna.

The bottom line: - WMF is turning its San Francisco AI event into a global funnel for startups, investors and institutions, with 2027 positioning already underway across Europe, Asia, the U.S. and the Middle East.