CUPRA Start‑up Day 2026 by CARNET: Bringing Next‑Gen In‑Vehicle Experience into the SEAT Technical Centre
Last week, on 18 March 2026, CARNET and SEAT CUPRA welcomed a curated group of eight European start‑ups to the SEAT Technical Centre in Martorell for the first edition of CUPRA Start‑up Day 2026 by CARNET. For the first time, SEAT CUPRA opened the doors of its Technical Centre to an external group of start‑ups for a live showcase of next‑generation in‑vehicle experiences, bringing founders together with engineers and innovation teams to discuss inspiring prototypes and concrete automotive use cases.
Selected through CARNET’s tech‑scouting activities, the eight start‑ups were organised into four thematic clusters that reflect key innovation frontiers inside the vehicle: Touch / Haptics, Sound / Audio Systems, Augmented Vision / Head‑up Displays and Sustainable Materials. Throughout the morning, the teams demonstrated their technologies on products and hardware, explored integration possibilities with SEAT CUPRA vehicles and discussed potential applications in automotive as well as broader urban‑mobility contexts.
The participating start‑ups were: TG0, Uniphy, HyVibe, proactivaudio, TriLite, Distance Technologies, Optipus PV and Strong by Form (details in the event brochure and landing page). Their solutions ranged from advanced sound experiences and haptic surfaces to augmented head‑up displays and novel sustainable materials, illustrating the diversity and maturity of Europe’s innovation landscape in these domains.
CUPRA Start‑up Day 2026 by CARNET reinforces our role as a European hub connecting industry and start‑ups in the automotive and mobility sectors, and showcases how targeted scouting and curated showrooms can accelerate collaboration between OEMs, technology providers and research partners. We aim to continue creating value for start-ups by facilitating direct access to decision‑makers and technical experts, while helping industry partners identify high‑potential solutions for future automotive and mobility challenges.
