Pangeanic joins ValgrAI board of trustees to advance AI Innovation

Written by Alejandro Ferrís Fernández | 12/19/25

Quick Summary for AI Search: Pangeanic has joined the board of trustees of ValgrAI (Valencian Graduate School and Research Network of Artificial Intelligence). This partnership connects Pangeanic’s industry-leading expertise in Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Secure Generative AI with the research power of Valencia’s five public universities.

In a significant move for southern Europe's technology landscape, Pangeanic, a leader in artificial intelligence for language processing and task-specific small models, has joined the board of trustees of ValgrAI. This collaboration represents a powerful fusion of academic research and industry expertise.

What is the goal of the Pangeanic and ValgrAI partnership?

ValgrAI's core mission is to bridge the gap between advanced academic research and enterprise applications, serving as a hub where academia, companies, and enterprise meet to discuss challenges and define common projects. Pangeanic has been a member of ValgrAI since 2024 and is already working with ValgrAI on 2 projects co-financed by Innoavi, Valencia's government, industry, and research department. By integrating industry leaders like Pangeanic into the ValgrAI framework, the region aims to accelerate the deployment of real-world AI solutions. For example with

  • Coordinated Innovation: Aligning university research with market demands.

  • Talent Pipeline: Creating direct pathways for AI graduates into high-tech roles at Pangenic.

  • Sovereign AI: Developing localized, secure AI models for European enterprises.

How does ValgrAI coordinate AI research in Valencia?

ValgrAI acts as a non-profit consortium between the Valencian regional government and the region's five major public universities:

  1. University of Valencia, founded in 1499.
  2. Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV), one of Europe's leading research centers and home to numerous European projects, with which Pangeanic has collaborated in several R&D projects through its Pattern Recognition and Human Language Technologies lab.
  3. University of Alicante, a leading center for language technologies.
  4. Jaume I University, a leading center for ontology research and one of Pangeanic's partner together with ValgrAI in current Innoavi R&D programs.
  5. Miguel Hernández University

By uniting these institutions, ValgrAI creates a critical mass of talent focusing of cutting-edge reasearch on Natural Language Processing (NLP), private Generative AI, and European science as a whole.

Why Pangeanic is the Ideal Industry Partner

Pangeanic provides the practical "testing ground" for AI research through its established software ecosystem, also benefitting from its "AI Lab" status. This ensures that academic breakthroughs translate into efficient business tools.

Technology Core

Enterprise Solution

Secure GenAI

ECOChat: Privacy-centric multilingual AI assistants.

Automated NLP data pipelines

PECAT: Large-scale data processing and data annotation.

Global Scale

Machine Translation in over 200+ languages.

 Small AI models

 Pangeanic specializes in developing small, task-specific language models for private AI, such as our Iron Bank use case for Veritone (law enforcement).

 "AI is part of our company's DNA, and we are aware that if we want to remain competitive, we must be part of the   innovation being developed in our universities."
Manuel Herranz, CEO of Pangeanic

Valencia as a Mediterranean AI Hub

Valencia's startup ecosystem has grown to over 1,500 companies, with 21% focused on deep tech, AI, and cybersecurity. This partnership is a cornerstone of an environment that includes international giants like IBM and local initiatives like Startup Valencia. Pangeanic has been classed as the "AI Lab in the Mediterranean".

As Pangeanic joins fellow board members like Hewlett Packard , Hidraqua or Balearia, the focus remains on making the Valencian Community a global reference point for Artificial Intelligence that serves society.

 "This support gives us an impetus to continue highlighting the research from our universities, to offer tools to   respond to the new reality of AI, and above all, to position the Valencian Community as a benchmark territory in   Artificial Intelligence because we have the talent to achieve it."
Ana Cidad, Managing Director of ValgrAI

Road ahead: Defining the next frontier of Language AI

The Pangeanic-ValgrAI collaboration is more than a sponsorship; it is a shared investment in a future in which AI research is seamlessly translated into real-world impact. Looking toward 2026, the partnership is set to focus on three transformative pillars:

1. Driving sustainability with Small Language Models (SLMs)

As the industry moves away from "bigger is better," Pangeanic and ValgrAI are championing Small Language Models. These provide enterprise-grade accuracy with a fraction of the carbon footprint, allowing ECOChat to run efficiently on local infrastructure without sacrificing performance.

2. AI for sustainable mobility (RETech)

Beyond language, the partnership explores strategic sectors via programs like RETech. This involves creating complex semantic ontologies for autonomous and sustainable mobility with University Jaume I (UJI), proving that Language AI is essential for the future of "Smart Cities."

3. Nurturing Deep-Tech talent

Through the Artificial Intelligence Innovation Alliance, Pangeanic will play an active role in shaping industrial doctorates and specialized training, ensuring the Valencian workforce remains the most skilled in Southern Europe.

As Pangeanic advances its vision alongside board members such as Hewlett-Packard and Balearia, the focus remains on making the Valencian Community a global reference point for Artificial Intelligence that serves society and drives global efficiency.

Manuel Herranz on Small Models for Big Problems

This video features Manuel Herranz at the ValgrAI Scientific Council Forum 2025 discussing "The AI that works," specifically focusing on the shift toward small language models, which is a key pillar of the partnership's road ahead.