Telefónica Unveils New Open Innovation Strategy at 4YFN Event

Telefónica Unveils New Open Innovation Strategy at 4YFN Event

(IN BRIEF) Telefónica announces its new open innovation strategy at the ‘Four years from now’ (4YFN) event, coinciding with the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Wayra, the company’s primary open innovation initiative, will evolve to encompass all startup investment initiatives under its brand. With over 15 years of commitment to open innovation, Telefónica has invested in more than 1,100 startups, positioning itself as a leader in the sector. Wayra’s role involves identifying disruptive projects, providing investment and integration opportunities, and fostering innovation within Telefónica and beyond. The company’s participation at 4YFN will showcase its new visual identity, along with presentations and panels featuring prominent industry figures and startups from its portfolio.

(PRESS RELEASE) MADRID, 20-Feb-2024 — /EuropaWire/ — Telefónica will present its new open innovation strategy at ‘Four years from now’ (4YFN), the leading event for the entrepreneurial ecosystem, which will be held in Barcelona from 26 to 29 February alongside Mobile World Congress. From this date, Wayra, which has been considered the company’s main open innovation initiative, will evolve as a result of its maturity and will unite all the Telefónica Group’s startup investment initiatives under its brand.

Telefónica has been committed to open innovation for more than 15 years through various initiatives. During this time, it has invested in more than 1,100 startups, of which 530 are active in its portfolio and 190 work with the company. This experience and these figures have consolidated it as a benchmark in the sector.

Wayra identifies the most disruptive projects in the startup environment to support, invest in and integrate them into the company, generating innovation with impact for Telefónica. In addition to investing as corporate venture capital, Wayra provides innovation services to Telefónica and third parties, as well as innovation platforms such as Alaian and Telefónica Open Future.

Wayra will also unveil a new brand image at 4YFN that will reflect Telefónica’s centenary experience and the freshness, agility, flexibility and capacity for evolution that Wayra has always demonstrated.

Irene Gómez, CEO of Wayra at Telefónica, says: “Wayra’s story is one of learning, evolution and maturity. A journey that has led us to unify all of the Telefónica Group’s open innovation and startup investment initiatives under the same strategy and brand. All this without losing our focus: we will continue to invest in startups that have the capacity to generate business with Telefónica, and we will continue to provide innovation services to Telefónica and other companies, fostering talent, innovation and business on a global scale”.

Wayra to unveil new visual identity at 4YFN
Wayra will once again have its own stand at 4YFN, which will be designed with the new visual identity in line with Telefónica’s new open innovation strategy. Wayra will be accompanied by 24 startups from its portfolio, as well as 6 strategic partners who will present their products and services.

Wayra’s participation will also include a packed agenda of presentations and panels. Some of the highlights include a talk by Chema Alonso, Chief Digital Officer of Telefónica, entitled ‘Crazy Enough to Innovate’, which will take place on Tuesday 27 February at 10am. Also, on Tuesday at 11am, ‘GameChangers3: Unleashing the Potential of Startups in Sports and Health’, featuring Chema Alonso and Pau Gasol, founder of Gasol16 Ventures, and the TravelTech Lab pitching session by HBX Group’s Innovation Challenge. On Wednesday 28th, there will be a meeting between Wayra and Port Aventura entitled ‘The Future of Fun with PortAventura World’ and the panel ‘Wayra Unleashed: A Tale of Telco Transformation in the Open Gateway Galaxy’, where companies involved with Wayra will share use cases of Open Gateway Apis with Irene Gómez.

On the other hand, the startups that will be present at the Wayra stand are:

Monday, 26 February 2024

• GrabrFi: gives the user access to US banking and all its resources so the user can take their finances and life to the next level.
• Remuner: is the sales commission platform that helps the user to align the goals of their company and their employees by automating all aspects of variable commission plans.
• Depasify: the all-in-one platform for managing digital assets that securely reduces costs and time to market. A single API to simplify the new financial era, creating the technical connections and automations that fit a business case.
• Omniflow: Cities with Omniflow solutions can transform a simple streetlight into a carbon-neutral object that can be used for multiple IoT purposes on a single infrastructure without the need to create new ones. It provides space and power/UPS for the functionalities of the future, with a business model that can create revenue for the device owner by renting the indoor space to end-applications.
• Hiya: Hiya’s voice performance platform flags spammers, blocks scammers and enables businesses to connect with their customers by enriching calls with caller ID, logo and reason for the call.
• Digibee: is an integration platform as a service (iPass) designed to connect businesses to the digital world. Its features enable businesses to efficiently turn ideas into meaningful digital experiences for customers.
• Shakers: streamlines and streamlines hiring processes. Centralises the management of On Demand teams on a single platform: administrative and legal procedures, day-to-day monitoring, easily and securely.

Tuesday, 27 February 2024

• Mobius Labs: next-generation AI-based computer vision technology that can be easily trained and customised, delivered as an SDK that ensures data privacy.
• Erudit: Gains real-time insights into the employee experience. In a single platform, it gathers information and analyses team performance in real time. It tracks more than 35 cultural indicators without having to conduct surveys.
• Uelz: Online payment gateway designed to record, track and analyse all customer and sales information to help manage payments, subscriptions and more, allowing customers to save time and manage and grow their business online.
• Localyze: is the HR platform for talent mobility that automates the immigration process for companies and employees.
• Bit2Me: is a leading cryptocurrency exchange platform in Spain, which aims to connect the digital world of bitcoin with the physical world of cash and democratise the token economy and integrate Web3 into the real economy.
• Mindverse: is an artificial intelligence-driven German-language text generator that types for the user and automatically creates texts including source information in seconds. Mindverse can process and write texts on any topic.
• Cafler: is the first online platform for delegated mobility that, through its own technology, moves vehicles to make different car-related arrangements.
• Bankuish: offers credit scoring software. Its AI-based tools help assign users appropriate, data-driven credit scores, providing simplified access to pre-approved loans, financial services and tools to increase their credit score.
• Knok: has developed a platform that enables a seamless, engaging and personalised healthcare experience across all stages of life and for all conditions. Knok collects valuable healthcare data that, combined with AI algorithms, is able to deliver insights and enable healthcare payers and providers to increase patient satisfaction while achieving better health outcomes.

Wednesday, 28 February 2024

• Galactify: Galactify’s visual Objectives and Key Results (OKR) template provides frictionless planning and tracking in a single tool. Galactify offers the freedom of a whiteboard tool combined with the capabilities of structured project management tools.
• Bcas: is an application that connects students to a wide range of scholarships, from undergraduate to masters and specialisation courses. Through the application, students can take up high-cost training programmes that they would otherwise not be able to afford, by advancing the scholarship amount, which the student pays back as a percentage of their salary once they start work.
• Tachyonix: was created to solve real-world business challenges by simplifying and accelerating the development of SAP-based business applications. Led by a team of elite coders and SAP specialists, Tachyonix has succeeded in meeting and far exceeding its vision. By creating near-zero-code tools that democratise application development processes and put them in the hands of business users.
• Chaindots: identifies the need to raise awareness and work towards more secure and transparent business-to-business linkages and to address these linkages from a holistic view of risk. Chaindots’ mission is to secure and protect the supply chain and business-to-business linkages.
• Gandolapp: is a virtual companion for drivers of goods transport vehicles through a mobile application that provides multilingual voice assistance on their routes to improve their in-truck experience, digitise communications with a democratised logistics community, optimise transport operations and move towards a safe ADAS and eco-driving ecosystem.
• Airalo: is a global eSIM platform for travellers that allows them to instantly connect to mobile networks in more than 200 destinations worldwide.
• Wenalyze: is a Big Data Analytics platform that enables banks and insurers to uncover new sales opportunities and monitor the risk of SME and individual customers.
• Beegol: powered by Artificial Intelligence, Beegol provides the most advanced machine learning platform to monitor, improve and self-repair internet networks, while reducing operational costs for telecommunications companies by reducing customer service and unnecessary service visits.

Thursday, 29 February 2024

• Bia Power: ensures efficient operation of the electric vehicle charging infrastructure, increasing its scalability potential and enabling total electrification of the fleet at minimum cost. Its platform optimises charging, prioritising the most economical and decarbonised energy, reducing the impact on electrical installations and extending the useful life of batteries.
• Apollo Kids: is a platform dedicated to promoting a personalised and inclusive approach to learning, with the aim of revolutionising education for special needs groups, especially children with ADHD and ASD.
• Unmanned Life: offers autonomous robotics orchestration. The platform is able to integrate different technologies, such as AI, 5G and Edge computing with multiple robots, such as drones and autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), acting as a central, intelligent brain that enables the deployment of autonomous solutions in Industry 4.0 and Smart Cities, at scale.
• Floorfy: automatically creates 3D Tours, floor plans and video calls for real estate.

For more information: Telefónica at MWC 2024

Media Contact:

prensatelefonica@telefonica.com
+34 91 482 38 00

SOURCE: Telefónica, S.A.