A catapult for the talent of ‘kilometer zero’ | Technology

In Talavera de la Reina, in addition to ceramics, there is a small company specialized in Inbound Marketing that uses technology to help other companies generate high-value content in their sales channels. on-line. Something similar happens in Segovia, where there is not only an aqueduct and piglets: there, a project promoted by telecommunications engineers offers Ethical Hacking and cybersecurity services to its clients. Further south, in Almería, another group of entrepreneurs has set up an SME specializing in implantable microelectronics for medical purposes.

Together with technology and innovation, the three startup they share something else: they show that it is no longer necessary to emigrate to the big capitals to develop technological businesses. For many years, this was the natural tendency, even more so in the sector technology: the enterprise moved to the main cities in search of market opportunities. Today that has begun to change, because innovation and talent are not exclusive to certain territories. On the contrary, the best ideas can come from anywhere, even if only a few hundred people live there. And that is especially interesting and beneficial for a country like Spain, so affected by depopulation.

Aware of this situation, in 2014 Telefónica launched a proposal to democratize and decentralize entrepreneurship by helping and promoting startup local. That is the philosophy of Open Future, an initiative of the Open Innovation area of ​​the Telefónica Group whose objective is to accompany entrepreneurs from the first minute, regardless of the municipality they are in, no matter how small. In the last seven years, more than a thousand companies have started thanks to this initiative of startup, which has contributed to creating more than 4,000 jobs through alliances with the public and private sectors. “Here we give the tools to entrepreneurs so that they can build their value propositions and grow their business,” explains the director of Open Future, Inês Oliveira.

This regional entrepreneurship strategy is global –with a presence in Spain, Peru and Argentina–, and stands out for its capillarity, since it relies on local agents (universities, associations, administrations, businessmen, local governments…) to create and promote new ecosystems of innovation and entrepreneurship in different municipalities, retain and attract talent and create more business network. This ability to reach almost any corner is the great differential value of Open Future, since it allows Telefónica to anticipate and learn first-hand about the newest trends that arise beyond the most populated metropolises.

innovation magnets

To achieve this, and in collaboration with different partners, the company has opened 32 innovation spaces in Spain, Argentina and Peru. Spain has 21 of these venues, located in large, medium and small cities: Segovia, Cádiz, Ceuta, Zaragoza, Murcia, Tarragona, Seville, Badajoz, Melilla… These spaces are the epicenter of the entrepreneurial system in each locality, and for them parade the main interest groups, from corporations and investors to SMEs and public administrations.

Once selected, the startup participate in a four to nine month acceleration program adapted to your needs in which you receive personalized mentoring, master classes, workshops, training (in marketing, sales, financing, business models…). “We are the gateway for entrepreneurs to Telefónica, and we support them in everything that is in our hands, especially in that earliest phase of seed or even pre-seed, so important to take the first steps,” says Oliveira.

All the companies that go through the Open Future program are technological and are located in innovation spaces spread throughout the country. Because in a digital and interconnected world, it is not necessary to be in Madrid or Barcelona to have a global impact.

Here we give the tools to entrepreneurs so they can build their value propositions and grow their business

Inês Oliveira, director of Open Future

“Talent is the basis of everything,” insists Oliveira, who highlights the need to create quality employment throughout the territory. The fact of retaining talent in the places of origin favors, among other things, the promotion of the local economy in a transversal way and helps to reduce social and gender gaps. Last year, almost 30% of the 149 startup selected by Open Future were led by women.

Blue economy in seas and ports

When opening new spaces for innovation, Telefónica relies on local partners and agents to ensure that entrepreneurs can take root in their own cities. In some cases, these rooms are open to all kinds of technology industry, as is the case with El Ángulo, the center where Ceuta Open Future activities take place. On other occasions, however, they are more specific innovation spaces, highly focused on a specific sector. This is what has happened with two of the latest additions to the Open Future network in Spain –Incubazul (Cádiz) and Opentop (Valencia)–, linked to the blue economy and maritime and port activities.

Incubazul aspires to adapt the Cadiz port ecosystem to a new model of sustainability with the creation of 70 technology companies linked to the sea in the next two years. For its part, Valencia seeks to become a benchmark for open innovation in ports through its own acceleration and incubation programme, a Living Lab and a financial instrument that will complete its R&D&i and training activities. La Lonja de la Innovación, in Huelva, also deserves a special mention. The objective of the large startup incubator in the port of Huelva, which will be the first innovation node in the world to use FIWARE technology, is to promote the digitalization of the port logistics sector with the introduction of new tools such as 5G.

“The ambition of Telefónica Open Future is to be where the entrepreneur is born. That is why we want to expand our presence to more autonomous communities, where we are not yet present”, admits its director. The possibility of settling in the places where ideas are born makes it possible to turn them into real projects that change people’s lives and help society advance. Just review some of the startup which, in recent months, have received advice from Open Future. Initiatives driven by local talent with a global projection, adapted to the philosophy of Telefónica’s open innovation program.

In Molina de Segura, a few kilometers from Murcia, operates Nivimu, a technological human resources SME that has developed a simple apps that allows you to manage the workforce through the mobile. In Seville, a telecommunications engineer offers intelligent vision solutions through Inescube, an artificial eye with numerous applications in industry and the agri-food sector. Artificial intelligence is also behind Tucuvi, a virtual caregiver based on voice technology and natural language processing that converses with patients through phone calls, analyzes the conversations in real time and returns the information to the clinical team to help them make decisions. of decisions.

These three examples demonstrate that it is possible to protect the birth of startup provided that access to training is promoted, creativity and innovation are stimulated, potential investors are approached and development opportunities are promoted. “If we support regional entrepreneurship, we will generate more success stories and inspiration so that more people pursue their dreams,” Oliveira emphasizes.