Startups from the “Programa Primer” make an impact at the 4YFN of the Mobile World Congress

The “Programa Primer” was very present during the 4YFN of the Mobile World Congress. On the one hand, a Demo Day was held with the best projects emerging from the Primer 2022 call and on the other, startups from the same program presented their company on the Pitching Stage accompanied by ACCIÓ.

The “Programa Primer” of Pre-acceleration,once again, demonstrated the entrepreneurial wealth of our territory in the international area within the 4YFN (4 Years From Now). This fair takes place in parallel with the Mobile World Congress and is a global benchmark for the innovative ecosystem that gathers the most promising startups in the sector.

The Primer had, once again, a prominent role in two acts; on the one hand, a Demo Day, with the best projects arising from the call for Primer 2022 and on the other, the presentation made by startups from different editions of the program in the Pitching Stage integrated with the emerging companies that accompanied the agència per a la competitivitat de l’empresa de la Generalitat de Catalunya (ACCIÓ).

demo day, folgrid, upc, cimupc
Folgrid al Demo Day

Demo Day

The 4YFN Demo Day generated great anticipation and was a good way to close the 2022 edition of a program that has trained more than 250 entrepreneurs through 17 pre-accelerators.

The six startups emerged from Primer 2022 (accompanied by their respective pre-accelerators) that presented their project were:

  • Kreios Space (program ‘Aterrem l’Espai’ by KIM BCN). Adrián Senar, its founder, explained his project of “low-altitude orbital satellites with high energy efficiency”.
  • Memima Baby (program ‘Impulsa Digital’ by Cambra Terrassa). Albert Munné noted “the positive impact on babies and their progenitors” of his App for musicalization in the baby environment.
  • Vaive Logistics /Logismile (program ‘De la Ciència al Mercat’ by Fundació Bosch i Gimpera-Universitat de Barcelona). His startup, introduced by Albert Baldó, is based on autonomous package delivery robots for “the last kilometer of delivery”.
  • Datalog, also arising from the same program as Vaive Logistics, was presented by Manuel Portela with his innovative open data project generated by the activity of open access cities.
  • ZEB Technologies (program ‘G-Accelerator’ by GSB Global Business School). Furio Barzon explained in his pitch “solutions to improve energy efficiency in already constructed buildings”.
  • Folgrid (program ‘Industrial Tech’ by UPC i la Fundació CIM). Oriol Sánchez showed his project of “dual-use system of agricultural land: solar panels and orchard with the ability to generate self-sustainable cities”.

The projects of the six entrepreneurs arising from the First 2022 Programme surprised and generated a great impact among the attendees. All of them recognized that the path of entrepreneurship was not easy because of the difficulty they involve.

The startups thanked very much and appreciated the possibility of doing one pitch within the framework of the 4YFN and the support provided by the pre-accelerators of Primer Programa in making the different phases of the company plan, understanding the Catalan ecosystem and the contacts they have been able to make in order to carry out their project.

 

Pitching Stage

In addition to Demo Day, and with the aim of boosting the visibility of startups that have emerged from the last calls of the Primer Programa, three startups had an exhibitor in the Barcelona & Catalonia Startup Hub space of la Generalitat de Catalunya al 4YFN (ACCIÓ stand) and made a presentation at the Pitching Stage, along with the other 33 Catalan startups that were located in this multisectoral space.

The three companies were:

  • Plastiks: This was the first time they were present at 4YFN and are engaged in connecting companies and individuals with plastic recovery projects so that they can grow their activity and fight pollution. Johann Dorval, head of sales, commented that “The idea arose after learning that 90% of plastics entering the oceans today come from Africa, Asia and Latin America. If we do not collect plastic from the environment we will never resolve this crisis.’ The company was born in 2021 and recognized that “We are happy, we have more and more customers in Spain, France, Holland, United Kingdom and the challenge is to reach the United States. We were very fond of pitching even though it is always difficult to do it in one minute. The quality of the startups present here is undoubtedly very high.”
  • Sweanty: They make smart patches for the sweat analysis of sportsmen to prevent dehydration. Anna Llorella, its CEO, commented that “with these strips we measure the salts that the sportsmen lose through sweat and we make them customized dehydration patterns; to avoid ramps, dizziness, heat strokes… And in this way they reach their maximum yield without putting their health at risk.” Llorella assures us that “We’ve been working on this technology for over six years and we’ve been 100% dedicated for a year. It has been a time full of highs and lows, but being here at 4YFN has given us air and renown. After pitch many people have shown interest in this technology and it has been a very enriching experience.”.
  • Meetoptics: It was the fourth time she had attended 4YFN and her company helped engineers and researchers find the optics they need. Barbara Buades, co-founder, told us that “being at 4YFN lets you know, companies, investors and gives you a lot of visibility” and recognized that “we’re growing very fast. We are now 18 people with an office in Barcelona and the United States and we go further.”

Primer Programa responds to one of the great challenges of the Government of Catalonia: to promote an entrepreneurial enterprise based on innovation and technology that extends the effect of the Barcelona hub technology throughout Catalonia. It is funded by the Government of Catalonia and co-financed by the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) of the European Union.

 

Source: Departament d’Empresa i Treball