Mobile World Capital Barcelona and NUMA appoint Pep Gomez as Chairman of NUMA Barcelona

• Mobile World Capital Barcelona’s program, mVenturesBcn, and the international accelerator NUMA are launching a programme starting in November 2016 and plan on accelerating 30 start-ups over the next 3 years
• The start-ups will be advised by highly experienced entrepreneurs and mentors, including Ali Partovi, investor and advisor of Facebook, Uber, Airbnb, Dropbox, and Gary Shainberg, former VP of Technology and Innovation of British Telecom and one of the first promoters of the World Economic Forum’s Technology Pioneers programme
• Applications to the programme are open until September, 25th 2016

July 28, 2016

mVenturesBcn, the Mobile World Capital Barcelona (MWCB) programme to create and mentor new digital businesses and bolster their growth, and NUMA, Europe’s leading accelerator, have appointed young entrepreneur and investor Pep Gomez as Chairman of NUMA Barcelona, the programme selected in February 2016 as preferred bidder by mVenturesBCN following its tender for the development and operations of an international acceleration programme in Barcelona.

Pep Gomez, serial entrepreneur and Chairman of NUMA Barcelona

Pep Gómez’s (Castellón, 1992) entrepreneurial career has become a leader in the field of digital innovation in Spain. Over the course of his career he has created companies like Fever, a mobile platform that selects leisure options based on the user’s interests, recently recognised as the best mobile application at “The Europas” (European tech start-up award). The company, which employs more than 120 people, is present in Barcelona, Madrid, London and New York, amongst other cities, and has received more than €25M in funding from venture capitalists such as Accel Partners. Gómez will remain in Fever as non-executive director.

Gómez began his career at the age of 14, when he founded his first company. He then balanced his studies with multiple responsibilities at Campus Party, an event bringing together people interested in computers, innovation, science, creativity, entrepreneurship and digital entertainment worldwide. At 17 he moved to the Silicon Valley, where he worked as an investment partner at Solon Ventures, one of Fever’s main initial investors. His experience also includes collaborative projects with non-profit entities like WWB (Webmasters Without Borders), iWeekend and the Iniciador Foundation. Gómez graduated in 2013 on a scholarship from ESADE Business School’s PDP programme, and is the co-founder of Jóvenes con Futuro (Youth with a Future), a programme sponsored by the Rafael del Pino Foundation.

«I’m very excited and grateful for the tremendous opportunity that mVenturesBcn and NUMA have offered me. Participating in the development of NUMA Barcelona and promoting the international expansion of start-ups in the growth stage will strengthen Barcelona’s position as a global leading tech hub», says Gómez.

Along this line, Mobile World Capital Barcelona CEO Aleix Valls notes that “NUMA Barcelona is a breakthrough for the consolidation of the Barcelona-Paris innovation axis. The start-ups will develop their projects in Barcelona, and will benefit from the expertise of NUMA worldwide, working with professionals like Pep, who has captained projects with a major international impact. This is the combination of factors that establish NUMA Barcelona as one of today’s most innovative acceleration projects.”

NUMA Barcelona, by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs

NUMA Barcelona will accelerate 10 start-ups per year in the next 3 years starting November, 1st 2016. The programme, managed by Pep, will be dedicated to start-ups with existing products and operations who are working towards their first institutional financing.

Start-ups will spend 4 months with an experienced team of experts selected by Pep to cover all challenges start-ups typically face to achieve product-market fit and build traction towards a first institutional round. Experienced mentors, such as Ali Partovi and Gary Shainberg, have also accepted to be active mentors in the programme.

«Reaching product-market fit is extremely hard and long. In the first two years of Fever, a programme such as NUMA Barcelona would have helped me in so many ways», says Pep.

Olivier Mougenot, NUMA’s Investment Director, adds: « we are very excited to have Pep on board. His arrival reflects NUMA’s strong belief in accelerators made by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs.»

A unique investment model

Selected start-ups will receive €30.000 by way of a convertible note to fund investments in their product and marketing costs, and potentially relocation costs to Barcelona. In exchange for the programme, NUMA Barcelona will take a 5% equity stake in all participating start-ups. « The programme will be agnostic of start-ups industries and models. We will be first investing in teams and problems worth being solved » says Pep Gomez.

mVenturesBCN and NUMA have additionally constituted a €1.5M fund to support some of the accelerated start-ups during or after the programme. This represents a great opportunity for the selected start-ups who will have access within weeks to additional funding to finance their growth while structuring their seed round. The combination of the programme and growth funding is unique in Europe. Pep Gomez will also be responsible for managing the fund and the portfolio of start-ups.

Release of call for applications

NUMA Barcelona and Pep are inviting entrepreneurs to apply to the programme. The call for applications for the programme’s 1st season has been released. The next steps are the following:

• • September 25th – Applications close
• • November 1st – Kick-off and programme start
• • February 27th – Demo Day at 4YFN.

More information on the programme and applications is here: barcelona.numa.co 

About NUMA

NUMA is a global innovation network bringing growth and human capital to start-ups. Since 2000, NUMA has emerged as France’s leading innovation practice. In addition to providing its start-ups with commensurate financial and educational resources, NUMA has created an environment prone to their success relying on an influential network of entrepreneurs, corporates and technical experts. Since launching its first programme in Paris in 2011, NUMA has accelerated start-ups in five different countries (France, Russia, India, Morocco and Mexico), and plans to deploy its model in 15 countries by 2019. NUMA by figures : 109 start-ups accelerated, 1M€ average fundraising, 79% still active, 65% have raised funds ; 2 programmes in Western Europe, 6 programmes worldwide.

For more information : www.numa.co

About mVenturesBcn

mVenturesBcn, a programme of Mobile World Capital Barcelona, is a key player in entrepreneurship and innovation facilitating the growth and scaling of mobile and digital start-ups, focusing on the globalisation of the entrepreneurial ecosystem and attracting international talent to Barcelona.  

Located in Pier 01 – Palau de Mar, the entrepreneurial ecosystem hub in Barcelona, mVenturesBcn runs acceleration programmes in partnership with the best accelerators around the world. It also collaborates with the top research centres and universities to build technology transfer programmes and support the creation of technology based start-ups.

Mobile World Capital Barcelona, an initiative driving the mobile and digital transformation of society to help improve people’s lives globally, hosts the Mobile World Congress and delivers 4 Years From Now [4YFN], a business platform for the start-up community.

About Mobile World Capital Barcelona

Mobile World Capital Barcelona is an initiative driving the mobile and digital transformation of society while helping improve people’s lives globally.

With support of the public and private sector throughout Barcelona, Catalonia and Spain, MWCapital focuses on three areas: the digital empowerment of new generations, professionals and citizens; the digital transformation of industries; and the acceleration of digital innovation through entrepreneurship.

Collectively, our mSchools, mHealth, mLiving, mVenturesBcn programmes are positively transforming the health and education system, the industry, and the economy.

MWCapital hosts the Mobile World Congress and delivers 4 Years From Now  [4YFN], a business platform for the start-up community.