mVenturesBCN joins Startupbootcamp Barcelona that bolster the acceleration programme focused on the Internet of Things

• The alliance between mVenturesBCN and Startupbootcamp Barcelona will allow to maximise the programme’s impact at the national and international levels
• mVenturesBCN joins the Startupbootcamp Investor Committee and will participate in all the acceleration programme’s stages

January 4, 2016

mVenturesBCN, a Mobile World Capital Barcelona (MWCB) project to create and mentor new projects and digital businesses, incorporates as its first partner Startupbootcamp Internet of Things & Data, a member of Europe’s leading accelerator, boasting 12 acceleration programmes in 8 different countries, recently having added two new programs in New York and Miami.

The agreement, signed by Ángel García, Founding Partner of Startupbootcamp IoT & Data; and Aleix Valls, Managing Director of mVenturesBCN and MWCB, involves an investment intended to boost Startupbootcamp IoT & Data’s activity in Barcelona. The collaboration entails mVenturesBCN’s entrance as a shareholder of Startupbootcamp IoT & Data and its joining the company’s Investors Committee, the body responsible for evaluating and selecting the startups that will participate in each edition of the programme.

“The association of Startupbootcamp IoT & Data with mVenturesBCN reinforces our commitment to the city, as well as our effort to consolidate a platform in Barcelona that channels innovative talent into the field of IoT and Smart Data,” said Ángel García, Founding Partner of Startupbootcamp IoT & Data.

Aleix Valls, Managing Director of mVenturesBCN and MWCB, says that through this collaboration “mVenturesBCN enters a strategic sector that will radically transform society in the coming years.” Valls added that “in Barcelona we have the opportunity to spearhead this social and economic change, which is why we need to count on leading companies and institutions in our area, like Startupbootcamp IoT & Data.

“The agreement with Startupbootcamp IoT & Data is part of mVenturesBCN’s acceleration area, dubbed the “Mobile Acceleration Hub,” and marks the commencement of its activity. mVenturesBCN, a MWCB initiative, plans to attract two additional international acceleration programmes to fortify Barcelona’s position as a business location for entrepreneurs, startups and investors scalable at the global level. These internationally recognised programmes will make it possible to attract talent from around the world to the city, and boost local talent harbouring global ambitions.

In a second phrase mVenturesBCN’s activity will also make it possible to create new technology transfer mechanisms to transmit the knowledge generated by universities and research centres to the marketplace. The “Technology Transfer Programme” will back 20 business projects focused on research lines – algorithms, new devices, materials, etc. – that may be directly applicable to the market, and will promote their development so that they lead to real products and services.

Barcelona backs the IoT

mVenturesBCN joins the Startupbootcamp IoT & Data line-up, and will participate in all the stages of the acceleration project, which got underway  on 1 December. The new edition of the effort, slated to last for 3 months, selected 11 startups from 6 different nations, 4 of them from Spain. The mVenturesBCN team formed part of the judging panel in the project selection process, along with Startupbootcamp IoT & Data staff.

The selected startups will benefit from mentoring sessions with over 100 professionals, initial funding of €15,000 per project, contact with potential investors, and a physical space, among other things. The startups will also receive training sessions by the mVenturesBCN team and, by extension, the professionals and industry experts from 4 Years From Now (4YFN) and MWCB. This link with 4YFN and MWCB’s activity will also make it possible for the startups to present their projects at the programme’s final Demo Day at 4YFN 2016.

A strategic partnership

The alliance between MWCB and Startupbootcamp dates back to 2014, prior to the creation of the specific programme on the Internet of Things: Startupbootcamp IoT & Data, which got underway in Barcelona last year. MWCB was a key agent for the accelerator’s coming to the city and has been one of its most active partners since the outset, acting as a link between the programme and the local entrepreneurial ecosystem.

The current agreement reinforces this commitment and will also fortify the initiatives carried out by 4YFN in the IoT field. The business platform for the growing community of global technology startups, backed by MWCB, boasts an activity area devoted to IoT and specific programming in this field at 4YFN 2016 (22- 25 February, 2016).

Innovation, the Internet of Things and the future of Barcelona

Barcelona is a pioneer in support for and the application of digital transformation to the city’s industrial fabric, featuring a digital ecosystem and innovative technology making it the world’s 10^th-ranked smart city. In 2003 the world’s population was still greater than its number of connected objects (6.3 billion people to about 500 million devices). With a view to the future, Cisco predicts that by 2015 there will be 25 billion connected objects, and by 2020 the number will have exceeded 50 billion. In this regard a smart bet is the application of Internet of Things to improve people’s everyday lives.

The city also features several initiatives specialised in the smart sector, like the Smart City Expo World Congress and the IoT Solutions World Congress, an international event centring on IoT, with its first edition held last September.

More international talent

In line with the agreement with Startupbootcamp Barcelona, mVenturesBCN has already launched an international call for a new partner for the Mobile Acceleration Hub, which will make it possible to attract more international talent. The evolution of each program, network of contacts, success stories, international presence and degree of specialisation are some of the requirements stipulated in the call.