BORIS JOHNSON OPENS TELEFONICA'S WAYRA ACADEMY FOR BRITAIN'S BRIGHTEST AND BEST TECH ENTREPRENEURS
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
BORIS JOHNSON OPENS TELEFONICA’S WAYRA ACADEMY FOR
BRITAIN’S BRIGHTEST AND BEST TECH ENTREPRENEURS
London – 29th June, 2012: London Mayor Boris Johnson today officially opened the 10th
Wayra Academy – Telefonica’s accelerator programme – established in London to help
digital talent go global. The Mayor joined senior figures from O2 parent company Telefonica,
in congratulating 16 of the UK’s most talented digital entrepreneurs who have secured a
place at the state-of-the-art Academy.
The budding success stories met by the Mayor included Pollarize.me, a polling application
that lets people survey their friends and Epicurely, a social network for people who love
food. All the start-ups have taken ICT and translated it into an exciting range of new ideas,
across a whole range of industries. At Wayra UK, they will be supported to nurture their
ideas and talent through the provision of financing, technology, mentorship and support.
Speaking at the opening of the Wayra Academy, Boris Johnson highlighted his ambitions for
the tech sector, his support for young entrepreneurs and stressed the positive role that such
accelerators can play in developing the future digital economy and driving economic growth
and recovery in the UK.
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “The Wayra Academy is a fantastic initiative that
will harness precisely the kind of creativity and entrepreneurship we need to create jobs and
drive economic growth. Home to some of the finest minds in innovation and design,
London’s digital sector has huge potential to create jobs for Londoners and grow the
capital's economy. This is why we must do everything we can to help people who want to
start their own businesses turn their ideas into reality. I wish all those who come through the
Academy’s doors the very best of luck as they nurture their ideas into fully fledged
companies with the potential to offer vital employment opportunities for Londoners and a
huge boost to our economy."
The London Wayra Academy has come a long way since March when Telefonica
announced its intention to establish its 10th global Academy in the city:
Telefónica Digital 260 Bath Road www.telefonica.com
Slough SL1 4DX
UK• An empty, 13,000 sq ft site has been completely transformed into a cutting-edge
workspace with world-class incubation facilities
• More than 1,000 applications have been received from a huge range of prospective tech-
entrepreneurs
• A three day, intensive selection process dubbed Wayra Week saw a shortlist of 30 start-
ups pitch their ideas to an expert panel of judges
• In line with Wayra’s stated ambition to tap into a broad range of UK talent, successful
applicants range from 20 through 50 years of age. The group also includes four projects
which are led by current, or recently graduated university students
The opening of London’s Wayra Academy and Telefónica’s multi-million pound investment in
its London-based Telefónica Digital business demonstrates a clear commitment to fuelling
growth and innovation in each of its European territories.
It comes as Telefonica prepares to open the global HQ of its Telefonica Digital division in
London next month and as the business prepares to bring together 10,000 of the continent’s
most talented tech minds for the world’s biggest technology festival – a five day event called
Campus Party – in Berlin in August.
The London Wayra Academy, which has been supported by the Mayor of London’s official
promotional agency, London & Partners, will encourage growth, investment and job creation
in the UK and London by anchoring UK digital innovators in the city. It encourages them to
keep their talents in the capital by backing them with investment, mentoring, and technical
expertise.
Uniquely for such incubator programmes, the academy provides global reach and potential
to scale new businesses from concept to reality with access to a potential market of more
than 300 million Telefonica customers worldwide.
At the event, O2 CEO Ronan Dunne re-asserted Telefonica/O2’s ambition to boost
entrepreneurial spirit in Europe both by opening more Wayra academies over the next 12
months and by launching Campus Party in Berlin: “Growth in Europe is predicated on
nurturing the skills and talent of future generations. As a digital services business, our
success depends on identifying and backing great ideas and unleashing the positive
potential of young people and technology.
Telefónica Digital 260 Bath Road www.telefonica.com
Slough SL1 4DX
UKWe’re well positioned to do so by bringing Wayra academies to Germany and Ireland in the
next twelve months. Whilst initiatives such as Campus Parties and VC funds including
Amerigo and Telefonica Ventures will keep us at the forefront of identifying, supporting and
developing the infrastructure that is critical to the future of Digital Europe.”
London is the 10th Academy in Telefonica’s Wayra accelerator programme which globally
has received more than 10,000 submissions and has already invested in over 100 start-ups.
It follows the establishment of academies in Madrid and Barcelona with others set to open in
Dublin and Munich soon.
Alumni of the global Wayra Academy network, include CogniCor, the smart complaint
resolution service from the Barcelona Academy, who recently won the European
Commission’s Tech All Stars competition to find the best entrepreneurs from accelerator
programmes, incubators and web camps from around the EU.
Campus Party Europe takes place from 21-26 August in Berlin as a 24-hour a day festival
where 10,000 young technologists, hackers, developers, gamers and budding inventors – all
equipped with laptops and sleeping bags – immerse themselves in a truly unique
environment. The so-called ‘campuseros’ will all gather at the historic Tempelhof Airport to
share ideas inspiration and experience with some of the world’s leading authorities on
innovation including Sir Tim Berners Lee, Paulo Coelho, Yossi Vardi and senior leaders from
the world of politics.
For further information about the Wayra Academy, visit http://wayra.org/en
For further information about how to register for the Campus Party in Berlin, visit
http://www.campus-party.eu/2012 .
[ENDS]
Notes to Editors
Overview of successful start ups at the Academy:
Start-up Overview
Hiyalife Ltd A new social network to log, store and timeline your
memories.
CloudBlocks An ‘app store’ with tools for businesses to manage servers.
Chatterbox Analytics A tool to help businesses identify and manage online brand
advocates and to discover engagement
Telefónica Digital 260 Bath Road www.telefonica.com
Slough SL1 4DX
UKTaskHub An online community hub and social marketplace to advertise
your errands and odd jobs to neighbourhood service
providers.
MakeLight Interactive Turns people, via their mobiles, into pixels by creating a giant
screen across the crowd at live events.
TrueView A real-time dating app to update information and interact with
other users without profiles becoming stagnant.
Minicabit.co.uk A pre-pay, pre-book minicab platform.
Insane Logic (MyChoicePad) The MyChoicePad is an app set to reduce the cost of
classroom technology by brining language aids to smart
technology.
Night Zookeeper An educational game for families and schools, combining
drawing and traditional play in a zoo building game.
Pollarize.me A polling application that allows people to survey their friends
across their social networks.
PixelPin Pictures replace passwords with this secure pin model for
mobile and web services.
Six3 Ltd A platform to make it quicker, easier and cheaper for people
to send and share video messages.
Blue Butterfly Digital Ltd An app that allows you to instantly connect to wi-fi networks
without fiddly registration processes.
2ndSight An innovative Smartphone platform that enables blind people
to effectively use mobile touch screen technology.
Epicurely A social network to connect people who love food with each
other allowing users to build their own online chef persona
and gain recognition for their cooking talents.
Touchline Solutions Using smart phone technology to combat the problem of
queuing.
About Wayra
Wayra is a Telefónica Digital initiative whose main aim is to promote innovation and identify talent in
Latin America and Europe in the fields of Internet and new information and communication
technologies (ICT). Its global project acceleration model helps entrepreneurs develop, providing them
with technological tools, qualified mentors, a cutting edge working space and the financing required to
accelerate their growth.
Already present in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Spain, Mexico, Peru, the UK and Venezuela,
Wayra’s calls for projects have received more than 10,000 applications from new digital businesses,
making it the leading global platform for identifying technological talent in the ICT world. Its academies
in Bogotá, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Lima, Madrid, Barcelona, Caracas, and soon to be opened in
Sao Paulo, Santiago de Chile, London and Dublin, currently host 100 acceleration start ups.
In March Telefonica announced ‘Telefonica Think Big’ – a 2015 commitment to a set of initiatives that
will help promote entrepreneurial spirit in Europe, and put technology innovation at the heart of
business transformation. Wayra is a key part of this commitment, supporting the best technology
start-ups, which will in turn play their part in stimulating the growth of next generation Europe.
For further information on Wayra, please contact:
http://wayra.org/en
@Wayra
@WayraUK
press@wayra.org
About Think Big
Wayra and Campus party are part of a Think Big initiative. Think Big is about fresh ideas - about
looking at problems differently, and using technology to improve the world around us. We divide our
Think Big initiative into two areas, people and planet.
Telefónica Digital 260 Bath Road www.telefonica.com
Slough SL1 4DX
UKFor more information please visit: http://www.o2.co.uk/thinkbig or follow us on Twitter: @o2ukthinkbig
About London & Partners
London & Partners is the official promotional organisation for London. Our company attracts and
delivers value to business, students and visitors. London & Partners is a not-for-profit public private
partnership, funded by the Mayor of London and a network of commercial partners.
Our remit is to drive leisure and business visitors as well as bidding to secure major events in London,
to unlock the city for overseas businesses who want to set up or expand in London and to promote
the capital’s world class universities to international students.
Our intention is to work in partnership with organisations in London and across the world to deliver our
goal - that London be globally recognised as the best big city on earth.
For more information visit www.londonandpartners.com
Telefónica Digital 260 Bath Road www.telefonica.com
Slough SL1 4DX
UKYou can also read
