- Agreement supports Telefónica Open Future’s aim to promote disruptive startups.
- Deal includes exchange of startups at pair’s respective headquarters over next six months.
Telefónica Open Future reached an agreement with Startup Madeira to promote disruptive startups and collaboratively search for investment opportunities.
The agreement was forged at the Web Summit event in Lisbon during early-November, as Telefónica seeks to expand opportunities for startups through its regional innovation programme. Additionally, the pair will oversee an exchange of startups at their respective headquarters, in Spain and Portugal, over a six-month period.
Portuguese incubator Startup Madeira is a keen supporter of the ‘blue economy’ and international projects related to tourism. The European Business Network-certified incubator is predominantly focused on the creation of small companies and curates the transfer of results between research and development entities within startups. Telefónica also noted the startup accelerator’s specific programme to “promote Madeira as a destination for digital nomads”.
According to the World Bank, the blue economy is the “sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods and jobs, while preserving the health of ocean ecosystem”.
Speaking about the significance of the agreement, Inés Oliveira, Head of Open Future, highlighted that the move represents the “first agreement outside the Telefonica Open Future footprint”, and said he hoped it would “offer even more opportunities to our startups, as well as strengthen the relationship with the Portuguese entrepreneurship ecosystem”.
Telefónica has been keen to promote disruptive startups through its Open Future subsidiary, which it claims has created “more than 4,000 jobs” and developed in excess of “200 Open Innovation calls” since its launch in 2014.
The Group has hosted biannual calls for regional technology-based startups under the name Call Open Future España in recent years. Such calls are purposed to help startups scale, boost their visibility, and access networking opportunities. Open Future sits under Wayra Investigación y Desarrollo, which in turn is wholly owned by Telefónica Digital España (Telefónicawatch, #147).
