Orange launches technology startup accelerator in Spain

Orange Fab is Orange's investment vehicle that has debuted for the first time in Spain, choosing 3 startups after a selection process in which 30 candidates were analysed, from which eight finalists were chosen.

The chosen startups focus their projects on new businesses such as NFC technology and the internet of things, two strategic areas for the Orange group. In the NFC field, TranserMobile offers a solution for purchasing transport tickets.

In the field of the internet of things, the chosen ones were PlanetUswhich offers a solution that ensures the safety of children, the elderly and dependent persons by means of location and Carriotsa Cloud platform for the development of the internet of things, which has already received a round of funding.

Since 2013 Orange Fab has already accelerated more than 100 tech firms in countries such as France, Poland, Israel, Japan, Korea, Ivory Coast and now Spain.

Once the three months of acceleration are over, the companies will be able to attend the International Demo Day, organised by Orange in Paris, where they will have the opportunity to show their products to companies and investors, including the investment funds Iris Capital (a venture capital firm in which Orange is a shareholder) and Orange Digital Ventures (the operator's initiative for investing in start-ups).

Conector Startup opens new call for applications

Connector Startup Accelerator opens a new call for technology-based startups in seed stage that have just launched their app or product to the market or are about to do so. The projects must be already established companies; with high growth potential and scalable; with a team already formed and a clear leader. The call will be open until 15 January.
After an exhaustive pre-selection process, the candidates will present their project at the Startup Day where Conector's partners and mentors will decide, by means of their votes, which of the following will be chosen startups enter the accelerator. 

Once selected, the startups will form their board of mentors taking into account the needs of the project as well as the double matching between them: the entrepreneurs choose which mentors they want to have and vice versa. In addition, they will have an assigned space in the accelerator's offices; access to the services of the companies that collaborate with Conector (Paypal Blueprint, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft BizSpark, Metricson...); the opportunity to be part of one of the largest entrepreneurship ecosystems in Spain; training sessions by mentors and specialised professionals; among others. 

In its two years of existence, Conector has accelerated more than 50 startups through 6 different acceleration programmes. More than 80% of the startups that have passed through Conector's offices have successfully completed the acceleration programme, raising more than €5.3M between them.

The main sectors in which the companies that have passed through Conector work include ecommerce, marketplaces, SaaS, apps, games and projects based on the collaborative economy.

"Recently, for example, we have learned that Glovoa startup accelerated by Connector has closed its second round of financing with the raising of more than €2M, specifically €500,000 from public entities and 1.52 million from private capital to boost its internationalisation" says Diego Gutiérrez of Connector, a startup accelerated by Connector.e Abra-Invest.

Plug and Play is looking for companies for its new acceleration programme.

The American accelerator Plug and Play has already opened the registration period for its new call, which will close in January 2016.

The deadline to apply for this new programme will close on 9 January 2016 or when 300 applications are received. The projects that are finally selected will be eligible to receive up to 50,000 euros of investment and will work at Plug and Play Spain's facilities in Valencia for four months.

Plug and Play, helping young technology companies to realise their ideas, prepare a solid business proposal and present their projects to the international community of venture capitalists.

Since its first call, it has invested in almost 60 startups since its inception, with investments of more than €10M, and it has startups that are proving to be very successful. Touristeye, Quolaw and Ducksboardthree of the companies invested by the Spanish accelerator have been acquired by leading companies in their sector in recent years.

If you are looking for funding for your project, contact us. Abra-Invest has a team of experts in alternative financing at your disposal. Fill in the contact form
<

New funds for the ICT sector, promoted by Carlos Blanco, Hotusa Ventures and Octopus