The startups that have participated this year in Four Years From Now (4YFN), the event for entrepreneurs that coexists with the Mobile World Congress (MWC), have seen how among those who approached their stands there were many suited congressmen with whom they had not mingled so much in previous editions. This has been the case for Prasheel and Utpal, two regulars at Mobile who for the first time have gone to meet emerging companies. "We didn't know there was a space for startups," both admit.
Another MWC attendee who also didn't know about 4YFN was Kristian, who was very surprised by the vitality that permeates this event, full of entrepreneurs with many ideas and eager to share them. "There's a lot of hustle and bustle," adds Jasper, who had been among more technological, but not so dynamic, stands at Mobile. Kristian went further. "This is the most interesting thing I've seen so far. The other pavilions ---of the MWC--- were very standard," he defends.
The surprise witnessed by these congressmen is due to the fact that only since last year the local entrepreneurs' event has been held at the Gran Via fairgrounds, historically reserved for large telecommunications companies. Mobile and 4YFN coexist under the same roof and foster a relationship that was not so close before, remarks the CEO of Tech Barcelona, Miquel Martí, with 16 startups at his stand and more than 80 of his associates spread throughout the congress. For Martí, the union of both events allows reinforcing the value proposition that GSMA offers to congressmen, as demonstrated by the interest his stand has aroused. "We haven't stopped for a moment," he points out.
This opinion is also shared by Barcelona Activa, which participates in the event with about twenty emerging companies. "We are great defenders of this connection of ecosystems, which helps the local sector and focuses on Barcelona as a hub," says its general director, Félix Ortega. It is not only good for startups, but also for corporations, which can learn with completely new approaches, adds the operational director of BStartup, José Manuel Carol. "It benefits both parties," he emphasizes.
The coexistence of both halls has also been accompanied by the fact that 4YFN has doubled its offer, explains Martí, with more than 600 emerging companies participating in this edition of the fair. This has been detected by two students who were walking through the congress, David and Mateo, fascinated by the debate program and all the startups that have participated this time. "This year is much better. Last year you saw everything in one day and this year not by a long shot," they explain. For all these reasons, 4YFN attendees are sure that in this edition the coronavirus will have been left behind, pending confirmation of attendance figures from the GSMA. "We have returned to the pre-pandemic era," assures Martí, with whom Carol agrees.
Emerging companies, a stone's throw from multinationals
Entrepreneurs also advocate for maintaining this new location for 4YFN, leaving behind the Montjuïc exhibition center. "It's much better," says the co-founder and CEO of Natural Machines, Lynette Kucsma. This company, dedicated to 3D printing food, medicines, or facial masks, had already participated in the congress before. But this has been the first time that visits to its stand have occurred every day and not just on the last day, Thursday, when traditionally entrepreneurs could approach Mobile and vice versa, despite the fact that on that day the fair is at half-mast and many international congress attendees have already returned home. "We have much more visibility," she emphasizes.
Entrepreneurs also advocate for maintaining this new location for 4YFN, leaving behind the Montjuïc exhibition centerThanks to being in the same venue as the MWC, the CEO of Accexible, Carla Zaldua, says they have received a visit from Microsoft. "They wouldn't have come to Plaza Espanya," asserts the director of this Barcelona company, which has devised a system to detect mental health illnesses through speech. By the stand ofKreios Space, immersed in the development of an electric propulsion system for small satellites, Airbus and Space X have also passed through. "Being together is better for thenetworking with investors," emphasizes one of its co-founders, Adrià Barceló. For thisstartup, created a year ago by students from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), this has also been their first opportunity to have face-to-face contact with potential partners.
Beyond their employees and executives getting to know the entrepreneurs, large companies have known for years that participating in 4Y4N adds value. Nestlé does so with its own stand where they explain that they also innovate from their Barcelona hub, with the aim of attracting talent, which is increasingly difficult to obtain with the choice of the Catalan capital by many multinationals to locate their centers of excellence. Companies such as Decathlon, DKV, Vueling or Lleida.net and banks such as Sabadell or CaixaBank are also present. Even the South Korean SK Telecom participates, one of the most popular this year at MWC for its metaverse proposal, bringing nine startups for local entrepreneurs to get to know. One of them allows producing books in braille in just one day, when, in general, it takes six months, points out a company spokesperson, Kim Dae Ho. ONCE has shown interest in their proposal.