Start4big is an open innovation initiative promoted by five large corporations such as Aigües de Barcelona, CaixaBank, Naturgy, Seat, and Telefónica. The objective of the alliance is to integrate the dynamics of startups into the structures of these companies, which want to be infected by their way of operating, in addition to offering emerging companies the possibility of working with them by testing pilots in real environments.
The initiative, which hopes to grow with the incorporation of another large corporation, has just selected the winning startups of the second edition of its innovation program, which sought solutions for challenges such as biometric identification, augmented reality, smart cities, and the circular economy. From among almost 200 projects submitted, Validated ID, Mobbeel, Innovae, Solum, Urban Air Purifier, and Climate Trade have been the emerging companies chosen to apply their proposals within the large corporations promoting Start4big. Two of them, Urban Air Purifier and Validated ID, are from Barcelona.
Urban Air Purifier has devised an air purifier that improves air quality and eliminates pollution, in both open and closed spaces. The device continuously draws in and renews the air, capturing polluting particles and creating completely sanitized areas, also free of covid-19. This project, which will now continue to grow within the framework of Start4big, has already been tested in the offices of Naturgy and Seat, two of the promoters, according to the alliance's spokesperson, Manuel Nuñez. For its part, ValidatedID, which offers electronic signature and digital identity insurance to companies, has the task of finding a virtual wallet model that can be used by everyone.
The five selected startups will develop their projects and test prototypes in one of the corporations that make up Start4big. In addition to Urban Air Purifier and Validated ID, the rest of the emerging companies will be responsible for addressing the use of virtual reality in maintenance or supervision tasks (Innovae), biometric identity (Mobbeel), the promotion of renewable energies with smart charging stations (Solum) and the reduction of environmental impact (Climate Trade), in line with the challenges posed in the call. All of them will be able to access the client portfolio of Aigües de Barcelona, CaixaBank, Naturgy, Seat and Telefónica, which totals more than 380 million users worldwide, as well as leverage their distribution channels, positioning and visibility.
This edition of the Start4big program comes after the success of the first, which received 173 proposals and selected the startups Lang-AI, PlayFilm, Séntisis Analytics, Smart IoT Labs and Unmanned Life. The winning emerging companies were accelerated by Aigües de Barcelona, CaixaBank, Naturgy, Seat and Telefónica, says Nuñez, who emphasizes that the program serves to help them grow and put the focus on them. Currently, the winners of the first edition have already been acquired by other companies.