TECNALIA launches its own accelerator for start-ups based on sophisticated technologies; DeepTech4Impact
- The first of the calls, open until 30th November, is aimed at all start-ups that address the challenge of decarbonising the economy
- This accelerator stands out for its focus on start-ups based on sophisticated technologies (deeptech) and , above all, by offering them all of TECNALIA's technological development capacity
- The initiative will be unveiled on Thursday 27th October at the B Accelerator Tower (BAT) building, the entrepreneurship and innovation centre located in Bilbao, with speeches by Leyre Madariaga, Director of Digital Transformation and Entrepreneurship in the Basque Government; Joseba Mariezkurrena, Director General of Entrepreneurship and Business Competitiveness at Bizkaia Provincial Council ; Jesús Valero, Managing Director of TECNALIA; Asier Rufino, Director of TECNALIA Ventures; and Sergio Bandinelli, Director of Business Development at TECNALIA Ventures, as well as entrepreneurs who already collaborate with TECNALIA, who will present their start-ups as success stories.
Bilbao, 26th October 2022. The applied research and technological development centre, TECNALIA, continues its commitment to promoting entrepreneurship and creating solutions with an impact on companies and society through R&D&I. In this way, it is taking another step forward in its commitment to start-ups and placing all its technological capacity at the service of entrepreneurs through its own business accelerator.
The DeepTech4Impact programme is aimed at deeptech companies, which are those based on sophisticated technologies, and it stands out, above all, for the technological development capacity it offers entrepreneurs. It therefore proposes a long-term partner relationship with start-ups, sharing risks and benefits, based on the development of an individualised programme that is adapted to the needs of the new company's business plan. Entrepreneurs will have access to all of TECNALIA's technological capacity, from experts to the industrial property of technological assets, laboratories and unique infrastructures.
Asier Rufino, Director of TECNALIA Ventures, says that with this programme "our commitment is to work as part of the start-up team, capitalising on our contribution in the form of investment. To do so, we conducted an independent analysis and agreed on a roadmap to develop and bring high-tech products to market”.
DeepTech4Impact will give a technological boost to start-ups through thematic calls, such as smart manufacturing, energy transition, sustainable mobility, personalised health, urban ecosystem and the circular economy. The first of the calls is aimed at all start-ups that address the challenge of decarbonising the economy and ends on 30th November.
In the words of Sergio Bandinelli, Director of Business Development at TECNALIA Ventures, "we are looking for entrepreneurial teams with complementary and motivated profiles, with a minimum viable product, i.e. with a functional prototype or proof of concept, and whose technological development is in line with TECNALIA's fields of action".
Institutional presentation
The initiative will be unveiled on Thursday 27th October at the B Accelerator Tower (BAT) building, the entrepreneurship and innovation centre located in Bilbao, from 4pm, with speeches by Leyre Madariaga, Director of Digital Transformation and Entrepreneurship in the Basque Government; Joseba Mariezkurrena, Director General of Entrepreneurship and Business Competitiveness at the Bizkaia Provincial Council ; Jesús Valero, Managing Director of TECNALIA; Asier Rufino, Director of TECNALIA Ventures; and Sergio Bandinelli, Director of Business Development at TECNALIA Ventures. Entrepreneurs who already collaborate with TECNALIA will also participate and present their start-ups as success stories, such as Andrés Galnares, CEO of H2Site; Jon Lasa, CEO of Branka Solutions; José María Busturia, CEO of Nautilus, and Jon Ibarzabal, Associate of RCD.
TECNALIA has a long track record in the promotion of technology-based companies or industrial property sales. In Intellectual Property Sales (VPI), the centre obtained revenue in excess of €5 million in 2021, which represents an increase of 13.6% with respect to 2020. It also has 827 patents in its portfolio and participates in 14 New Technology-Based Companies (NTBCs), which achieved an increase of 23% in direct jobs created and 40% in turnover in 2021 compared to 2020.
For the fifth consecutive year, TECNALIA is once again one of the top organisations in Spain in terms of the number of European patent applications. More specifically, it is the third private Spanish organisation in European patent applications.
For more information on the DeepTech4Impact accelerator.
About TECNALIA
TECNALIA is the largest applied research and technological development centre in Spain, a European benchmark and member of the Basque Research and Technology Alliance. We work with companies and institutions to increase their competitiveness, quality of life of people and achieve sustainable growth. We do so thanks to people who are passionate about technology and committed to building a better society. Its main scopes of action are: digital transformation, smart manufacturing, energy transition, sustainable mobility, urban ecosystem, and personalised health.
Through TECNALIA Ventures, its deep tech venture builder, the centre recovers its investment in R&D and Innovation, identifying and managing business opportunities based on sophisticated technologies (deep tech). To this end, it deploys a venture building process that enables it to connect the three fundamental pillars of any innovation ecosystem: people who generate technology-based ideas (minds), managers capable of transforming technological ideas into business opportunities (management) and investors who are committed to deep tech entrepreneurial initiatives (money).
