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Spanish telecommunications large Telefonica is presently scouting Israeli startups for disruptive applied sciences in a spread of areas corresponding to digital well being, training, good houses, and mobility, via its innovation division, Wayra X.
These sectors could seem past the pursuits of a significant telecommunications firm — one of many largest in Europe and among the many high 10 worldwide with about 350 million prospects — however Luisa Rubio, head of Wayra X, informed The Instances of Israel in a videoconference interview from Madrid that the division was arrange with a mission to “look exterior the footprints of Telefonica” and uncover innovation throughout fields and nations.
Israel’s tech ecosystem, she mentioned, was one of many first Wayra X seemed to due to its “robust entrepreneurship” and the applying of “actual tech to actual issues.”
The funding hub, established in late 2020 to again early-stage digital-first startups as a part of Telefonica’s wider innovation division Wayra, made its first funding in an Israeli startup in its first 12 months of operations. Wayra X took half in a $1.6 million pre-seed funding into Upword, a Tel Aviv outfit that developed an AI-powered summarization and studying productiveness software. The funding was one among roughly two handfuls of startups Wayra X has backed in below two years.
Whereas Wayra operated as an accelerator program — working with over 800 startups in 30 nations which have generated income of some $300 million since 2011 when the innovation arm was established — Wayra X was set as much as transfer Telefonica into B2C (business-to-consumer) “mass markets” in areas corresponding to ”5G, e-health, e-learning, good dwelling, leisure, mobility, and the way forward for work.”
By means of its seven hubs in 10 nations together with Brazil, Germany, the UK, Mexico, and Spain, Wayra X seems to be to again entrepreneurs and firms hoping to resolve advanced challenges “and enhance individuals’s lives by incorporating cutting-edge expertise into their each day routines.”
Rubio mentioned that in B2C markets, “the innovation and expertise shouldn’t be all the time apparent; there are a whole lot of marketplaces with interfaces, for instance, however no actual expertise.”
Wayra X needs to “ship actual influence for finish prospects,” she mentioned.
With Upword, mentioned Rubio, “it’s true that it’s a special space for funding, however training is a complete focus for Telefonica and a key space for us when scouting.”
Previously generally known as Erudite, Upword was based in 2019 as a platform that leverages synthetic intelligence to create brief abstracts or summaries of lengthy texts to spice up studying and productiveness. The platform is presently in non-public beta stage, however potential customers can join the ready checklist and entry the corporate’s free extension on Google’s Chrome browser within the meantime.
Upword says its tech can scale back lengthy texts by as much as 80% and has a collaborative ingredient the place notes and feedback may be added.
Rubio mentioned Upword is “extra than simply an academic software for college students, it’s for everybody. We liked that it has added worth and it’s a software for on a regular basis use.”
Telefonica’s prospects “count on surprises and new options they haven’t considered,” she defined.
“We all the time needless to say we’re a telecoms firm, however we additionally need to present worth to prospects in areas corresponding to gaming, leisure, well being, and training,” Rubio added.
Such options may be applied for the sake of consumers and/or used internally by Telefonica’s over 110,000 workers worldwide. Wayra X additionally helps the businesses it backs do enterprise straight with Telefonica, mentioned Rubio.
The Wayra X head lately wrapped up a four-day journey to Israel, the place she met with entrepreneurs and tech stakeholders in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem because the hub seems to be to deepen its connections throughout the nation and keep plugged into new ventures.
Rubio mentioned she works intently with Begin-Up Nation Central, a nonprofit group that connects international companies, governments, and ecosystems to Israel, and partnered with the Azrieli Faculty of Engineering in Jerusalem (JCE) for an innovation contest that may see Israeli college students fly to Madrid subsequent month for South Summit 2022, an innovation convention for entrepreneurs and traders.
These collaborations are aimed toward figuring out new concepts to look into and ventures to put money into.
“At present, we need to detect new areas for brand new divisions, such because the metaverse,” mentioned Rubio in reference to the world of interconnected digital communities the place individuals can meet, work, and play, utilizing a spread of units like digital actuality headsets, augmented actuality glasses, and smartphone apps. Quite a few Israeli corporations are already working on this area.
“Israel is without doubt one of the best ecosystems on the planet, it’s on the identical degree because the US… however smaller the place the extent of dialog and the standard of the startups are fascinating,” mentioned Rubio.
To entry top-tier offers, she acknowledges that Wayra X and Telefonica should “act quick and never behave like a typical company participant.”
“The pace of the ecosystem [in Israel] is loopy,” she mentioned with a fast chuckle, including that she has heard of offers closing in as little as 72 hours.
“We’ll should adapt our means of working,” mentioned Rubio.
Wayra X is now trying so as to add two to a few Israeli startups to its funding portfolio by the tip of the 12 months, she indicated.
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