The Cellnex Foundation incorporates six start-ups into the second edition of its acceleration programme

Second edition of Cellnex Bridge

• The new edition of Cellnex Bridge starts with twice the number of start-ups, a longer duration, more financial support and new challenges
• Innogando, Aldora Tech, Circulr Sound, Oroi Wellbeing, BlindStairs and Salus Coop have been selected to receive mentoring from innovation experts, as well as financial support, over the next six months

Barcelona, 15 September 2022. The Cellnex Foundation has presented the six projects incorporated into the second edition of the Cellnex Bridge acceleration programme, which once again enjoys the collaboration of the AticcoLab accelerator and the Innuba social innovation consultancy. The kick-off with the selected start-ups was held in Barcelona, at the Foundation’s headquarters, where the social impact projects were announced.

Following the success of the first edition, we have once again looked for projects that provide solutions to the challenge of reducing digital, social or territorial gaps, while expanding our search to cover initiatives that contribute to environmental sustainability and combating climate change.

One outstanding aspect is the duration of the programme, which has increased from three to six months, and in which mentoring for start-ups will play a fundamental role. The scope of the programme has also been widened and now incorporates six initiatives to accompany, rather than three. “Our objective is to promote talent and innovation with initiatives that involve a social impact”, said Àngels Ucero, director of the Cellnex Foundation.

Another new key feature of the edition will be the creation of an innovation ecosystem between the start-ups that have passed through the programme and the future ones, thereby creating a forum where all the mentors, experts and participants can meet and exchange information, knowledge, experience and learning with each other. The Foundation’s next objectives include widening the scope and internationalising the project to other countries where Cellnex operates.

Selected projects

The call to register for the second programme, which remained open until 25 July on the Foundation’s website, attracted a large number of applicants, with over 60 submissions made. All of them stood out for their talent and their worthwhile value proposals linked to areas such as education, sustainability, care for vulnerable groups and rural development. An expert jury of professionals from the sector and Cellnex managers was responsible for selecting the start-ups:

Innogando develops technology in the “Smart Farming” sector. It aims to digitalise the livestock sector using GPS control and livestock monitoring systems to improve farmers’ quality of life, farm profitability and animal welfare.

AldoraTech offers a parcel delivery solution in rural and hard-to-reach areas using drones that facilitate an efficient, sustainable and safe transition towards greener automated logistics.

Circulr Sound is a software solution designed for the safety of senior citizens, which applies Artificial Intelligence techniques over audio. It uses microphones as “360-degree eyes” to create a real-time virtual map of acoustic events in the surrounding area.

Oroi Wellbeing is a virtual reality platform with therapeutic content for generating emotional well-being and cognitively stimulating the elderly.

Blind Stairs is a candidate monitoring system designed to avoid gender, ethnicity, nationality, age and sexual orientation bias throughout the entire staff selection process, to put an end to issues like the glass ceiling, the wage gap and discrimination against minority groups.

Health Coop is a non-profit citizen cooperative that manages data for health research while acknowledging that each person is the sovereign owner of their data, thereby changing the traditional model of governance and making more —and more diverse— data available to health researchers.

Each of these start-ups will enjoy the support and advice of a group of mentors, as well as directors and specialists from Cellnex, and will be able to connect with other entrepreneurs and speak with investors throughout the programme. The group of mentors, who are experts in entrepreneurship and open innovation, will be adapted individually to the needs of each project to provide them with support and guidance in their business and social impact plans.

In addition, the entrepreneurs will participate in theoretical-practical workshops, round tables and weekly workshops to address aspects related to financing, sales, personal development and soft skills, and will be offered economic support to successfully produce proofs of concept of their products or services.

With this initiative, the Cellnex Foundation aims to build cooperation bridges, create alliances, generate social wealth and move towards digitalisation, and thus help reduce social inequalities and improve digital capacity, quality of life and environmental sustainability.

About the Cellnex Foundation

The Cellnex Foundation, backed by Cellnex Telecom, works to reduce existing digital, social and territorial divides through initiatives that improve access to connectivity. It also works to promote positive solutions for the environment. Its business model is based on three pillars: Proprietary programmes led by the Foundation, joint programmes in alliance with other organisations and institutions, and corporate volunteering.

For more information: https://thecellnexfoundation.org

Innuba

Innuba is a strategic design consultancy in social innovation that, since 2016, has been supporting and mentoring companies through their social transformation, injecting social impact and sustainability into the heart of their businesses. It works towards corporate goals, fostering holistic and systemic change, and by designing products and services that have a positive impact and a financial return, and designing innovation projects with a measurable impact. It also designs and delivers transformational training programmes.

AticcoLab

AticcoLab, Aticco Ecosystem’s entrepreneurship support platform, has the mission of strengthening the entrepreneurial ecosystem and the connections between entrepreneurs, start-ups and corporates. It develops acceleration programmes that maximise opportunities for start-ups, shortening their growth timeline and avoiding the risks that can affect the early phases. Furthermore, it supports corporations on the path to change through open innovation and brings investors closer to its network of entrepreneurs so that they can discover which projects have the most potential and intensify the deal flow. AticcoLab has an extensive network of mentors, specialising in start-ups, innovation and entrepreneurship. Their experience, knowledge and contacts drive and maximise accelerated start-up projects.