MWC2022 – An Event That Connected Startups to the Industry Through 4YFN
Over the last four days, the latest edition of the Mobile World Congress (MWC Barcelona 2022) has been held, bringing together companies related to the world of technological innovation. From world-leading companies to the latest disruptive start-ups, they are all looking to influence the future of connected technology and will shape tomorrow.
The congress integrated once again the event 4YFN (Four Years From Now), which was the ideal place to connect with startups and discover which innovative technologies are about to become part of our daily lives and will continue to evolve to improve everyone’s standard of living.
4YFN is a key event for startups, allowing them to showcase and promote their cutting-edge concepts and technologies in order to establish contacts and relationships with potential investors and other innovators in the sector. The eighth edition of 4YFN counted with more than 500 startups from many different sectors such as mobility, digital health care, sports-tech, or finance. Among them we could find some startups that previously participated in EIT Urban Mobility programmes with CARNET, such as the startup Smartmonkey, belonging to the IH South Accelerator Programme, or Vonzu, a participant from the ScaleTHENGlobal Programme in 2021.
Apart from all these start-ups, 4YFN offered several conferences and talks. Among many other speakers, we had the chance to hear from Maximilian Tayenthal, co-founder of the German fintech N26; an online bank startup founded in 2013 and already present in more than 25 European markets. It also was the occasion to attend a session with the co-founders of ecoDeliver, Mateu Chiquin and Patrick Lokkegaard, the first 100% sustainable Spanish parcel delivery platform. A logistics operator for e-Commerce based entirely on electric vehicles and collaborative economy. In addition, we had the opportunity to learn about the Italian National Innovation Fund, which together with its president Francesca Bria aims to transform the future of innovation and technology in Italy with a satisfactory budget of €3 billion.
Catalonia has more than 1900 startups, mostly concentrated in Barcelona, forming the main startup hub in Southern Europe. It, therefore, represents an excellent opportunity to connect and collaborate with them. And that’s where CARNET constitutes a turning point in the growth and development of the start-ups. Thanks to its wide range of expertise and extensive network within the urban mobility sector; they can provide a major boost for growing start-ups via various acceleration programmes, promoting synergies between startups, industry, academia and cities in order to make the mobility of the future a reality. A more efficient and greener mobility, always keeping in mind the safety and satisfaction of the final beneficiaries, the citizens.
CARNET will additionally lead this year the SME Hub Programme, aimed at mature start-ups with a TRL of 7-9, in order to help them become mobility pioneers in European cities and regions and provide the possibility of developing pilots with cities and industry players.
The EIT Urban Mobility Business Creation programmes, in which CARNET is heavily involved, have recently officially issued their call for applications. Each with a different focus, the thematic accelerators E+Mobility, UAM Plazza Accelerator and 5G Turbo aim to boost each company allowing it to obtain services specifically designed for the technology they are developing.
If your mobility startup wishes to grow and benefit from one of these programmes and all the benefits that come with it, go to the EIT Urban Mobility Business Creation website and find out more information about the activities and the eligibility criteria to apply.
