Telefónica Movistar will invest in 100% digital startups oriented to mass markets and focused on 5G, e-health, e-learning, smart home, entertainment, mobility and the future of work, among others.
Image credit: Cortesía Wayra
November 30, 2020 3 min read
Telefónica Movistar presents two initiatives to promote its open innovation strategy towards the entrepreneurial ecosystem. The first is Wayra X , the first 100% digital hub designed to invest on a global scale in startups for the development of a digital product for mass consumption that can reach millions of users regardless of geographies. The second is Wayra Builder , a corporate venture builder whose mission is to take advantage of the talent and internal technology of Telefónica Movistar to create innovative startups together with external investors.
Wayra X seeks to invest in startups from anywhere in the world and thus be able to improve people's lives by incorporating the latest technology in their day-to-day life. Without a specific geographical headquarters, Wayra X focuses on projects oriented to mass markets and related to 5G, ehealth, elearning, digital home, entertainment, mobility and the future of work , among others, with a prototype or product on the market at that it can be disseminated among Telefónica Movistar customers throughout the world.
This new digital hub was created with two startups in its portfolio and plans to make investments in another ten until the end of 2021:
“At Wayra X we look for companies focused on mass markets that are capable of providing technological solutions to problems that affect millions of people. Wayra X is a hub without geographical barriers, 100% digital and designed to locate massive products that can be discovered and distributed digitally ”, said Agustin Rotondo, Regional Manager of Wayra Hispam .
By being part of Wayra X, startups will gain access to a great team of experts and mentors. In addition, they will be offered services to scale their businesses, provided 100% remotely, with quick access to customers, testing the pre-installation in terminals, and with the possibility of integration in Movistar + LivingApps.
For its part, Wayra Builder will focus on creating startups together with external investors that take advantage of technology with high potential developed internally at Movistar. The first startup created from Wayra Builder is Deeder, specialized in cybersecurity and legal-tech and spin-off of an innovation project of ElevenPaths, Telefónica Tech's cybersecurity company. Its solution allows signing contracts through messaging apps.
