IMPACT Growth announces the 14 startups selected for funding and acceleration in its first open call

IMPACT Growth announces the 14 startups selected for funding and acceleration in its first open call

• Each of the selected startups will receive at least €100,000 in equity-free funding, alongside acceleration and mentoring services

• More than 1,900 startups from 60 countries have participated in the first call for startups by the IMPACT Growth accelerator, offering a total of €3.6M in equity-free funding

• The program will select another 14 startups during its second call, due to be launched on 5th September 2017

IMPACT Growth, the startup acceleration program led by FundingBox and ISDI and backed by leading accelerators, venture capital entities and global brands, has announced the names of 14 startups selected within its first open call. These startups will receive, in the first stage, a minimum funding of €100,000 equity-free.

GymCraft, FASHION CLOUD, Bookingabus.com, YerbaBuena VR and Clarity have been selected under the Smart Content vertical, which received 41% of the applications and is led by DOCOMO Digital. In the Smart Cities and Infrastructures category, supported by Ferrovial, the selected startups are XapiX, Stratio Automotive and Watcher. For the Smart Agrifood division, led by Danone, the chosen startups are FruitsApp, DelSuper.es, RezGuru and Farm Dog. Finally, Autonomous Manufacturing and INSYLO are the selected startups in Smart Manufacturing, partnered with MADE.

• GymCraft (Spain) connects any fitness device to its virtual reality exercise game platform through PC or mobile, and lets the user dive into exciting 3D online worlds.
• FASHION CLOUD (Germany) is the leading content exchange platform in the fashion industry.
• Bookingabus.com (Denmark) provides dynamic pricing for bus transportation.
• YerbaBuena VR (United States) delivers next generation real-time 360 live streaming distribution platform for Virtual Reality optimized for any available bandwidth.
• Clarity (Spain) is a SaaS tool to understand social impact of investment portfolios.
• XapiX (Germany) makes it easy for developers to engage with open data to prototype smart city solutions.
• Stratio Automotive (Portugal) turns automotive maintenance into an exact science, making the unpredictable predictable.
• Watcher (Denmark) is the digital hub for the connected family.
• DelSuper.es (Spain) delivers grocery shopping in 1h.
• Farm Dog (Israel) is keeping fields safe from pest and disease.
• Autonomous Manufacturing (United Kingdom) develops an enterprise cloud platform that automates production for industrial 3D Printing using AI.
• INSYLO (Spain) is an IoT Supply chain platform for the animal feed industry.
• FruitsApp (Italy) is an intelligent B2B marketplace for fruit and veg companies.
• RezGuru (Denmark) offers predictive analysis and dynamic pricing for restaurants to increase profits & reduce food wastage.

In addition to the initial funding of €100,000, two of the selected startups will each receive a further €150,000 equity-free. The best startups selected by IMPACT Growth will also be able to access private financing of €1.5 million led by Kibo Ventures and Accelerace.

The Jury Day, celebrated on 21st June in Madrid, was the pivotal moment of the startup selection process where 44 startups fought to enter the exclusive list of which 14 startups were selected for funding. A jury formed of renowned experts such as Sanyu Karani and Tomasz Mazuryk from FundingBox; Nacho de Pinedo and Rodrigo Miranda from ISDI; Peter Torstensen and Soren Lottrup from Accelerace; Aquilino Peña and Juan López from Kibo Ventures; Simona Torre from DOCOMO; Merete Norby from MADE, Pedro Jareño from Microsoft and Isabel María González from Danone, all of whom had the challenging task of selecting the best 14 out of a total of more than 1,900.

The selected startups will benefit from support by the FIWARE Foundation for the integration of this technology into the development of their projects. They will also participate in a training program featuring international experts and entrepreneurs in Madrid, Copenhagen and Barcelona, plus gain access to an international network of over 100 esteemed mentors, founders and investors. Finally, the startups will participate in a range of international events organised over the course of the year by 4YFN, the business platform for the growing community of technology startups at the global level supported by Mobile World Capital Barcelona (MWCapital).

The acceleration process, directed by ISDI and Accelerace, will officially launch during the second week of September, offering a week full of exclusive networking and training activities run by experts and innovation ecosystem leaders at ISDI’s headquarters in Madrid. This week will be the only part of the process whereby entrepreneurs are required to be onsite. The rest of the acceleration process will take place remotely, relying on a wide network of international mentors and participation at international events and missions.

*This article has been updated to reflect changes to the participating startups.

IMPACT Growth

IMPACT Growth is an initiative funded by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 programme, with a total of €3.6 million for its initial phase. The second last call for startups, offering to fund and accelerate an additional 14 projects, will be launched on 5th September 2017.