• The IMPACT Growth accelerator will select 14 startups from among the 2,000 participants

• The program, which offers €3.6 million in equity-free funding, has received applications from more than 60 countries. Among IMPACT Growth’s four verticals, Smart Content and Smart Cities accounted for 71% of the applications

• These selected startups will join the 14 companies that were selected in the first open call and are currently being accelerated

• IMPACT Connected Car, IMPACT Accelerator’s other program, has also had an open call seeking startups and SMEs that offer to disrupt the emerging market of connected vehicles; the program had more than 500 applications

IMPACT Growth, the startup acceleration program backed by leading accelerators, venture capital entities and global brands, wrapped up its second and last call for applicants with the participation of over 2,000 startups. The call, launched in September in DLD Tel Aviv, and promoted in top global events such as MWC Americas, Web Summit, Slush, South Summit and MWC Shanghai, has received applications from more than 60 countries, in the Americas, Africa, Asia and Europe. From among the participants IMPACT Growth will select a total of 14 startups to initiate an acceleration process headed by ISDI and Accelerace. These selected startups will join the 14 companies that were selected in the first open call and are currently being accelerated.

Spain, Italy, Poland and Denmark led the number of applications in this second call. Among IMPACT Growth’s four verticals, of special note was the participation of startups in the Smart Content (41% of applications) and Smart Cities (30% of applications) sectors. Smart Agrifood and Smart Manufacturing are the other two verticals, accounting for 13% and 11% of the applications, respectively. The global brands Ferrovial Servicios, MADE, Danone and DOCOMO Digital will support the startups selected in their verticals.

IMPACT Growth is an initiative funded by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 program, with a total of €3.6 million for its initial phase. The project, led by FundingBox, features two calls for applicants for the selection of a total of 28 startups, granting each with 100,000 euros equity-free for their initial funding and the best four with an additional funding of 150,000 euros equity-free. Participants have the possibility of obtaining more funding through partner Invesdor‘s crowdfunding platform. The top startups will be able to receive private investment of up to €1.5 million from the European venture capital Kibo Ventures.

The startups will participate in a training program featuring international experts and entrepreneurs in Madrid, Copenhagen and Barcelona, and access an international network of over 100 renowned mentors, founders and investors. The training program will go hand in hand with participation in the different international events organised by 4YFN, the business platform for the growing community of technology startups at the global level supported by Mobile World Capital Barcelona (MWCapital).

The startups will also benefit from support by the FIWARE Foundation for the integration of this technology into the development of their projects. FIWARE is an innovative, open source, Cloud-based technology that makes possible the creation and deployment of global services and applications in the new digital age.

IMPACT Growth is one of the two programs IMPACT Accelerator, which invested over €14 million in 77 startups from 2014 to 2017 and has recently been named among the global top ten in Gust’s Global Accelerator Report after evaluating 579 programs from five continents. IMPACT Connected Car, IMPACT Accelerator’s other currently-running program, has also recently had a call for startups and SMEs that offer to disrupt the emerging market of connected vehicles. More than 500 startups applied, for a total of more than 2,500 applications to IMPACT programs in recent months. In 2018, IMPACT Accelerator plans to launch a new acceleration program focused on startups disrupting the robotics market.

The winners of this selection process will be announced after a Jury Day slated for March 1st at the ISDI Digital Acceleration Center in Madrid. A shortlist of selected startups will pitch in front of panel of experts that will judge these companies taking into account account criteria such as scalability and international growth.

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