After receiving 190 applications, Programa Minerva selects 30 Spanish startups that will participate in the sixth edition of its acceleration program in Andalusia.
On October 11, Programa Minerva presented the 30 new technological projects selected to participate in the 2018 acceleration program call. The event was attended by Spain’s Employment, Business and Trade Advisor, Javier Carnero, and the Territorial Director of Vodafone Spain in Andalusia and Extremadura, Antonio Fernández.
Programa Minerva’s sixth initiative to promote technological entrepreneurship received 190 applications in this last call and has increased the number of innovative projects to accelerate by 50%.
The province of Seville had the most startups selected (50%), ahead of Malaga (23.3%) and Granada (13.3%). Other startups come from Almería, Huelva, and Jaén.
According to its scope of action, the new startups participating in this edition of the Minerva accelerator are divided into four major groups:
- Marketing and services for companies (27%)
- Technology and internet (23%)
- Culture and leisure (17%)
- Health and well-being (17%)
Other sectors include:
- Agrotech (6%)
- Education (3%)
- Smart City solutions (7%)
More than half of the initiatives are in the development stage, although two out of five have already begun to market their products or services.
With this new call Programa Minerva is helping to generate more than 80 jobs among entrepreneurs and workers of the selected business projects.
The selected projects will have to validate their business models. Of these, the 15 best will be accelerated intensively and, finally, a maximum of 10 will be able to access the final phase of accompaniment in the search for financing and investment. The three best Minerva Projects will be awarded €8,000 each.
A brief look at highlighted startups
Bio-sanitary innovation is one of the areas in which new initiatives will develop their ideas. This is the case of Clover Biosoft, a software startup that allows users to identify the cause of an infection reducing the time from days to hours, which is very important to fine-tune the treatments and even to save lives.
It is a system aimed at the research market that processes bacterial data and thanks to advanced artificial intelligence algorithms, it is able to identify the particular strain that causes an infection.
In the area of health KitCalm is a wireless device that allows dental treatment patients to communicate with their dentist during treatment. It is a system that gives clients a piece of mind while providing greater efficiency for the professional.
In the area of new technologies SecureKids is a parental control system for mobile phones and tablets that allows limiting apps, controlling access to websites, blocking calls and even knowing the location. This solution is now available for Android.
The digital transformation in the management of traditional sectors is another of the strong points of the edition. Sporttia incorporates technologies to municipal and private sports centers to provide users with access to the facilities. Users can reserve more than 1,000 sports facilities in 80 different municipalities.
Another initiative, Bracelit, allows the control of access to events to be modernized by means of an electronic wristband that enables the promoters to monitor the entrances, control the flow, and even allow users to pay through the NFC system.
In terms of disruptive technology, the Vestigia traceability platform stands out. In addition to being able to certify the originality of a product to avoid counterfeiting, it offers companies in the gourmet sector a value-added solution for their customers that ensures the authenticity and characteristics of the product.
Among the selected projects there are also creative business ideas focused on the final consumer, such as the study of videogames from Malaga for Aristokraken mobile devices, which has more than 40 published titles and has reached three million players worldwide.
There is also Waniyanpi, which is an online pet bakery from Jaén, that allows the user to create the ideal snack for their animal companion and is 100% customizable through an app, so users can adjust it to the needs and health status of their pets.
Programa Minerva
Programa Minerva is an entrepreneurship program, promoted by the Junta de Andalucía and Vodafone, to promote business projects in the technology sector in the Andalusian region.
The main objective of Minerva is to support entrepreneurs and help their business projects grow so that they become stable businesses. With this premise, Programa Minerva strongly supports the creation of employment in Andalusia thanks to the promotion of entrepreneurship and aims to bring density to the business fabric of the region.
Since 2012, Programa Minerva has received more than 1,000 applications to enter its acceleration program, has selected more than 120 business projects to boost their technological ideas, and has generated or helped to maintain 380 jobs in Andalusia.
The trajectory of the program is also reflected in its success rate, which is at 81%. Sixty-six percent of the selected projects have been set up as companies, and 43% of the accelerated projects have achieved investment and / or financing.
