• It is launching a call for proposals, which will be open until 26 September, with the aim of selecting up to three startups to participate in a 12-week acceleration programme. 

• The selected projects will receive support from mentors and innovation experts, together with funding to develop the proof of concept during the programme.

Barcelona, 14 July 2021. The Cellnex Foundation has just launched one of its first initiatives focused on an acceleration programme for startups, called Cellnex Bridge, with the aim of promoting innovative projects that seek to narrow digital, social and territorial divides through the use of technology and connectivity.

In the words of the Director of the Cellnex Foundation, Àngels Ucero, “in recent times, and especially since the Covid-19 crisis, we have seen how unfamiliarity with or lack of access to new technologies creates inequality of opportunity and prevents us going at the same speed.”

In order to narrow such gaps, the Foundation has launched this acceleration programme for startups with social impact, in cooperation with social innovation consultancy Innuba and startup accelerator AticcoLab.

Building cooperation bridges

Under the name Cellnex Bridge, this initiative aims to build bridges of cooperation in which all parties work towards common challenges and seek permanent solutions. As Lluis Deulofeu, President of the Cellnex Foundation, points out “the ultimate goal of Cellnex Bridge is to put technology at the service of people, to build bridges that unite us and bring us closer together, because although we are separated by divides, we are united by bridges. With this first edition of the programme, we are looking for projects of broad scope and coverage that help to create distributed social wealth to move forward without leaving anyone behind”.

“And to achieve this,” adds the Cellnex Foundation President “in order to move forward together, we have to promote significant universal connectivity. In other words, extend connectivity to the entire population in the right combination of connection quality and access to devices.”

For Quino Fernández, CEO of AticcoLab, “this programme allows the entrepreneurial ecosystem to work with a corporation like Cellnex and access its resources so that it can apply its knowledge and products to real projects with a major impact on society.”

According to David Alayón, CFO & CIO of Innuba “social entrepreneurship is needed to offer innovative solutions to major challenges that are also economically sustainable, but the initial stages are tough. This programme proposes support, acceleration, knowledge and skills, in terms of business and impact, which are key to the success of the venture, working hand-in-hand with a large corporation such as Cellnex and with the aim of jointly creating a real proof of concept that has measurable impact.”

The call, open to social-impact startups linked to fields such as education, care for the elderly and the promotion of rural areas, will be open from today until 26 September. The Foundation will select up to three of the participants’ projects to form part of its 12-week acceleration programme, during which they will receive mentoring for developing proofs of concept, support with business and social impact, and funding of up to 15,000 euros to carry out their projects.

Resources to promote success stories

Each of the selected startups will be supported by a group of AticcoLab mentors who are experts in the world of entrepreneurship and open innovation, and by Cellnex experts selected on a case-by-case basis according to their suitability to mentor each project. 

The mentoring sessions will be accompanied by theoretical and practical workshops, round tables and other group training on business, impact, developing soft skills or personal and group development. Cellnex will also provide the technology, knowledge and resources needed to enable the projects to become success stories.

The goal of the Cellnex Foundation with this programme is to build cooperation networks that promote the talent and innovation of entrepreneurs with ideas of social impact, while helping to reduce social inequality and improve digital capacity, quality of life and universal sustainability.