Wayra, Telefónica's corporate venture capital arm, invested €9.3 million globally in 2024, reaching 37 startups across various sectors. Of these, Wayra Spain invested over €2 million in a total of 15 startups, allocating a significant portion of that investment to digitizing traditional sectors such as banking, insurance, and healthcare. To achieve this, they have worked with cutting-edge technologies, including artificial intelligence and SaaS systems.
In 2024, Wayra focused on innovative solutions in the fintech sector. In this regard, noteworthy investments include GrabrFI, an app that allows access to the US banking system to receive payments and save in US dollars, without needing to be there; and honei, which is transforming the customer experience in the restaurant sector through an innovative digital ordering and payment platform.
With the aim of continuing to promote responsible and efficient digitalization in small and medium-sized enterprises, Wayra invested in Omniloy, which simplifies data analysis for businesses through AI-powered tools, enabling natural language queries; and Galtea, which seeks to promote the safe and responsible use of generative AI.
Another startup invested in by Wayra, and expected to be key in the healthcare sector, is Legit.Health, which uses proprietary algorithms to analyze dermatological images, facilitating diagnoses, determining the severity of diseases, and allowing for better monitoring of treatments.
Insurtech was another of Wayra's strategic sectors last year. Through Íope Ventures, an investment vehicle created by Wayra and Telefónica Seguros, it invested in Wenalyze, an open data analytics app focused on improving the categorization of payment data for the banking sector and the policy subscription and renewal process for SMEs in the insurance sector; Rapihogar, a neo-assistance platform that allows insurers and large companies to manage home repair and maintenance services; Weecover, a provider of integrated insurance for e-commerce and digital services; and Mitiga Solutions, a company that combines cutting-edge climate science, AI, and high-performance computing to help its clients understand their exposure to climate risk.
Wayra also invested in Ciudadela, the Spanish proptech company specializing in the management of homeowners' associations, whose mission is to transform property management through digitalization and the use of artificial intelligence.
In addition, Wayra has renewed its commitment this 2024 to: Camillion for remote team management aimed at facilitating communication in B2B teams; Cafler, a platform that facilitates, with one click, any type of management for vehicle users, from maintenance services to insurance; Kymatio, a SaaS to manage internal risks of human origin related to information security; PayFlow which allows workers to access their salary at any time; and Shakers, which allows companies to connect with digital specialists to develop their technology projects in a more agile and secure way. Paloma Castellano, director of Wayra Spain, states: “At Wayra, we are very proud of all the work achieved this year and of maintaining our position as a key investor in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. To this end, adapting to change through cutting-edge technology is fundamental. If this year we saw the establishment of generative AI and SaaS systems, in 2025 we will need to pay close attention to the application of intelligent agents and quantum computing, as they are expected to revolutionize the business ecosystem.” One of Wayra's key objectives is to generate impact between Telefónica and startups in two ways: for Telefónica, through new revenue streams by incorporating new technologies and through the cultural transformation that working with these leading and innovative companies brings to the company; and for startups, by helping them grow, scale, and develop their businesses with a consolidated, globally recognized company like Telefónica. In Spain in 2024, more than 70 invested startups worked with Telefónica or its clients, generating over €50 million in revenue for the company. A notable example is Genomcore, a biomedical data platform that integrates and manages different types of data (genomic, clinical, and wearable) with artificial intelligence, enabling the development of personalized healthcare services. Currently, Telefónica is collaborating with Genomcore to promote precision medicine in the public healthcare system of several autonomous communities. Wayra Spain also supports other corporations in their open innovation processes. Recently, it has worked with companies and public entities such as Desigual, HBX Group, PortAventura, Pfizer, the Community of Madrid, the Ministry of Agriculture, EOI, Incibe, and AstraZeneca, among others, to promote their digital transformation. Wayra, with over 15 years of experience, announced last year that it was bringing together all of the Telefónica Group's startup initiative strategies under the same brand, becoming a more comprehensive project and a corporate venture capital fund. For over 15 years, Wayra has been supporting Telefónica and acting as a link between the entrepreneurial ecosystem and the company, connecting the group with the most innovative solutions and enabling it to address major challenges as an organization, industry, and key player in social progress.
During these years, Wayra has invested in more than 1,100 startups, of which more than 530 are active in its portfolio and 190 are working with Telefónica, generating over €500 million in revenue for these startups and contributing to the development of local entrepreneurial ecosystems, with a cumulative investment exceeding €230 million.