PortAventura World, one of Europe's largest family holiday and leisure destinations, and Wayra, Telefónica's leading open innovation program, are joining forces to find new entrepreneurs who will redefine the future of the entertainment and theme park industry with their cross-cutting and disruptive solutions through their innovation hub, Adventure Labs.
Participating startups must be in a late-seed or pre-series stage, located anywhere in the world, and work with technologies that drive the tech industry, such as virtual, augmented, or extended reality, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, robotics, or the metaverse, among others. They must also specialize in one or more of the following areas: improving customer satisfaction, creating unique, personalized, and memorable digital experiences, achieving efficiency in maintenance or operations, or being capable of a sustainable transformation.
The finalist startups that join PortAventura's innovation hub will have the opportunity to carry out a pilot program in which they will develop their products or services within the company and may become a supplier for PortAventura, which receives more than 5 million visitors annually. This will allow the startups, among other benefits, to accelerate product development, gain experience, increase visibility at events the company participates in, such as 4FYN (MWC), access up to €10,000 to carry out their project, potentially attract the attention of investors, gain international visibility, and consequently, expand their portfolio of products or services. They will also have the opportunity to access investment from Wayra, access to Telefónica's entire open innovation ecosystem, invitations to company events, and contact with experts and leading startup investors who can advise and support them for the successful development of their project. “At PortAventura World, we are delighted to join forces with Wayra, a leader in innovation, to continue pioneering the entertainment and technology sector. Theme parks and resorts will evolve into true epicenters for generating amazing digital experiences and entertainment, and that is why we will continue to invest in technology and innovation,” confirms Andreu Tobella Brunet, Digital Director at PortAventura World. “At Wayra, we are thrilled to join forces with one of the leading names in the leisure and entertainment industry, PortAventura World. We are eager to begin sharing our expertise in open innovation and connecting them with startups that can provide technological solutions to help make the experience even more memorable for the thousands of visitors they receive annually. This call for applications is a fantastic opportunity for entrepreneurs who want to test their product in a unique environment, access top industry experts, and scale much faster,” says Marta Antúnez, Director of Wayra Barcelona. Entrepreneurs wishing to participate can register until December 13th through this website: www.wayra.es/portaventura Since 2011, Wayra has been Telefónica's main program for connecting with the entrepreneurial ecosystem around the world, through which we invest in and create our own startups. It has seven locations covering nine countries in Latin America and Europe, through which it invests in and supports startups; Wayra Builder, a corporate venture builder for creating innovative startups born from Telefónica's internal technology projects, in collaboration with other investors. In addition, through the Wayra Activation Programme, it offers entrepreneurs exclusive and free access to new technologies through Telefónica's own platforms. In these eleven years, we have invested €66M in 850 startups and currently have more than 400 startups in our portfolio, of which more than 165 work with Telefónica.
More information available at www.wayra.es
About PortAventura World Parks & Resort
PortAventura World Parks & Resort is one of the largest family holiday and leisure destinations in Europe. Throughout its 28-year history, it has received more than 100 million visits. With a prime location near Barcelona, the resort operates five 4-star themed hotels and one 5-star hotel (PortAventura Hotels), as well as two hotels under management outside the resort complex, totaling approximately 2,700 rooms, and a convention center (PortAventura Convention Centre) with a capacity of up to 6,000 people. PortAventura World Parks & Resort also features a theme park, Ferrari Land (the only one of its kind in Europe), and a leading European water park, offering world-class attractions. In December 2022, it received B Corp certification, recognizing the company's commitment to sustainability, social responsibility, and good governance.