As part of its commitment to innovation, digital transformation and providing accompaniment to entrepreneurs, CaixaBank has a busy schedule of activities at the 2021 Mobile World Congress and 4YFN, which is held in Barcelona from 28 June to 1 July.
The financial institution, which is the patron of the Mobile World Capital Foundation and innovation sponsor of 4YFN, will feature in this benchmark event influencing the technology sector. CaixaBank will be especially active at 4YFN, the space that gathers entrepreneurs and investors, where DayOne, the unit specialising in technology and innovation companies and their investors, will have its own space and a broad schedule of activities and services, offering customised advice. Furthermore, also in the framework of 4YFN, imagin, the digital services and lifestyle platform driven by CaixaBank will offer content linked to innovation and sustainability.
Below is the summary of CaixaBank's activity at the forthcoming major event on worldwide innovation:
Premios EmprendedorXXI (EntrepreneurXXI Awards): 14 years contributing to the development of young companies
Within the framework of 4YFN, CaixaBank, through DayOne, will present the EmprendedorXXI awards to the eight start-ups in Spain and Portugal offering the best solutions to the main challenges faced by today's society.
With these awards offered in conjunction with the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism, through Enisa, CaixaBank aims to contribute to the development of young innovative firms with high growth potential.
The 14th edition of the ceremony will be held this year, which has been established as the benchmark of awards for Spanish start-ups, which has also been running since 2018 for Portugal. Since its inception in 2007, the programme has invested 6.7 million euros in prizes and support actions, benefitting a total of 430 companies.
The awards ceremony will take place on Thursday 1 July at the Agora Stage of 4YFN from 9.30am
DayOne Observatory: fostering knowledge in the innovation economy
One of CaixaBank’s DayOne initiatives in the area of knowledge and ecosystem relations has been the launch of the "DayOne Observatory", an initiative that has emerged through the EmprendedorXXI Awards. The goal of this project is to analyse and spread information on the situation of the sector, needs and trends related to the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Spain and Portugal, focusing on DayOne's 3 types of customer: start-ups, scale-ups and investors.
One of the studies under this initiative is geared towards analysing diversity in the investment ecosystem in Spain, run by the international not-for-profit entity Diversity VC and supported by CaixaBank, through DayOne and Osborne Clark.
Moreover, together with Barcelona Global and IESE, the second edition of a study is being prepared that assesses the ecosystem of scale-ups in Barcelona. These are start-ups that have shown high growth in recent years and have reached a consolidation stage.
This event will be held on Wednesday 30 June at the Workshop Room of 4YFN at 9.30am
imagin: a commitment to sustainability from the digital environment
imagin, the lifestyle platform powered by CaixaBank, offers digital, financial and non-financial services to help users — chiefly young people under 30 — in their daily lives and future projects. Currently, imagin has a community of more than 3 million users and offers digital content based on five major subject areas: music, videogames, trends, technology and sustainability.
imagin will be present at this edition of 4YFN with a space linked to imaginPlanet, the platform’s themed area that develops content and services with a positive impact on the planet and society. The space, designed to "rest and reconnect will be open to all visitors and will feature seating areas and phone charging points.
Zone2boost: driving innovation in retail services and the fintech sector
The international innovation initiative Zone2boost, headed by CaixaBank Global Payments, Worldline and Visa, seeks to drive innovation in retail and fintech products and services and improve the customer experience.
The initiative, which provides investment companies with support for growth, will also feature in the benchmark event for entrepreneurs.
On Monday 28 June at 4.30pm at the Workshop Room of 4YFN, an event will be held to introduce the potential companies in which Zone2boost invests to the main agents of the investment ecosystem. To do so, start-ups will interact and be able to showcase their projects to potential investors and explain their solutions.
Furthermore, a joint meeting will be held on Tuesday 29 June at 7.30pm on the terrace of Pier 01 at Barcelona Tech City, between Zone2boost, DayOne, Wayra (the Telefonica accelerator), Barcelona Tech City and Plug and Play, seeking to connect the entrepreneurial ecosystem and generate networking.
Presentations, lectures and round table discussions: an environment for debate
During the week, various MWC and 4YFN venues will host speeches from CaixaBank representatives and other stakeholders in the innovation ecosystem, including:
- An Investment panel given by AXA on Monday 28 June at 10am at the DayOne stand.
- "Key challenges for fintech companies and the digital transformation of banks" a talk by Anna Canela, Head of Engagement & Open Platform at imagin. Monday 28 June at 10.30am on the Agora Stage (Fintech Summit)
- "Technological transformation and future prospects for the food & beverage sector", with the participation of PepsiCo, Nestlé, Unilever and Familia Torres. Monday 28 June.
- "The future of the healthtech: collaboration between corporations and start-ups", held by Barcelona Tech City which will take place on Monday 28 June at 12.30pm at the DayOne stand
- Presentation of the winning proposals of "Hack the Hospital", the project driven by the Mobile World Capital Foundation in partnership with the Barcelona Hospital Sant Joan de Déu and the Boston Children's Hospital that seeks to design innovative solutions to improve the stay of adolescents in hospitals. "Hack the Hospital" features CaixaBank as a mentor company and project partner. Tuesday 29 June at 10am on the MWCapital auditorium.
- Mentoring by a specialised team from CaixaBank and CaixaBank Business Intelligence for the teams taking part in the Hackathon organised by Barcelona Digital Talent during the MWC to seek the best digital talent from Barcelona specialists in frontend and backend technologies and data scientists. Monday 28 June from 3pm – 6.15pm (first day) and on Tuesday 29 June from 11am – 6.15pm (second day)
- "Talent-driven transformation: how incumbents are becoming tech companies enabled by digital skills”, round table discussion featuring Joan Antoni Cabrer, head of Digital Transformation at CaixaBank. Tuesday 29 at 2.50pm on the Main Stage of 4YFN
- "Building the largest online talent marketplace" and "Bootstrapping B2C Ecommerce" organised by IESE on Tuesday 29 June at 11.30am at the DayOne stand and on Wednesday 30 June at 3pm at the same place
- "Launching Fintech", a conference and round table discussion with the participation of Benjamí Puigdevall, CEO of imagin. Wednesday 30 June at 12 noon at The Studio, Hall 3.0
