CaixaBank joins the Mobile World Capital Barcelona's board of trustees

CaixaBank is to join the board of trustees of Mobile World Capital Barcelona (MWCapital). Jordi Gual, CaixaBank’s chairman, and Carlos Grau, Mobile World Capital Barcelona’s CEO, signed today an agreement -to be ratified at the board of trustees’ meeting on the 18th of July-, whereby the financial institution will become a full trustee of the Foundation for the coming four years (until 1st July 2023).

The agreement between CaixaBank and MWCapital establishes that during the 2019-2023 period, the financial institution will provide the Foundation with a total of 2 million euros in order to maximise the impact of MWCapital’s activities. Jordi Gual will be CaixaBank’s representative on the MWCapital board of trustees and will take part at the forthcoming meeting of this body, which is scheduled for the 18th July. The banking institution’s incorporation into the Foundation’s board of trustees will help boost projects associated with innovation and technological research and with the attraction of digital talent.

According to Jordi Gual, CaixaBank’s chairman, “when institutions committed to innovation join forces, projects results are boosted, which is why it’s essencial to develop collaborative ties that help connect all agents involved in different projects”.

In this sense, Gual has underlined the importance of the alliance with MWCapital for CaixaBank, “we believe that our institution, which has received important recognition for some of its innovation projects, can make significant contributions to the project headed by the Foundation and to its mission to turn Barcelona into a world reference digital hub; joint work with MWCapital will meanwhile give CaixaBank’s innovation teams new ways of approaching key issues such as the challenges of digital transformation and the incorporation of talent”.

Carlos Grau, MWCapital’s CEO, likewise stated that the incorporation of CaixaBank to the board of trustees is the result of years of work and successful collaboration between the two institutions on initiatives that are making MWCapital a benchmark project. Grau also indicated that “welcoming CaixaBank as a MWCapital trustee consolidates the Foundation’s working model –public–private partnership– and enables us to rise to new challenges, both nationally and internationally”.

In this sense, and with a view to continue improving people’s lives through technology, Grau added that we are now entering a new stage at MWCapital. “We have the chance to grow, to make a positive impact on society and to continue building a great legacy for the new generations”.

CaixaBank and MWCapital, 2019-2023

More specifically, collaboration between CaixaBank and MWCapital will essentially involve four core areas of action: technology transfer –The Collider-; initiatives associated with the experimentation in new technologies; the Barcelona Digital Talent alliance to promote Barcelona’s digital skills and competitiveness; and lastly, on new proposals for professionals and the public at large that prompt reflection on the impact of new technologies.

MWCapital hosts MWC Barcelona and founded 4 Years From Now (4YFN), the startup business platform present at all MWC events around the world.