Five major firms launch Start4big project to attract start-ups

 

 

Some of the country's largest companies have teamed up for a new project called Start4big to find start-ups to develop disruptive solutions for their businesses that will improve the experience of their clients.

Aigües de Barcelona, CaixaBank, Naturgy, Seat, and Telefónica are the five companies involved in a project that for the first time in Europe sees a number of big firms from different sectors coming together to attract new talent.

The Start4big project will propose eight annual challenges every year, to be convened in two six-month periods, related to areas such as cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, robotics, blockchain, and big data, among others.

The start-ups selected, either from Spain or abroad but all of them consolidated in their fields, will have to put forward solutions with the possibility of testing their prototypes in real situations provided by the five firms behind Start4big.

The first application period is open until February 22, with the competitors to be announced on June 11. According to the large firms behind the project, the start-ups will be supported in various areas of expertise by their different departments.

The first four challenges are: helping users to monitor and manage household consumption, improving clients' experience and reducing the costs of services and products in online transactions, providing new services by taking advantage of the communication between devices, vehicles and infrastructure, and following-up the activities of clients in real time to personalize their experience.