Today, the welcome to the fifteen new startups that access the second call of the program and that join the eight projects that were already incubating was held in the Europa building of the tax precinct.
The delegate of the Free Trade Zone, Fran González, highlighted that the second call represents "the consolidation of an initiative that was born with a future projection, based on the Blue Economy and its multiple entrepreneurship possibilities."
Natalia Vázquez, director of Feder Projects at the Incyde Foundation, and Inés Oliveira, Global Head of Telefónica Open Innovation, also participated in the event.
The Cádiz Free Trade Zone implements with Incubazul a benchmark project in the Blue Economy throughout Spain and in which circumstances are encouraged to attract and promote talent and ideas with the oceans and seas as the main focus
Incubazul is co-financed by the European FEDER Funds within the 2014-2020 Operational Program, A way of making Europe, through the INCYDE Foundation
Cadiz, October 18, 2022
The acceleration program of Incubazul, the Blue Economy incubator developed by the Cádiz Free Trade Zone, 80% co-financed by the Feder Funds managed by the INCYDE Foundation, has launched a new phase of the program with the welcome day held in the Ágora of the Incubazul headquarters, located in the Europa building of the tax complex. The fifteen new startups that have accessed the incubation in this second recruitment call and the eight that were already housed in the Incubator have gathered, in addition to all the mentors, organizers and technical team, among others, that make up the Incubazul ecosystem.
The 15 initiatives have passed a pre-selection in accordance with the rules of the call, and a second screening, with the presentation of their projects before an evaluation committee made up of experts in entrepreneurship and the Blue Economy. A total of 27 business ideas were candidates to access this second call.
The State delegate in the Free Trade Zone of Cádiz, Fran González, has welcomed the initiatives that become part of Incubazul and has thanked them for their participation in the second call with which "we take another step in the consolidation of an initiative that was born with a future projection, based on the Blue Economy and its multiple entrepreneurship possibilities."
In this sense, Fran González has highlighted "the good work being done at Incubazul, which has already become a national benchmark in the circular economy." Likewise, the person in charge of the Free Zone has added that, in this new phase of the program "the Incubator laboratory is reinforced, in which, in addition to 3D printing or virtual reality, laboratory and coworking activities are developed."
Also participating in the opening ceremony of the acceleration program were the Feder Projects Director of the Incyde Foundation, Natalia Vázquez, and the Global Head of Telefónica Open Innovation, Inés Oliveira. Natalia Vázquez has pointed out that "this incubator is part of the network of 23 technology transfer centers spread throughout Spain, which we at INCYDE have launched thanks to FEDER funds. The objective of this network is to accelerate companies and the Spanish productive fabric, through the transfer of the latest advances and R&D&I. Each of the infrastructures, in addition, is focused on a strategic sector, which also promotes the intelligent specialization of the territories."
The Executive Committee of the Consortium on September 27 validated the decision of the evaluation team, where the fifteen new innovative projects that have become part of the acceleration process in this second period (Bacht) were announced.
From now on, the new startups will begin the incubation that will last for 4 months in which, with the added value of tutoring and mentoring - with a team of 16 mentors - they will lay the foundations and work on building their business idea. The program involves natural or legal persons established in the EU with initiatives and projects of a technological and innovative nature and from a circular economy approach and commitment to the environment.
The selected projects are: SkinTunaFish, Buceo Conciencia, Mujeres del Mar, Premiums Catamarans, Cegesasub ALBAS, Reuse Play, Senda Tribe, Matersia, Nicola Proyecto Algas, Sea 4.0, Containermetahouse, MyWinningApp, Gadir Swim, Acuaponia XXI and Latido.
All of them represent technology-based concepts and services that can have application in the multiple subsectors covered by the Blue Economy: from the creation of tuna leather through a vegetable tanning process; the certification of marine biology courses within the framework of recreational diving; the development of smart catamarans for autonomous navigation and ocean data collection; a platform to give greater prominence to women who work in the blue economy; going through the management of underwater warnings with the exploitation of a device to locate divers; the manufacture and sale of clothing made from marine waste; the use of invasive algae for the agricultural or cosmetic industry; to the construction of homes in marine containers, among other sectors.
With these fifteen new projects from the Blue Economy technological incubator of the Cádiz Base Zone project, those incubated now total 23, since since last spring 8 projects assigned to the first call of the program have been working, such as Smart Shipping that promotes the optimization of marine routes, using real-time information on currents to achieve fuel savings of 3-10%; Tudestino Sostenible, initiative to bring sustainability to tourism companies in Andalusia; o Futuralga, dedicated to the manufacture of sustainable packaging for the fruit and vegetable sector, through the valorization of waste such as macroalgae collected from the shores of beaches.
The team of mentors and advisors that make up the ecosystem of the Zona Franca de Cádiz incubator, which has the support of Telefónica Open Future, will help the incubated projects with a personalized training and work plan to boost the business, offering support legal, marketing, branding, presentation of the idea, internationalization, search for financing avenues to guarantee the viability of the startup, access to own or third-party research infrastructure or provision of services that facilitate the day-to-day life of the startup, together with networking sessions, and conferences aimed at establishing contacts between the different interest groups associated with them.
The Incubazul High Technology Incubator is a project that has the support of the European Union, which co-finances it, through the INCYDE Foundation, 80% by the FEDER within the Pluriregional Operational Program 2014-2020 within axis 3: Improve the Competitiveness of SMEs, Thematic Objective 3 Improve the competitiveness of small and medium-sized companies, and investment priority 3. Promotion of the spirit business, in particular, facilitating the economic exploitation of new ideas, and promoting the creation of new companies, including through incubators.
The call to join Incubazul remains open permanently and interested people can register and obtain all the information through the website www.incubazul.es.
