IMPACT Connected Car at 4YFN 2018: Mobilise your company!

Submitted by Laura Argiles … on 12 April 2018

IMPACT Connected Car at 4YFN 2018: Mobilise your company!

Last Monday 26th of February a snowy Barcelona woke up more crowded than usual. At Fira Gran Via more than 2,400 companies showcased cutting-edge products and services across 120,000 net square metres of exhibition: the Mobile World Congress (MWC), the world’s largest gathering for the mobile industry, organised by the GSMA and held in the Mobile World Capital, was taking place.

But also its side event: 4 Years From Now (4YFN). 4YFN is the start-up business platform of Mobile World Capital that enables startups, investors and corporations to connect and launch new ventures together. Celebrated from the 26th to the 28th of February, it was attended by more than 19.000 assistants, 650 startups exhibiting, 700 investors and 275 speakers.

IMPACT Accelerator was there with its two programmes: Connected Car and Growth  at the vibrant IMPACT space, where IMPACT accelerated start-ups had their booths. IMPACT Growth programme has already closed two open calls reaching more that 2.000 applicants, meanwhile ICCar finished an open call in January with more than 500 applicants and will have a second one in the spring. Both programmes offer equity free funding and acceleration and training services with top mentors, as well as access to private funding.

In the case of ICCar, the project will distribute €2.1 million equity-free funding through 2 open calls and awards, in which startups or SMEs can get up to €60k equity-free!

During 4YFN, three events were organised:

FundingBox projects at MWC and 4YFN 2018

Apart from IMPACT Connected Car and IMPACT Growth, some other FundingBox projects were also present at the event, such as I4MS (ICT Innovation for Manufacturing SMEs), an initiative to support the digitisation of manufacturing SMEs in Europe. In the Mobile World Capital stand, you could find I4MS, where their team presented the initiative, not just to the general public, but also to the Vice-President of the European Commission for the Digital Single Market, Andrus Ansip, who visited the I4MS space.

Within the I4MS initiative, FundingBox has created an online community with the aim of gathering all the key players of the European smart manufacturing ecosystem. It is a central information point to follow the latest technologies and trends of the market, and to be updated about all the news and events, but also funding opportunities. It is the perfect place to network and find synergies and get inspired through success stories.

The I4MS initiative organised together with Robot Union, the first European accelerator fully focused on robotics startup and SMEs that will distribute up to €223K equity-free funding, the Robotic Workshop ‘How to succeed in the Robotics sector’, where an overview of funding and business services available to support start-ups and SMEs in the robotics sector was carried out.

Besides I4MS, IMPACT and Robot Union, two more FundingBox projects were also present: L4MS, an accelerator for manufacturing SMEs to automate the factory floor logistics under the umbrella of I4MS that will have two open calls to distribute up to €250K equity-free; and TETRAMAX, a new Horizon 2020 innovation action that will provide an implementation of the European Smart Anything Everywhere (SAE) initiative in the domain of customized and low-energy computing for cyber physical systems and the internet of things. The total budget of the TETRAMAX project is 7M€ and will be distributed through different open calls with significant equity-free funding opportunities.

Disclaimer: Project approved in Horizon 2020 Programme [Grant Agreement No: 731343]

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