In the challenge of digital transformation, Telefónica knows its course: betting on entrepreneurial talent, which allows it not only to develop innovative products, but also to meet the demands of the thousands of customers it has throughout the world.
The president of the holding company, José María Álvarez Pallete, was the one who eight years ago laid the cornerstone of Wayra, the company's investment arm, to channel its "open innovation" efforts.
The strategy for Argentina became clear during the last Congress of the Language, which was held in Córdoba two weeks ago. King Felipe VI visited the country for the event, but before that he participated in a conference in which the archetype of the Argentine entrepreneur, Marcos Galperín, creator and CEO of MercadoLibre, was not lacking; and the Secretary of Entrepreneurs and Pymes of the Nation, Mariano Mayer.
The meeting served to highlight not only the "commitment" of Telefónica in Argentina, but also the decision to bet on local talent. In fact, the day was baptized as "Buenos Aires, Good Ideas", organized by the COTEC Foundation, which is committed to innovation and is chaired by the Spanish king, and Wayra.
That day was the prelude to two strong bets of the Spanish capital company in the local entrepreneurial ecosystem. One was the launch of Telefónica Open Future, for the search of initiatives in the initial state related to IoT, Artificial Intelligence, Big Data and Fintech, among other verticals.
The other was FIT CAMP, a meeting in which the Iberian holding customers chose between 11 startups that became part of Telefónica, namely:
- Quantico. A social media platform, an advanced tool for intelligence, measurement and monitoring of social networks.
- Chazki. A logistics service for e-commerce.
- Simpliroute. An application to optimize and monitor delivery routes and monitor deliveries.
- Acamica. A "virtual academy" of technology short careers.
Today, the country exports $ 7 billion of services based on knowledge. It is the second or third export sector, depending on who measures it, after agriculture.
In this scenario, startups have an increasingly stronger weight. "In Argentina, 99% of companies are SMEs and account for 70% of formal work, which is equivalent to more than 4 million Argentines, new firms generate 61% of net private employment, drive innovation and improve productivity, "Mayer assures iProUP.
Thus, the interaction between entrepreneurs and the private sector acquires a central role in an industry that is committed to "moving forward" the country.
"The market showed that investing in startups and talking about open innovation was the right bet," explains Agustín Rotondo, country manager for Argentina at Wayra.
With more than 400 startups on a global level, from the Telefónica incubator they believe that betting on entrepreneurs is key to getting out of the crisis.
"I believe that Argentina has the challenge in and the great mission is to take the country forward, startups are great job generators and that is something that we must take advantage of to leverage our development," says Rotondo.
Thus, the interaction between entrepreneurs and the private sector acquires a central role in an industry that is committed to "moving forward" the country.
"The market showed that investing in startups and talking about open innovation was the right bet," explains Agustín Rotondo, country manager for Argentina at Wayra.
With more than 400 startups on a global level, from the Telefónica incubator they believe that betting on entrepreneurs is key to getting out of the crisis.
"I believe that Argentina has the challenge in and the great mission is to take the country forward, startups are great job generators and that is something that we must take advantage of to leverage our development," says Rotondo.
The Wayra plan
Despite having its foundations well rooted in the startup ecosystem, Wayra is transforming its vision to focus on companies that are already in a more advanced stage and looking to consolidate their business.
For this, Telefonica's accelerator seeks to position itself as a corporate investment fund (Venture Capital) that helps companies scale up, partner with their huge customer base and sell both the Spanish holding company and its customers around the world. .
This had its impact on the amounts allocated to boost the companies, which went from US $ 50,000 to US $ 150,000 per startup.
"We redefined and reinvented ourselves, we continued giving mentoring and accompaniment, but companies started asking us to help them generate new agreements," the executive explains.
Strictly speaking, what they are looking for are "technological disrupters", that is, firms that have the potential to offer a different service, with added value and innovative technology.
Today, Wayra has 30 companies incubated, of which 17 work with Telefónica locally, regionally or globally.
"We aim that in the short term they are all, for that reason we integrate more and more companies of the region", adds the country manager.
In addition, it invested more than US $ 2.8 million, which is added to US $ 62 million contributed by third parties throughout the local portfolio. Globally, the company invested U.S. $ 45 million and received U.S. $ 15 million for its startup portfolio.
The objective, in the short term, is to generate an ecosystem of connected companies that export and import knowledge to the more than 350 million clients of the firm throughout the world. "There is a lot to grow, but we want to offer innovative solutions to all our customers," says Rotondo.
But how does Argentina position itself with its delicate context? The director ensures that, beyond the crisis, the country has everything necessary to be a reference in the entrepreneurial world.
"We are imitating models that worked very well, like that of Israel, with a state that provides a favorable framework for entrepreneurship to explode and add investments," he remarks.
In Argentina, the startups promoted by Wayra have already generated more than 800 jobs. According to Rotondo, these firms "are job creators that have a direct impact on the base of the pyramid."
Through a constant link with companies, from Mayer's portfolio they have been promoting, for three years, the "Argentina Emprende" plan, a public policy that aims to encourage the emergence of projects that generate quality employment.
"We continue to work on developing the entrepreneurial ecosystem at the federal level with a focus on the growth of the backward regions and the most dynamic sectors," the official explained to iProUP.
At the same time, it highlights the integration between the public and private sectors, key factors to develop the Law of Entrepreneurs, sanctioned in 2018.
"Since the first draft of the Law of Entrepreneurs, institutions linked to investment were taken into account, the creation of FONDCE and the call for accelerators to be part of our co-investment program strengthened those that were already in force such as NXTP, Wayra or Incutex ", underlines Mayer.
The Secretariat assures that more than US $ 2.5 million have already been disbursed in technology projects applied to biology, education, logistics, agriculture, finance and health, among others.
The challenges
In Argentina, entrepreneurial capital is a scarce resource with high entry barriers that do not allow the development of ideas or projects.
One of the great challenges, associated with strengthening the ecosystem, is to generate a chain of financing that favors the creation of high impact companies with high levels of scalability.
"In that sense, and as part of the Law of Entrepreneurs, we are making a contribution from the State, financing entrepreneurs directly in their initial stages or accompanied the private capital when they took their first steps," says Mayer.
Likewise, the Trust Fund for the Development of Entrepreneurial Capital (FONDCE) was created so that entrepreneurs can convert their ideas into businesses, grow their projects and expand them to new markets.
Juan Pedro Córica, CEO of Entrepreneurs and Knowledge-Based Industries of GCBA, assures iProUP that it is necessary to continue fostering an environment around startups so that they can develop.
"This ecosystem consists of universities and large companies that decide to bet development, investors, venture capital, entrepreneurial capital, government programs and connection with foreign programs for an exchange of knowledge with other countries," he explains.
With regard to co-investment, the Buenos Aires government was one of the first to carry out these programs together with private companies. Since 2014, it has been carrying out a program with the same format as the FONCE national plan, in which, for every peso that a private person places, the State invests the same.
"With this program, over 40 years could accompany almost 40 projects, it was very important and we are trying to refloat it this year", adds Córica.
But not all are challenges. From the Nation highlighted several advances:
- Argentina went from the seventh to the third place in Latin America in the ranking of systemic conditions of entrepreneurial development.
- A support network for entrepreneurs was created, consisting of more than 50 municipalities, 54 entrepreneur clubs and more than 500 incubators to increase social capital and entrepreneurial support institutions.
- The Law of Entrepreneurs that allows the creation of companies in 24 hours was approved, with which more than 11,000 "Sociedades por Acciones Simplificadas" (SAS) have already been generated.
Meanwhile, an instrument was created with FONDCE that guarantees constant credit of seed capital for early stage entrepreneurs and incentives for co-investment with private companies in scientific and technological projects through acceleration and expansion funds.
"We are one more link in the ecosystem with particular characteristics, but the dialogue with the private sector is permanent, which is why we put together joint plans and believe that the best policies work where the public and the private meet with clear rules, with transparency, with open calls but in dialogue ", concludes Córica.
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