At first glance, Mobile World Congress, held every year in Barcelona, may not be an event focused specifically on startups. Traditionally, it has provided an opportunity for the big names in the global telecommunications industry (adding operators and infrastructure providers). to meet, showcase your products, and get closer to suppliers and customers. Yes, it’s an industry that continues to thrive on innovation, but mobile-centric industrial exhibitions tend to look a bit like business.
But for the past few years, MWC has been hosting an exhibition in the form of Four Years from Now (4YFN), an event open to all virtual startups. After finishing MWC at the end of February, I sat down with 4YFN CEO Pere Duran to talk about the purpose of the touchscreen and what it offers to virtual startups in Europe and around the world.
As Duran explains, 4YFN is ten years old (it first opened in 2014), but it was originally held elsewhere and is not part of the larger MWC event. “After Covid, we made the decision to move it to MWC,” says Duran. “It turned out to be a wonderful resolution. “
The purpose hasn’t changed. ” We made the decision to help startups grow their business,” says Duran. “We help other people showcase their products and connect with investors and customers. “
However, moving into MWC’s expansive exhibition area has potentially provided attractive startups to a wider diversity of stakeholders. So while 4yFN is committed to startups, there are synergies with the older event. Durán cites the example of business innovation groups that may be there primarily for MWC, but take the time to reach out to attractive startups. “We have small branches of cutting-edge companies,” he says.
Although it falls under the MWC umbrella, Duran stresses that 4YFN is technology-agnostic. We’re open to all kinds of virtual startups,” he says. “The goal is to attract early-stage companies, only from Europe but from all over the world. “We come from all geographies,” he says. Most of the business creation occasions are local. It can be tricky to get businesses up and running.
So while there is representation of corporations operating in the wireless space, the spectrum of corporations is deliberately broad, with an increasing focus on B2B and deep tech. Duran says the most popular segment this year is virtual healthcare. “Sixteen percent of the participating corporations were in this field,” he says.
So, what can tech startups expect from this event?Marta Estarellas is the CEO of Qilimanjaro, a quantum computing startup founded in Barcelona. As he explains, the company not only offers hardware, but also a software stack and interfaces for its products. Estarellas says the analog generation is less prone to errors. “That’s the bet we made,” he says.
This year, Qilimanjaro won the award for Best Digital Startup at 4YFN. I asked Estarellas what she hoped to accomplish by participating.
From the beginning, we sought to be part of the event,” he says. And we were present at 4YFN and MWC.
Estarellas says the company had several goals. This included connecting other startups, investors, and potential customers. In addition, it sought to engage with policymakers and decision-makers who play a role in shaping the future of quantum computing and, more broadly, in the progression of generation ecosystems. “Those were our goals and that’s what we achieved,” he says.
In the broader context of MWC, there were opportunities to discuss the prospects of quantum computing with both businesses and telecommunications companies. These kinds of conversations about ions are important. Estarellas believes that there are between five and ten years to go before commercialization, so he believes that it is to open channels of communication with potential buyers.
In addition, the company won an award. This has had a great impact on our positioning,” says Estarellas.
Trending at an industry exhibit can be an intense task. So, does this tend to be one-off or do the same corporations repeat themselves over several years?”We have corporations that have been popping up for two or three years, but they’re Series A or Series B corporations. After that, they come back as speakers,” Duran says.
This year, 901 corporations participated. About 80% were startups. Duran says the occasion is for Barcelona’s ecosystem, but being independent of geography, the exhibit also aims to unite ecosystems in Europe and beyond.