FI-WARE is the future of internet - an open-source ecosystem that allows SMEs to develop innovative applications - and the European Commission has 80 million euros to finance startups that wish to develop software applications in this platform. In order to help entrepreneurs to know more about this technology and also to launch their own business, Instituto Pedro Nunes (IPN) together with Beta-i are organizing the Lisbon FIWARE Bootcamp + Startup Weekend between the 13 and 16 of November, at the Central Station, in Lisbon. At the event, entrepreneurs, developers, designers, managers (either students, recently graduated or professionals) will be discovering the different business opportunities in areas like smart cities, energy and education and how it can be coupled with the FIWARE technology. During 54 hours the different teams will prepare themselves to launch their own startup.
Nuno Varandas, executive director of the Soul-fi project refers that “With the Soul-Fi’s project, the Instituto Pedro Nunes presents itself as the leader of one of the 16 accelerators that are participating in this program from the European Commission. We want this opportunity to incentive and potentiate the Portuguese participation in the development of solutions that use FIWARE technology. This opportunity not only allows teams to access financing but also to supporting services as well as to mentoring”.
Pedro Rocha Viera, president of Beta-i, highlighted: “Smart cities, sustainable energies and education are three of the markets with greatest potential within the European business world. The FIWARE technology developed a mix of technological solutions that may serve as basis for the development of startups that want to work in these areas. This is a great opportunity for developers and entrepreneurs to bet on the areas of the future and to be part of the first movers to achieve an investment stake, which the European Commission and the 16 FIWARE accelerators are offering to the people that show up with projects that represent an added value to our society”.
FIWARE is an open-source ecosystem, which will compete with another closed platforms owned by big technological enterprises. It aims to place Europe at the center of a new internet era. There are 16 accelerators with an investment pool totaling 80 million euros and the goal to help turn the best ideas into international businesses. SOUL-FI, coordinated by IPN, is one of these accelerators and it will allow the chosen projects to receive ten thousand euros in a first phase up to one hundred thousand euros for the development of an application or service until its commercialization.
Neelie Kroes, the European Commissary of the Digital Agenda, comments this Portuguese participation: “Let provide 80 million euros to the accelerators since they are the entities that understand the startup needs. SOUL-FI is managed by portuguese and it is one of this accelerators. I believe it will end awarding the best ideas and turn our cities more smart and sustainable”.
The FIWARE platform is public and royalty-free. It allows any person to make tests with real data, manage pilot projects with true customers, obtain visibility, contact with potential customers and accelerate the development of the product. This technology can be applied to Smart Cities, eHealth, Transports, Energy, Education, Environment and logistics.
The Startup Weekend is one of the biggest initiatives of entrepreneurship promotion at an international level. It aims to support new companies and it counts with the participation of several mentors (entrepreneurs, businessmen and investors) from the region. It is a global initiative of entrepreneurship that allows entrepreneurs to learn and empower their knowledge for the creation and the launch of a successful business. All the startup weekend events follow the same model: participants present their ideas and then receive feedback. The teams are organized around the best ideas (determined by voting) following 54 insane hours of building and creating new business models, new software, new designs and market validation. The weekend ends with the pitch of the business to a jury composed by specialists from different areas. It is another opportunity for the participants get feedback of their business ideas.
And it works. Last year, one of the startups born from the Startup Weekend was Popcorn Metrics. It was created by Paulo Boyce, which in less than a year was accepted and one of the winners of the international accelerator, Lisbon Challenge. Popcorn ended up being invested by Seedcamp, the major investment micro-fund in Europe. Another examples is Uniplaces - also an Lisbon Challenge Alumni - which was born in one of the Startup Weekends 3 years ago and is now receiving a 2.8 million euros investment.
The Startup Weekend is almost sold out. The applications are open until November 12 at http://fiwaresw.eventbrite.
The organizers:
About Beta-i:
About IPN:
Instituto Pedro Nunes is a non-profit private organization founded in 1991 and promotes innovation and technology transfer, being the main link between the University of Coimbra (UC) and the business sector. Its work is made through R&TD in partnership with enterprises, specialized training, dissemination of scientific and technological knowledge and support to start-up tech companies.
About Startup Weekend:
Startup Weekend supports the development and expansion of entrepreneurship through events worldwide that educate aspiring entrepreneurs by immersing them in the process of moving an idea to market. Startup Weekend has built a network of more than 55,000 alumni, thousands of volunteer organizers and 100 trained facilitators spread across more than 300 cities in 100 countries. Google for entrepreneurs, Amazon, and Coca Cola and Dot Co are sponsors. For more information, visit www.startupweekend.org or follow us on twitter @startupweekend.