Wayra
Wayra is a start-up accelerator which was started in Latin America and Spain in 2011 as an initiative of Telefónica's chief executive in Europe, José María Álvarez-Pallete.[1][2]
The start-up companies receive funding, office space and mentoring.[3] In 2013, there were 14 Wayra academies in 12 countries in Europe and Latin America and Telefónica planned to support about 350 startups altogether.[4][2]
The manager of the Wayra Academy in London explained their business strategy, "It's not just about the ideas. We are using Wayra as a way of acquiring great talent for Telefónica."[2]
In March 2015 Telefónica closed down Wayra CEE located in Prague. As Telefónica had previously sold their Telecommunications operations, this was part of completely exiting the market.[5]
Notable Exits
April 2015: Volo was sold to Rocket Internet. Previously Volo was part of Wayra Germany [6]
References
- ↑ Solon, Olivia (7 March 2012), "Telefónica invites UK startups to join accelerator programme Wayra", Wired
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Michel Syrett, Marion Devine (2014), "6. Creating a talent eco-system", Managing Talent: Recruiting, Retaining and Getting the Most from Talented People, Profile Books, ISBN 9781847658104
- ↑ "Wayra UK selects new start-ups". The Blue. O2. 28 March 2013.
- ↑ John Kennedy (25 July 2013). "Telefónica’s Wayra accelerator in Dublin reveals shortlist of start-ups for second intake". Silicon Republic.
- ↑ "Wayra CEE to end operations in March". Wayra CEE.
- ↑ "http://techcrunch.com/2015/04/16/volo/". Techcrunch.