On May 26th and 27th, Ferrovial, together with the European Commission’s European Innovation Council (EIC) organized, for the second time, a new edition of Corporate Day. This time, Ferrovial joined forces with BBVA, to host, for the first time, a fully on-line version of this initiative supported by the EIC. Over the last two days, Ferrovial and BBVA executives had the opportunity to listen and meet 19 highly innovative startups and SMEs.
“More than ever, innovation is central to Europe’s ability to generate new jobs, promote inclusiveness and guarantee sustainable growth. We need innovative ideas to tackle the major societal challenges that we Europeans are facing, like for instance the current COVID-19 crisis. In the light of the pandemic, we have quickly adapted and created the online EIC Corporate Days: a fully digital version of the ‘classical’ EIC Corporate Days that we have been offering the past years.”
“We continue to offer ‘smart money’ to our innovators’ funding but also the possibility to connect with big players around Europe. Bridging the gap between start-ups and large companies is a vital strategy for business acceleration and growth. With EIC Corporate Days, we give the possibility for innovators to turn their ideas into reality and thus create jobs and growth for the benefit of citizens. It is an absolute win-win situation for everyone: the start-ups SMEs obtain synergies, connections and forge new business opportunities, while the corporates can identify new emerging technologies.”
“The EIC would like to thank BBVA & Ferrovial for being one of the first European corporates to go on this digital journey with us. It clearly shows their innovative nature and willingness to be on the forefront of new digital solutions.”
Many thanks to @bbva and @ferrovial_es for hosting today and tomorrow with @EUeic their second #CorporateDay (the first fully digital 😃) with 19 #EICAccelerator #fintech and #construction startups and SMEs!https://t.co/HrdBXL0hV9
@JEPaquetEU @GabrielMariya— Jean-David MALO (@JeanDavidMALO1) May 26, 2020
From Ferrovia’sl side, Rafael Fernández, Innovation and Digital Strategy Director, welcomed the participants and underlined the company’s Open Innovation approach:
“Open Innovation is the way Ferrovial has been working for a decade now and still keeps gaining weight in our iinnovation strategy asa source of competitive advantage. This is the second time we have hosted a Corporate Day together with EIC, joining now forces with BBVA, a leading actor in his sector. We strongly believe these initiatives connecting startups with organizations create value for both parties. We hope this new edition of the Corporate Day will bring fruitful relationships between invited startups and Ferrovial.”
Today we are teaming up with @EUeic and @BBVAInnovation to celebrate the 2nd edition of Corporate Day. Startups will present their products and/or relevant solutions to our business units. Good luck to everyone involved! #EUeic pic.twitter.com/9d3WsHWKAq
— Ferrovial (@ferrovial) May 26, 2020
“It is a unique opportunity for a mutually beneficial shared experience. To unite the way start-ups, create and solve problems quickly, using the latest technologies, and with the agility to work without ‘baggage’ - with corporations who can offer knowledge of the sector, critical mass, large customer bases and the platform to be able to try out.”
Right before the startups and SMEs pitched in front of the corporate representatives, Ciro Acedo Boria, Head of Open Innovation Ecosystem for Ferrovial, and Carlos Jack López Moctezuma, Global Head of New Business Models for BBVA, presented the two companies.
During these two days, 19 startups and SMEs, hailing from 10 different European countries, had the opportunity to pitch their solutions to representatives from Ferrovial and BBVA and engage with them in one-to-one meetings. The startups and SMEs, pre-filtered and selected by the two companies, presented their product and solutions to tackle the problems and needs around Construction, Infrastructures, Fintech and Sustainability, among other topics.
During this Corporate Day, more than 50 representatives from Ferrovial and BBVA engaged with the startups and SMEs representatives in more than 30 on-line one-to-one meetings. From the Ferrovial side, we hope some of these conversations can turn into fruitful collaboration agreements for both parties in the near future.
At the end of the first day, the participants had the opportunity to listen to a keynote speech from Laura González Estefani, Founder & CEO of The Venture City, and member of the EIC Advisory Board. Laura highlighted the importance for startups of collaborating with corporates and vice versa.
The Corporate Day was closed by Manuel Martinez, Head of Open Innovation for Ferrovial, Ainhoa Campo, Head of Open Innovation for BBVA and Manuel Mendigutia, from EIC.
Those interested can download the Corporate Day brochure containing the startups and SMEs information here:
