Telefónica helped pioneer corporate accelerators when it decided to invest in early-stage start-ups across its European and Latin American footprint in 2011. The initiative was born from Telefónica's desire to nurture innovation and talent in the countries where it operates and gain early access to the newest technologies and business models in markets. When it first launched, many of the countries it operated in either did not have innovation ecosystems or fledging ones, so the Spanish telecom giant built some from scratch and literally put the wind in the sails of others.  Along the way Wayra, which is bringing a group of startups to 4YFN conference in Barcelona July 28-July 1, has invested about €50 million in 800 startups. Telcos copied Telefónica’s model and companies in other sectors took note. There are now hundreds of corporate accelerators around the world. 

Recently, though, accelerators have started falling out of favor. A few have seen noteworthy successes, but many programs struggle to produce meaningful returns for either the corporate or the startups involved. As a result, 60% of corporate accelerators fail within two years, and partnerships result less than 1% of the time, according to market intelligence firm CB Insights. As Wayra celebrates its 10^th birthday, executives and startups who have participated in the accelerator spoke to The Innovator about lessons learned and what’s next.
 

          Estonia's President Kersti Kaljulaid

And Author Safi Bahcall

Who: Kersti Kaljulaid, President of the Republic of Estonia and American physicist, technologist and business executive Safi Bahcall, author of the widely acclaimed 2019 book Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries. Both recently participated in a fireside chat with The Innovator’s Editor-in-Chief Jennifer L. Schenker.

Topic: Estonia’s approach to innovation, its ambition to become a test bed for moonshots and how it partners with the private sector.

Quote: "Estonia’s national test bed program Accelerate Estonia was created to experiment with moonshot solutions to global challenges. The program combines the audacity of entrepreneurs with the transformative power of the public sector to tackle the systemic constraints behind urgent global problems. We want ideas that could use Estonia’s legal framework as a test bed."

Algramo, one of the World Economic Forum’s 2021 Tech Pioneers, is working with global consumer goods companies to drive what it calls the refill revolution. The company, which is based in Santiago, Chile, is helping to address the problem of single-use plastic pollution by keeping unrecyclable containers in use as part of a circular economy. Customers include Unilever, Purina and Walmart.