It is increasingly more common to see small companies with few resources and not much of a history revolutionise sectors like retail, hostelry or passenger transport. No one can escape the startup revolution, not even the car sector, which on Thursday saw the start of the Automobile Barcelona fair. Most manufacturers are already opting for open innovation, in other words, combining the efforts of their R&D departments with the search for external talent. Proof of the strength of entrepreneurs in this sector are the 437 million euros invested in 54 operations by March this year.
To encourage contact between large and small, the Mobile World Capital Barcelona has launched Innovation Square as part of Connected Hub, the space devoted to the connected car as part of the event from May 11 to 21 in the Montjuïc venue of Fira de Barcelona.
The 4 Years From Now (4YFN) platform, with the help of Ficosa and Seat, was charged with selecting the 23 participating companies. "We received more than 400 applications from around the world," says the executive director of 4YFN, Esteban Redolfi, who insists that the initiative has awoken the curiosity of both companies and investors. The automobile sector, he goes on to say, has for some time shown itself to be clearly in favour of technology and innovation, which is why he trusts that Innovation Square will grow in subsequent editions.
Applications, products, software and hardware developers... the space has a little bit of everything, and we will go on to tell you about some of the most attractive proposals.
1BARRIER, the smart guardrail
This Barcelona firm, which works with four permanent partners and occasional contributors, aims to change the shape of roads around the world to make them safer and more sustainable. Its cofounder, Joaquim Xufré, says all that is lacking is "a final push" in the form of funding -some two million euros- and a tech partner to finish developing the product.
The product is a steel barrier covered in recycled rubber that has been patented in 150 countries around the world. These barriers, which can be any colour, are made for different types of solutions that help drivers: signals that warn of an accident, of a cyclist on the road a few metres away or alerting the driver to a broken-down car nearby, to complement the existing warning triangles.
At the same time, these guardrails can emit ultrasounds to dissuade animals from coming on to the road, and even locate 4G communication signals. Xufré says that all of these specifications do not lead to a disproportionate increase in cost: "Those without technology are more or less the same price as the traditional ones and need less maintenance, and those with features are not excessively expensive and will serve to avoid many accidents," he insists. We will be able to see them on the roads, between six months and a year after they get the necessary funding.
UBIKABLE, a copilot that takes up no space
In two to three weeks this will be on the market from Ubikable, a nameless voice assistant that warns the driver of accidents on their journeyand offers an alternative route, whether they have a puncture or whether they are driving in an aggressive or inefficient way.
"It also tells you about the cheapest petrol stations nearby or whether there are speeding checkpoints," says the director of this startup, Miguel Arpa, who defines the application as a "Swiss army knife" that brings together in one place a number of solutions to help drivers. He points out that while the application's general specifications are free, paying six euros gets a device that connects to the car and provides reports about the technical condition of the vehicle.
WeSmartPark, an end to looking for spaces
Finding a parking space is a headache for many drivers, especially in large cities. Parking in the centre without paying is almost impossible and car parks are usually quite expensive. WeSmartPark provides a reasonably-priced and practical solution for those who do not want to rent a parking space, or for those who do not have the money to do so.
It works like this: the user downloads the free app, registers and receives an identification sticker at home. With the sticker placed on the windscreen, when the car gets to the city it looks on a map for the nearest available parking spaces. It chooses one, reserves it and when you arrive, a sensor identifies the sticker and lets you pass. Inside, a light indicates which is your place. "You pay 1.56 euros an hour, when the usual price in Barcelona is 3.5 euros an hour," points out company founder, Jaume Mayor.
There are currently 85,000 users and 2,500 parking places registered in Barcelona and Madrid, and they recently tied up an investment round worth 1.5 millions euros, which they will use to make the leap to New York and Santiago de Chile, the latter alongside a local partner.
Other names at Innovation Square are Situm, who are developing an interior GPS system; Carfit, which anticipates the need for car maintenance through interpreting the vibrations of the vehicle, and Comodule, a Berlin company that is developing connectivity solutions for bicycles and motorbikes.
To encourage contact between large and small, the Mobile World Capital Barcelona has launched Innovation Square as part of Connected Hub, the space devoted to the connected car as part of the event from May 11 to 21 in the Montjuïc venue of Fira de Barcelona.
The 4 Years From Now (4YFN) platform, with the help of Ficosa and Seat, was charged with selecting the 23 participating companies. "We received more than 400 applications from around the world," says the executive director of 4YFN, Esteban Redolfi, who insists that the initiative has awoken the curiosity of both companies and investors. The automobile sector, he goes on to say, has for some time shown itself to be clearly in favour of technology and innovation, which is why he trusts that Innovation Square will grow in subsequent editions.
Applications, products, software and hardware developers... the space has a little bit of everything, and we will go on to tell you about some of the most attractive proposals.
1BARRIER, the smart guardrail
This Barcelona firm, which works with four permanent partners and occasional contributors, aims to change the shape of roads around the world to make them safer and more sustainable. Its cofounder, Joaquim Xufré, says all that is lacking is "a final push" in the form of funding -some two million euros- and a tech partner to finish developing the product.
The product is a steel barrier covered in recycled rubber that has been patented in 150 countries around the world. These barriers, which can be any colour, are made for different types of solutions that help drivers: signals that warn of an accident, of a cyclist on the road a few metres away or alerting the driver to a broken-down car nearby, to complement the existing warning triangles.
At the same time, these guardrails can emit ultrasounds to dissuade animals from coming on to the road, and even locate 4G communication signals. Xufré says that all of these specifications do not lead to a disproportionate increase in cost: "Those without technology are more or less the same price as the traditional ones and need less maintenance, and those with features are not excessively expensive and will serve to avoid many accidents," he insists. We will be able to see them on the roads, between six months and a year after they get the necessary funding.
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| The renewed Automobile Barcelona fair has reserved a special place for startups. MV |
UBIKABLE, a copilot that takes up no space
In two to three weeks this will be on the market from Ubikable, a nameless voice assistant that warns the driver of accidents on their journeyand offers an alternative route, whether they have a puncture or whether they are driving in an aggressive or inefficient way.
"It also tells you about the cheapest petrol stations nearby or whether there are speeding checkpoints," says the director of this startup, Miguel Arpa, who defines the application as a "Swiss army knife" that brings together in one place a number of solutions to help drivers. He points out that while the application's general specifications are free, paying six euros gets a device that connects to the car and provides reports about the technical condition of the vehicle.
WeSmartPark, an end to looking for spaces
Finding a parking space is a headache for many drivers, especially in large cities. Parking in the centre without paying is almost impossible and car parks are usually quite expensive. WeSmartPark provides a reasonably-priced and practical solution for those who do not want to rent a parking space, or for those who do not have the money to do so.
It works like this: the user downloads the free app, registers and receives an identification sticker at home. With the sticker placed on the windscreen, when the car gets to the city it looks on a map for the nearest available parking spaces. It chooses one, reserves it and when you arrive, a sensor identifies the sticker and lets you pass. Inside, a light indicates which is your place. "You pay 1.56 euros an hour, when the usual price in Barcelona is 3.5 euros an hour," points out company founder, Jaume Mayor.
There are currently 85,000 users and 2,500 parking places registered in Barcelona and Madrid, and they recently tied up an investment round worth 1.5 millions euros, which they will use to make the leap to New York and Santiago de Chile, the latter alongside a local partner.
Other names at Innovation Square are Situm, who are developing an interior GPS system; Carfit, which anticipates the need for car maintenance through interpreting the vibrations of the vehicle, and Comodule, a Berlin company that is developing connectivity solutions for bicycles and motorbikes.
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