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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wayra is a technological innovation hub, 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] Wayra operates through 11 hubs in 10 countries within Telefónica’s footprint: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Germany, Mexico, Peru, Spain, the United Kingdom and Venezuela.
| |
| Founded | 2011 in Colombia |
|---|---|
| Founder | José María Álvarez-Pallete |
| Website | wayra |
Wayra started in Colombia in mid 2011 and expanded to ten more countries that year.[3]
In 2013, there were 14 Wayra academies in 12 countries in Europe and Latin America.[4][2]
In March 2015, Telefónica closed down the Wayra in Prague, as a part of Telefónica's general exit from that market.[5]
In 2015, Volo, which had been started at the Munich Wayra, was sold to the Rocket Internet.[6]
Its UK branch is based in London and was managed by Gary Stewart until 2019. A new country manager, Bruno Vidal Sa De Moraes, took over in February 2020.[7]
Wayra UK has partnered up with a healthcare company Novartis to support Health Tech start-ups,[8] the National Cyber Security Centre,[9] University of Edinburgh to create an accelerator for AI and blockchain start-ups.[10][11] Based at the Bayes Centre, this programme is a collaboration between Wayra UK and The University of Edinburgh’s Data-Driven Innovation Initiative. Since its launch the programme has welcomed two cohorts featuring 20 data-driven start-ups. Between them they have raised over £3m in investment with a combined valuation of over £12m. The UK branch has also created an Intelligent Mobility accelerator which has chosen to support Spark, an AI start-up.[12]
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