The first edition of “Startup Weekend” targets entrepreneurs and was held in parallel in 19 other cities throughout the world.
We are very pleased with the results and the excellent turnout. More than 40 entrepreneurs participated in the event, which included the involvement of approximately 80 additional individuals, including organizers, mentors and investors. During the first phase of the event, which took place last Friday afternoon, various business ideas were put forward, of which seven were selected for further development throughout the weekend.
Among some of the more notable projects, I’d like to highlight a mobile application to recommend routes to disabled persons, or a platform for seniors to request home support services. Other presentations included nutritional recommendation systems and others related to the management of diseases such as cancer.
All participants were guided by 15 mentors, specialists in various business areas, who helped shape the projects. Startup Weekend concluded Sunday afternoon with team presentations of each project to a panel of experts who selected the winning ideas.
The program included a presentation, which I believe was exceptional, by Julio de la Torre, lawyer and legal mentor, who verified the work done by each group after giving his motivational talk. I would like to point out the balance between male and female attendees and the presence of entrepreneurs who graduated from university some time ago and returned, with experience gained from other projects, to join these teams.
I would like to especially thank all those who made our first edition of Startup Weekend possible:
- Our sponsors: University of Salamanca, Startup Europe Welcome project, Bases Foundation, BeOnPrice, Wembley Studios, Salamanca Móvil, Undanet, Coca Cola, Illy.
- Our coaches: Antonio Bueno, Luis Fombellida, Félix Velasco, Adrián Heredia, Daniel Meléndez, Emilio Galán, David Jesús Gómez Verdejo, Antonio Miguel, César López, Raúl Hernández, Arturo García, Jesús López, Jesús Lozano y Pablo Ventosa.
- Our panel of judges: Ignacio Santamarina, Rodrigo Borrego y Emilio Corchado.
- Our presentors: Óscar Farres, Julio de la Torre y Borja Breña.
- Our moderator: María-Christina Tsitsopoulos.
- Our organizers: Miguel Breña, Sergio Sánchez, Alba Blanco, Isa Molina, Tristán Guy, Miguel García, Ricardo Silva, Matevz Gantar.
- Our volunteers: Helena, María, Javier, Alberto, Angel y Sergio.
