Telefonica O2 Czech Republic, a.s. : Prague accelerator Wayra is launched

Ten winning teams move into the Diamant building on Wenceslas Square.

The Wayra Prague accelerator welcomed the creators of the top-rated projects for the first time. For six months, the accelerator will give them support for developing and executing their ideas. Wayra's Prague branch is equipped in the same spirit as 12 other sister accelerators in Europe and South America. The design of the premises was created by Spanish architectural studio Quanto Architectura.

"It's great to see the Wayra premises filled with people who had sent us their applications at the turn of the year and believed that the jury will select their project. I believe that the original environment in the accelerator, our support and our financial background will allow them to bring their projects to a successful end," said Felix Geyr, Director Strategy & Business Development at Telefónica Czech Republic.

Ten winning teams were selected in the Wayra Week assessment in May. The jury rated nine Slovak teams and one Czech team as best among 21 start-up projects. These teams can now make full use of the background and facilities in Wayra Prague. Additionally, they receive financial contribution of up to EUR 50,000 and, if successful, also access to 300 mln of Telefónica Group's customers around the world. All this in exchange for a minority stake in the company.

An overview of projects working in Wayra Academy in Prague

Big Launcher

Excalibur

Data Molino

Linxy

Mapilary

Remote Assistant

Networker

LionExpo

Trash out

Woppa

The main goal of the Wayra accelerator is to support innovative technology projects. The Wayra project was established in South America in 2011 where it was very successful. A year later it arrived in Europe. Today it has its branches in Spain, the UK, Ireland, Germany and now the Czech Republic.

The Wayra project now is a global ecosystem where every contact, every new market, every mentor plays an important role. Over two years of the project's existence, important relations and links have formed among start-ups, entrepreneurs, mentors and investors across various countries of the world. For instance, investors from Brazil are now launching business in the UK and start-ups in Madrid communicate with start-ups in Chile, Peru or Munich within the Wayra network.

About the Wayra programme

Wayra is a programme of Telefónica Digital and its aim is to support innovation and search for talents in Latin America and Europe in the areas of the Internet and new information and communication technologies (ICT). This global accelerator helps businesspeople in their development. It provides them with necessary technologies, qualified consultants, inspirational working environment, and funding necessary for fast growth.

Wayra is already present in Argentina, Brazil, China, Colombia, Spain, Mexico, Peru, Venezuela, Ireland, the United Kingdom and Germany where it has already received over 13,000 applications in the field of digital technologies. This makes it one of the world's leading platforms looking for technological talents in ICT. The Wayra Academies in Bogota, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Lima, London, Madrid, Barcelona, Caracas, Munich, Dublin, Sao Paulo and Santiago de Chile are now hosting 179 start-ups.

Online / Social media

· www.cz.wayra.org

·Twitter: @wayracz

·Facebook: @wayraprague

·Telefónica Digital website: www.telefonica.com/digital

·Twitter Telefónica Digital: @tefdigital

Contacts

Telefónica Czech Republic is a major integrated operator in the Czech Republic. It is now operating almost eight million lines, both fixed and mobile, making it one of the world's leading providers of fully converged services. The organization offers the most comprehensive portfolio of voice and data services in this country. It is paying special attention to the exploitation of the growth potential, particularly in the data and Internet sector. Telefónica Czech Republic operates the largest fixed and mobile network including a 3rd generation network, CDMA (for data), and UMTS, enabling voice, data and video transmission. Telefónica Czech Republic launched a LTE (Long Term Evolution) 4rd generation mobile communication network as the first operator in the Czech Republic. The new network offers the fastest available mobile Internet nowadays. Telefónica Czech Republic is also a notable provider of ICT services.

Telefónica is one of the world's largest telecommunications operators by market capitalisation. Its activities are centred mainly on the fixed and mobile telephony businesses, while its broadband business is the key growth driver underpinning both. It operates in 25 countries and has a global customer base of 312 million. Telefónica's growth strategy is focused on the markets in which it has a strong foothold: Spain, Europe and Latin America. Telefónica is a 100% private sector company with its shares listed in Madrid and other stock exchanges and more than 1.5 million individual shareholders.