Wayra

One-liner: Telefónica's Corporate Venture Capital arm (since 2011; evolved from accelerator to CVC in 2018) — capital plus a venture-client route into Telefónica's business units and global customer base, operating in Spain, Germany, the UK and Brazil (with reach into other European/LatAm markets).

What a founder gets

• Direct investment as a CVC — Wayra backs startups with the potential to generate real impact within Telefónica, then helps them scale through commercial collaboration (not just cash).
• Venture-client access — connects portfolio startups to Telefónica's business units, opening global-market access and one of the world's largest telecom customer bases; 460+ startups from its portfolio have worked commercially with Telefónica.
• Corporate-innovation-programme design services — Wayra builds bespoke open-innovation and corporate-venture programmes for other corporates, not just Telefónica, meaning founders can also access Wayra-run initiatives sponsored by non-Telefónica brands:
  • AstraZeneca digital-health accelerator "ACCIÓN" (with Kunsen) — pitch day held, selecting innovative digital-health projects for the Spanish healthcare system (news dated 5 Feb 2026).
  • TUI Futureshapers Spain (with TUI Care Foundation and Target 8.9) — accelerates travel-tech / sustainable- tourism solutions; includes a hackathon for university talent and young innovators (launched 23 Jan 2026).
  • INCIBE cybersecurity programme — accelerates cybersecurity-focused startups (listed as closed/past cohort).
  • Corporate partners named on the innovation-services page include Cisco, Meta and Qualcomm (metaverse/ telecom infrastructure).
• Innovation platforms: Wayra participates in ALAIAN (a global telco alliance — Cellnex, KPN, MTN, NOS, Omantel, Orange, STC, Telefónica — reaching 1bn+ customers across 65 markets) and Open Future (a public-private platform running 20+ innovation spaces across Spain and Hispanoamérica).
• Annual OUTLIERS showcase — a demo/visibility event for the current portfolio (2026 edition referenced on-site).

Who it's for

• Any-sector startups, early to growth stage, that can plug into a telecom / digital-infrastructure value chain or benefit from a large-corporate commercial partner — telecom-adjacent, but also cross-vertical via the sponsored programmes (health, travel-tech, cybersecurity, metaverse).
• Corporates and institutions themselves are also "customers" of Wayra — it sells corporate-venture programme design as a service.

How to engage

• Startups: apply/connect via the "Investment," "Startups" or "Contact" sections at wayra.com; open calls are surfaced via the "News"/"Startups" nav (e.g. TUI Futureshapers Spain, ACCIÓN with AstraZeneca — check current status). The /open-calls path used previously now 404s post-migration — #status/verify exact current application routes.
• Corporates seeking innovation-programme design: contact via the "Services" page.
• No public office address found on-site; engage via the web contact form.

Key facts

• Founded 2011 as a startup accelerator; evolved into Telefónica's Corporate Venture Capital in 2018, merging the Group's investment and open-innovation initiatives.
• Geographic footprint: primarily Spain, Germany, UK, Brazil — plus activity across other European and Latin American markets.
• Leadership team (re-verified 2026-07-05, unchanged): Andrés Saborido (CEO) · Nuria San Agapito (CFO) · Pablo Moro (Managing Director, Funds & Venture Growth) · Paloma Castellano (Managing Director, Investments) · Agustín Moro (Managing Director, Innovation Partnerships & Services) · Philipp Trauer (Managing Director, Brazil) · Florian Bogenschütz (Managing Director, Germany).
• Scale (re-verified 2026-07-05 — real figures now resolved, no longer template placeholders): +1,200 invested startups · €260M total investment · +€700M business generated for startups · +150 partners & clients. (Prior 2026-07-04 capture only showed unresolved "+1" / "1M€" template placeholders — this is a genuine data resolution, not necessarily a growth event; treat the prior figures as an artifact of a JS-render timing issue, not a prior true value.)
• Legal entity: Telefónica Open Innovation, S.L.U. — "part of the Telefónica family."
• Recent activity: AstraZeneca/Kunsen digital-health pitch day (5 Feb 2026); TUI Futureshapers Spain launch (23 Jan 2026). No newer news items found as of 2026-07-05.
• Domain migration: wayra.es now 301-redirects to wayra.com (confirmed 2026-07-05). Update all references to the new canonical domain; .es remains functional only as a redirect.

Relations

• See also: INCIBE
• See also: Startup Valencia