Slowly but surely, Plug and Play Spain has made a name for itself as one of the top startup accelerators in Spain. The accelerator, led by Juan Luis Hortelano, Rubén Colomer and Alberto Gutiérrez, started in 2012 as the Spanish branch of Plug and Play Tech Center -based in Silicon Valley and founded by Saeed Amidi- and so far has invested in 40 startups that have raised more than €4 million.
The program has just announced the seven startups that will participate in its fifth program. All of the startups will receive €25,000 (€10,000 in cash and €15,000 for the cost of the acceleration program) as they enter the program, for up to 7% equity. The teams that reach certain milestones can receive an additional €15,000 in cash at the end of the program for 3% equity.
Out of all the startups invested by Plug and Play over the past few months, three have been acquired: TouristEye (Lonely Planet), Quolaw (vLex) and more recently Ducksboard (New Relic).
The following are the startups that are currently part of Plug and Play’s fifth batch:
- Xceed: a web and mobile platform aimed at events organizers and party-goers that “promotes and hosts high quality events worldwide”. The startup is led by Italians Mattia Franco, Davide Villano, Luca Papaleo and Michele Secondo.
- freeQ: the startup describes itself as the “mobile self-checkout solution for shoppers and retailers”. The idea is that consumers can use their smartphones to scan items at retail stores and pay through the app, avoiding queues. Rodrigo Silva, Frederico Azevedo and André Marquet are the team behind the idea, all from Portugal.
- MonoLibre: a solution for learning new languages based on pronunciation. The startup is currently developing a mobile app that will allow users to improve their English accent. MonoLibre’s co-founders are Anna Heim and Guillem Pérez.
- Influencity: a marketing platform that connects *influencers* with consumer brands that might be interested in finding the right people to promote their products and services.
- Ufeed: the company aims to transform compulsive eating habits into microdonations and charitable acts.
- Wave: the startup’s product is a mobile app that allows users to check and share their geolocation with users in a private map and in real-time for a limited period of time. Manuel de la Esperanza, Luis Gelado, Alfredo Laguía and Pam Zuloaga are its co-founders.
- Terminis: online service that allows users and corporations to verify legal documents and any other content published on a website or mobile app. Luis Gosálbez, David Zaragoza, Josep Planells and Marek Fodor (chairman of Kantox) are its co-founders.
