The chairman of O2 parent company Telefonica Europe, José MarÃa Ãlvarez, today announced that he wanted to find the ‘Steve Jobs of Europe’ and revealed a London base for 10 tech start-ups who become finalists in a competition hosted as part of the Telefonica Think Big project.
What do Telefonica get out of the deal? 10% stake in any company that leaves the Academy base in Capper Street, London (after six months) to grow and become more successful. “I want to see one of the finalists on the cover of your magazines within 12 months” Ãlvarez told What Mobile before going on to talk about how connected young people are to mobile devices. “Our tests suggest that young people are never more than a metre away from their smartphone within any 24 hour period” said Ãlvarez before revealing the key themes of the competition, called Wayra, which offers up to ¬50,000 of funding for each finalist.
It seems Telefonica want to target any tech start-ups who are building the next Facebook, Twitter or networking software that changes the way we work and use smartphones. Do you fancy becoming the next Mark Zuckerberg? Have a killer app idea but don’t fancy going on Dragon’s Den? The deadline for applications is 22nd April. Candidates will have access to Telefonica tech experts and key members of staff will visit universities all over Europe in a bid to “keep talent within Europe” said Ãlvarez but also within easy reach of Telefonica, naturally. “We aim to have 250,000 young people participating in the Think Big scheme by 2015 ” said Ãlvarez.
You can read more about the project and enter via the Wayra website.
Telefonica provide initial funding for winning startups and hope that they will grow big enough to 'appear on magazine covers in 12 months' said Alvarez.
