The Basque Country intends to attract the best startups in the field of industry 4.0 by opening the international program promoted by the Basque Government together with major BIND4.0 organizations
The Basque Country, together with some of the most important organizations located in the Basque Country, presented last Wednesday, 6 July, at the Science and Technology Park of Gipuzkoa, the StartUP! Basque industry 4.0 initiative, BIND4.0.
It is a public-private early-stage business accelerator where these major companies of the Autonomous Community will collaborate to attract innovative business initiatives from all around the world to the Basque Country. The startups will receive guidance and financial support, but above all, the commitment of internationally renowned organizations such as ABB, CAF, CIE Automotive, Danobat, Euskaltel, Iberdrola, ITP, Mercedes, Michelin, Microsoft, Repsol-Petronor and Siemens, which will support the growth, acceleration and placement on the market of these early-stage businesses.
The BIND 4.0 – StartUP! Basque Industry 4.0 Accelerator Program was presented at an event presided over by the President of the Basque Government, Iñigo Urkullu, the Basque Minister for Economic Development and Competitiveness, Arantxa Tapia, and the Director for Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Information Society of the Basque Government, Aitor Urzelai.
In addition to the presentation of the BIND, there was an assessment of the Inter-institutional Plan, a round table under the theme “Industry 4.0, a great opportunity for entrepreneurship” and a talk by Juanjo Azcarate, vice-president of Adigital, on Futures Studies.
With the implementation of this initiative, the Basque Government and the 12 partner companies intend to contribute to improving the Basque entrepreneurial ecosystem and position the Basque Country as an advanced industrial country and a magnet for international talent. All this will be done under the coordination of the Business Development Agency of the Basque Country (SPRI) and in collaboration with the BIC-Business Innovation Centres and the Provincial Councils.
A PROJECT ADAPTED TO THE NEEDS
To achieve this, in addition to the usual training, mentoring and funding services, BIND4.0 will give the selected early-stage businesses the opportunity to develop their projects in keeping with the demands of the partner companies. That is, the relationship between the companies and the start-ups will be of a customer-supplier type, which will provide them with actual billing with a large customer as well as top level references and access to new markets and distribution channels.
Furthermore, the Basque Technology Parks and the Business Innovation Centres will provide the entrepreneurs with working environments and spaces to carry out their projects as well as access to training, mentoring and financial aid.
The partner companies which participate in BIND 4.0 and host the selected startups will have the opportunity to track, identify and engage talent, solutions and technology from the Basque Country and from abroad to improve their competitiveness and position them at the forefront of the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution or Industry 4.0.
The registration period to enter the project selection process started on the day the BIND 4.0 was presented (6 July). The list of the selected startups will be published on 31 October and they will develop their projects in collaboration with the companies over the following 24 weeks; from 14 November to 12 May. The terms and conditions of the programme can be found from last 6 July at the website www.bind40.com.
