Spain’s largest retail Bank La Caixa and ENISA have awarded the companies with the biggest growth potential with the annual entrepreneur prize EmprendedorXXI. The prize, which was a financial reward also included a series of events to help the companies accelerate their growth and expansion. Flumotion’s CEO and Co-founder Jean Noel Saunier and the other winners of the prize travelled together to the epicenter of innovation: Silicon Valley. The 20 Spanish companies had an intense week of visiting companies, networking events, investment meetings, etc.
The objective of this initiative is to analyze new markets and opportunities and to become familiarized with the US entrepreneurial area. The companies had various meetings with people from their sectors, distributors of their products and interested investors that could give them the possibility to expand their business to the US or to form strategic alliances. They also had the opportunity to meet with emblematic companies such as Google, Pfizer, Agilent Technologies and organizations such as Stanford University and the San José Biocenter. The group of winners also met up with successful Spanish entrepreneurs, such as CEO of Softonic North America Santiago Arano; Founder of Ideateca Eneko Knorr; Founder of Red Karaoke Miguel Angel Diez, who started working in Silicon Valley just two months ago; Maria Alegre, a young entrepreneur who just received a two million dollar investment for her company Chartboost; Félix González Herranz, who is attending an entrepreneur program at Stanford; José María García, in charge of new strategies for Google; Vice President of Pfizer Jaume Pons and his former colleague at Rinat, one of the laboratories bought by Pfizer, Meritxell Galindo; US biotechnology specialists Osborne Clarke and Joaquim Trias.
“This week in San Francisco has given us the opportunity to get to know an ecosystem that is unique in the world and to meet leading professionals and companies,” explains Jean Noel Saunier, CEO and Co-founder of Flumotion. “Getting first hand information from successful Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, learning about their success, challenges and best practices has been very enriching, but it also helped to demystify the access to the US market for European companies. It definitely has been a privilege to be part of this inspiring trip.”
The winners of the entrepreneur prize – EmprendedorXXI
The prize is an initiative of La Caixa and the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism. ENISA, the National Innovation Company, has 35 autonomous institutions that identifies and awards the growth of competed for the fifth edition of the award. The past five editions of the award saw 1,600 applicants and 100 companies were awarded with more than €1.3 million.
