WAYRA DATA INTELLIGENCE REPORT

4TH GLOBAL CALL ANALYSIS

Wayra is Telefnicas startup accelerator. Its objective is to
capture, at an early stage, digital projects with enough
potential to transform the emerging digital industries.
Wayra provides seed-funding;, world class coaching and
mentoring, an incredible workspace, a global network of
fellow entrepreneurs, fast-track access to future funding
and the potential to unlock the power of Telefnicas
customers globally.
Every year Wayra makes 3 calls for startups to present
their projects, usually focusing on certain industries or
technologies, though not exclusively. These projects go
through an evaluation process that ends with the
selection of the startups that will be funded and
accelerated. This acceleration journey lasts between 6
and 8 months and when the startup leaves the academy,
a free spot is available in the next call for other startups to
apply.

REPORT BASICS
Application window: From January
to February, 2014

!
!
!

Total submissions received: 2,113

Total spots offered in this call: 52
Final admission rate: 3%

This report is an analysis of the projects that submitted

their application in the first call of 2014, during January
and February when 52 sports were offered for 7 Wayra
Spaces (Barcelona, Bogot, Buenos Aires, Caracas,
London, Madrid and Prague): their characteristics, which
of them went through in the evaluation process and the
criteria used to make that selection.
The information analysed here comes from the forms
filled in by the startups when they apply to Wayra and
additional data requested from the companies when the
projects went through to the pre-selection stage.

Last updated: May 2014. This report was made by the Wayra Data fans: Jos Luis Nuez (Raw data, insights, preliminary analysis), Gloria Shaw (Data
analysis, charts, copywriting) and Yamil Salinas Martnez (Editor, story, mapping)

THE RACE TO THE TOP

- FOUNDERS WHO HAD APPLIED BEFORE GET MORE CHANCES TO GET SELECTED
Wayra launched the call encouraging startups to submit their projects on January 2014. After a fourweek application phase Telefnica personnel and independent members of the entrepreneurial
ecosystem assessed the projects, taking into account the characteristics of the founding team, their
commitment, the potential, business opportunity and innovative component of the product. The
selection process which projects went through was as follows.

APPLICATION
Startups submit their project by filling in a form online detailing
their products and characteristics of the team. These
applications can also be called submissions.

SCREENING
A network of +1,800 Telefnica experts in different areas evaluate the projects
that submitted a complete application form. Each application is reviewed by 3
to 5 members of this network following homogeneous criteria, including timing
and opportunity, global-scalable focus and a solid and committed team.
The highest-graded submissions are selected to go through to the next phase,
with the assurance that there is a right balance between projects of different
industries, maturity stages and the possibility of obtaining third-party
investment.
Up to this point the process lasts 3 weeks and whether they are selected or
not, all teams will receive valuable feedback on the project and the process.

ASSESSMENT (PRESELECTED)
Wayra staff and Telefnica experts interview the founders that were selected in the
preview stage (between 3 and 5 per spot) to identify the challenges and risks that the
project will have to face and address queries that were not answered in the written
documentation. The assessment also includes an HR screening for skills and
compatibilities. The applications that reach this stage are called preselected.

WAYRA FINALS
The final bidders will be invited to pitch their projects to the Wayra Selection Panel, comprised of
independent, relevant members from the entrepreneurial and investor ecosystem (business
angels, venture capital practitioners, successful entrepreneurs, etc). The WAYRA Selection Panel
will select the winning projects that will enter the WAYRA space.

SELECTED!
The higher-potential projects selected to be Wayra funded must sign the WAYRA Agreement,
detailing the terms of the investment and legal requirements and then start their acceleration journey!

LETS DIVE INTO THE FUNNEL

- ONLY 3% OF PROJECTS SUBMITTED WAS SELECTED BY A WAYRA ACADEMY
- FIRST SCREENING STAGE, THE HARDEST TO BEAT
At the end of last April, the selection of the call ended resulting in 37 startups being picked to
enter our academies and take our acceleration program. The final selection went as follows:
Barcelona (5), Bogot (8), Buenos Aires (1), Caracas (3), London (7), Madrid (5) and Prague
(8).
The first filter is the hardest one to beat: only 10% went through the initial assessment stage.
On the other hand the ones that got there then had much better chances because one out
of two were able to pitch their project to important members of each local entrepreneurial
ecosystem. But the bottom line is that only 3% of the projects that applied get finally
selected.

2113

APPLICATIONS
PASSES

10%

213

PRESELECTED
PASSES

55%

108

FINALISTS
PASSES

35%

3%

GLOBAL A

DMISSIO
N
RATE

37

SELECTED
This report focuses on the characteristics of the applications and preselected projects
because they enable the common traits to be understood. The ones that go through to the
final and get selected depend not only on the characteristics studied in this report but also on
the specifics of the project or idea.

A FEW LUCKY ONES

- HOW HARD IS IT TO GET INTO WAYRA? CHECK OUT!
The demand for acceleration is much higher than
the spots available, so Wayra chooses the best.
The Wayra Spaces with most applications were
Bogot, Madrid and Barcelona. But due to the
amount of spots available in each city, in this call
it was twice as hard to get a place in Latin
America, where there were 60 applications for
every spot, than in Europe, where there were 30
per spot. Argentina, with only two spots available,
received 256 applications. Bogot, London and
Madrid also exceeded the 40 applications per
spot average.

LATIN
AMERICA
EUROPE

SUBMISSIONS PER SPOT AVAILABLE

(AVG, BY REGION)

WHERE ARE THE SUBMISSIONS

COMING FROM?

Check live map here:

http://cdb.io/1jcE7DT

BUENOS AIRES
12%

MADRID
23%

CARACAS
7%
SUBMISSIONS RECEIVED
(BY ACADEMIES)

60
30

LONDON
7% PRAGUE
7%

BOGOTA
31%

13
PRG

26

28

BCN

CCS

42

50

MAD

LON

BARCELONA
13%

128
66

BOG

BUE

SUBMISSIONS PER SPOT AVAILABLE

(BY ACADEMIES)

One of the conditions to

get into Wayra is to
register the company and
reside, during the
acceleration program, in
one of the cities that have
a Wayra Academy.
Nevertheless, applicants
nationality is highly
diversified. As expected,
most applications come
from countries in which
Wayra has a presence but
there are many others, like
Slovakia, Slovenia,
Bulgaria, United States or
India, just to name a few.

THEYRE ALL GROWN UPS

- SUBMISSIONS TEND TO BE MORE MATURE, ONLY 3 OUT OF 10 ARE AT IDEA STAGE
- 58% OF PRE-SELECTED PROJECTS HAD LAUNCHED A BETA OF THEIR PRODUCT
SELECTION RATIO
As time goes by, startups applying
to Wayra have grown in maturity and
this has raised the bar: 58% of the
pre-selected projects have at least a
beta with customers or users.

COMMERCIAL STAGE

18%

PRE-COMMERCIAL STAGE

24%

As shown in the chart, the chance of

being selected grows along with the
maturity of the product: only one out
of twenty projects that are just an
idea are selected while a product
that has been already launched has
one chance out of four.

MVP STAGE
IDEA-ONLY STAGE

23%

1 OUT OF 4

35%

1 OUT OF 7

34%

1 OUT OF 10

8%

1 OUT OF 20

27%

31%
SUBMITTED

PRE-SELECTED

ARE THERE ANY REGIONAL DIFFERENCES RELATED TO MATURITY OF PROJECTS?

25%
9%

33%

33%
EUROPE

12%
41%

8%
39%

LATIN AMERICA

COMMERCIAL STAGE

MVP STAGE

IDEA-ONLY STAGE

PRE-COMMERCIAL STAGE

The distribution of the maturity of the

projects that applied in Latin America
and Europe is very similar. But
differences emerge at the preselection
stage, as shown in the left.
The percentage of applications
preselected that have already been
commercially launched is two times
higher in Europe than in Latin America,
where the difference is split between
projects with an MVP and a precommercial beta.

WHAT ABOUT THE EXPECTED TIME TO MARKET?

Most of the preselected products have already
been launched or will be in the next six months.
That's pretty good.

ALREADY

Although, at the time of pre-selecting projects,

LAUNCHED
Latin American academies tend to pick them
mostly within 6 months of time to market, whereas 6 MONTHS
Europe chooses more projects already launched
TO 1 YEAR
or within 6 months to 1 year of development.

PRE-SELECTED EUROPE

PRE-SELECTED LATIN AMERICA

51%

LESS THAN
6 MONTHS

FROM 1 TO
2 YEARS

24%
17%
21%
10%
4%
0%

73%

TECHIES HAVE ALL THE ADVANTAGE

- NEW TECH OR DEVICES, THE MOST SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS GETTING INTO WAYRA
- EUROPE PICKS MORE TECH-INTENSIVE PROJECTS THAN LATIN AMERICA
NEW DEVICE/COMPONENT
NEW TECH (MAYBE IPR)
TECH IS KEY
LEVERAGING
ON EXISTING TECH
NOT UPGRADED TECH

4%

12%
8%
16%
16%
9%

PRE-SELECTED

37%

EUROPE

The proportion of projects

preselected for new devices or
components and for not
upgraded technology is the
same. But the big difference relies
on the amount of submissions
received in each category.

9%

54%
54%

18%

SUBMISSIONS

There are fewer projects that

present a new device or
component, and Wayra loves them
so they have a 1-in-3 chance of
getting in, while
the projects with not upgraded
technology have only 1 in 11.

HOW REGIONS
ARE PRE-SELECTING?
63%

MORE TECH INTENSIVE

23%
LATIN
AMERICA

77%

LESS TECH INTENSIVE

In Latin America the business opportunities already proven in other parts of the world are important
enough for Wayra to take a chance on them. However in Europe, where the market is more mature,
differentiation is of the greatest importance and the easiest way of doing it is through technology. That
is why in this region there is a bigger proportion of projects preselected where Tech is Key.
Projects that use or are developing new or specific technologies are more highly appreciated and have
five times more chances of being preselected rather than other developing basic web technologies.

HOT OR NOT?

HOTTER PRODUCTS HAVE MORE CHANCES

TO GET INTO WAYRA

OPEN HARDWARE 1 OUT OF 4

SOFTWARE (NOT WEB) 1 OUT OF 4
M2M - SENSORS - IoT 1 OUT OF 5

VS

WEB APPLICATIONS 1 OUT OF 15

TOP 10 INDUSTRIES
- IT SERVICES, SHOPPING EXPERIENCE, COMMUNICATIONS AND EDUCATION
- EMERGING OR NICHE INDUSTRIES HAVE MORE CHANCES TO BE SELECTED
Both regions had similar behaviour in relation to
the number of applications per industry. But
there are some differences:
Business areas like Real Estate, Logistics,
Shopping Experience and Fashion are more
present in Latin America; and Europe had
received more submissions in industries like
Travel, Communications & Connectivity and eHealth.

WHICH WERE THE INDUSTRIES THAT HAD

MORE CHANCES OF GOING THROUGH?
ENERGY
SURVEILLANCE
MUSIC & VIDEO
TRAVEL
SOFTWARE
WELLNESS
E-HEALTH

1 OUT OF 3
1 OUT OF 3
1 OUT OF 3
1 OUT OF 4
1 OUT OF 4
1 OUT OF 4
1 OUT OF 4

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

IT SERVICES & PLATFORMS 10%

SHOPPING EXPERIENCE 8%
COMMUNICATIONS & CONNECTIVITY 7%
EDUCATION 6%
SOCIAL INNOVATION 5%
TRAVEL 4%
E-HEALTH 4%
ADVERTISING 4%
CONSUMER WEB 4%
SOFTWARE 4% / SMART CITIES 4%

On the top right corner is the list of the main

industries to which the preselected projects
belonged. But some of them have that place due to
the amount of applications received rather than for
special interest in that category. This was the case of
Communications and Connectivity, for example,
where only one out of eight projects went through.
There are some industries, on the other hand, that
dont receive a lot of applications but that have more
chances of being selected due to the interest in
them. This is the case of the industries on the left.

PERSEVERE AND SUCCEED!

- FOUNDERS WHO HAD APPLIED BEFORE GET MORE CHANCES TO GET SELECTED
Wayra values consistency, and figures show that if a team stays together, either working on the
same project or even developing a new one, have better chances to get selected.

THE SAME TEAM APPLIED BEFORE WITH SAME PROJECT

THE SAME TEAM APPLIED WITH OTHER PROJECT
NEVER APPLIED BEFORE

2 OUT OF 10
2 OUT OF 10
1 OUT OF 10

Ratio of preselected
over submitted

SHOW ME THE MONEY!

- 36% OF PRE-SELECTED PROJECTS HAD ALREADY BEEN FUNDED BY 3RD PARTIES
- FUNDING NEEDS FOR NEXT YEAR BETWEEN $100 AND $500 K, FOUNDERS CLAIM
At the time of the submission process,
more than one third of the preselected
startups had some kind of external
funding and 13% had already received
more than U$100K. External funding
includes loans, grants equity and FFF
(Family, Friends and Fools).
Accelerators like Wayra consider this
funding as a proof that a third party
already has faith in the startup.This is why
those projects had twice the chance of
being preselected (1 out of 6), while the
ones that didnt have external funding
had 1 out of 12.

PRE SELECTED PROJECTS

WITH EXTERNAL
FUNDING

36%
64%
NO EXTERNAL
FUNDING

WHAT ARE THE FUNDING NEEDS FOR THE NEXT YEAR?

On average, european startups claim to require more funding than companies applying in
Latin America. This can be related to the intensity of the technology used in the projects.
More technology requires more investment.
When analysing the presence of startups in investment-oriented social networks (like Gust
or Angelist), it is remarkable that only 38% have an account where investors look for
opportunities. This is a number that should be raised to obtain better results.

LESS THAN $100K

43%
37%

$100K - $500K

7%
9%

$500K - $1M
MORE THAN $1M

53%

2%
1%

LATIN AMERICA

47%

EUROPE

ITS ALL ABOUT PEOPLE!

- FOUNDING TEAM HAS 3 MEMBERS ON AVERAGE

- MOST FOUNDERS KNOW EACH OTHER FOR MORE THAN 3 YEARS
34%
26%
17%
9%

6%

3%

2%

1%

0%

1%

10

11

Average founders team has

between 3 and 4 members
60% of the teams that applied
have the industry standard that is
between two and three members
6% have only one member,
which makes execution,
performance and supervision
harder.
34% have more than 4 founders,
which makes the decision
making process and company
operation slower

TEAM MEMBERS (FOUNDING TEAM)

HOW FOUNDERS MEET EACH OTHER? WHERE?

The founders meet mostly at work and after working together for more that two
years they decide to start a project of their own.

3 - 8 YEARS

31%

1 - 3 YEARS

26%

> 8 YEARS

25%

36%

AT WORK

17%
< 1 YEAR

TIME SPENT TOGETHER

(FOUNDING TEAM)

12%

AT COLLEGE

DEMOGRAPHIC DATA
- 33 YEARS OLD THE AVERAGE AGE OF A WAYRA PRESELECTED STARTUP FOUNDER
- 1 OUT 0F 4 STARTUP FOUNDERS IS A WOMAN

65%
17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41 43 45 47 49 51 53 55 57 59 61 63 65

AGE OF FOUNDERS

33

YEARS
OLD

The age average is the same in Latin America

and Europe
65% of the entrepreneurs are in between 23
and 36 years old.
10% of the entrepreneurs are over 46 years.

AGE AVERAGE
1 every 4 entrepreneurs is a woman.
In 52% of the teams there is at least one
woman
4% of the teams are all-female

GENDER DISTRIBUTION

TEAM & TIME COMMITMENT

- AS MATURITY GROWS, TIME COMMITMENT OF TEAM MEMBERS INCREASES
- CEOS ARE THE MOST TIME-COMMITTED TEAM MEMBERS

TIME COMMITMENT
89%

73%

EMPLOYEES

(in addition to founding team)

70%
51%

CEO

COO

CTO

OTHERS

FULL TIME COMMITMENT (BY ROLE)

3,8

3,2

3,9

3,9
3,1

2,2

2,2

MVP

BETA

1,2
IDEA

AVG MEMBERS

66%
11%
11%
4%
8%

COMMERCIAL

AVG MEMBERS WITH

FULL TIME DEDICATION

TIME COMMITMENT VS. MATURITY OF THE PRODUCT

LEGAL & EQUITY

INCORPORATED

41%

83% OF EQUITY BELONGS TO

THE FOUNDING TEAM

59%
NOT INCORPORATED

51%

AVERAGE EQUITY OF CEOS

27% AVERAGE EQUITY OF A

STARTUP FOUNDER

WHAT THEY BELIEVE IN

- THE VALUES OF A PERSON DEFINE WHAT HE/SHE BELIEVES IN AND THE WAY THEY
FACE DAILY LIFE SITUATIONS.
- A PROPER MIX OF VALUES CAN MAKE A SOLID TEAM BUT VERY DIFFERENT VALUES
IN THE SAME TEAM IS A LIKELY CAUSE OF BREAK-UP IN THE FUTURE.

FOUNDERS HAD TO CHOOSE 5 WORDS AMONG 60 THAT BEST DESCRIBE THE

WAY HE/SHE USUALLY ACTS OR BEHAVES:
TOP 10 VALUES (OVERALL)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

CREATIVITY
INNOVATION
LEARNING
HONESTY
PASSION
COMMITMENT
PERSEVERANCE
AMBITION
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
PROFESSIONALISM

TOP 5 VALUES (BY ROLE)

CEO

1. INNOVATION
2. PASSION
3. CREATIVITY
4. HONESTY
5. PERSEVERANCE

CTO

1. INNOVATION
2. CREATIVITY
3. LEARNING
4. HONESTY
5. PERSEVERANCE

COO

1. CREATIVITY
2. HONESTY
3. OPTIMISM
4. PERSEVERANCE
5. AMBITION

The top ten values voted by the entrepreneurs are a very good reflection of
what a Startup values should be. But what is more remarkable is how the role
of each of the members of the C-Suite is represented by the top five values
theyve chosen.
They share some, but what differentiates them is directly related to their role:
CEO: Passion, what is needed to lead the company and motivate the team
CTO: Learning, what is needed to keep up with the technological discoveries
COO: Optimism and Ambition, what drives the commercial team

PROFESSIONAL ORIENTATION
- THE PROFESSIONAL ORIENTATION DESCRIBES HOW THE ENTREPRENEUR REACTS
IN DIFFERENT SITUATIONS DURING HIS/HER PROFESSIONAL CAREER, HOW HE/
SHE SOLVES PROBLEMS AND HOW HE/SHE GETS TO THE GOALS.
- IN SHORT, HOW HE/SHE WORKS AS A TEAM MEMBER.

43%

32%

ACTION

PRAGMATIC

People who decide using their

intuition and learn from experience.
They need immediacy in the
execution of the actions and results.
It is a very good orientation for
CEOs.

People with this orientation find it

easy to plan projects and define
aims. It is a great orientation for
CTOs

14%

11%

PERSONAL RELATIONS

ANALYTICAL

People that feel very comfortable

with interpersonal relations and are
capable of seeing situations from
several perspectives. CEOs or
someone on the team should have
this orientation.

People eminently rational, with clear

need for understanding the reason of
things. They need theories and
abstract concepts to develop their
tasks.

When analysing Skills and Competences of entrepreneurs who applied to Wayra, it is

remarkable to notice the high rating they show in Communications and Transmission
of ideas, which will help them set ambitious goals, have a global view, inject energy
and find funding.

On the other hand, competences related to Achievement (focus, execution skills,

customer orientation and pragmatism) and Self-management (management of
uncertainty, error management, autonomy in decision making and learning capacity)
could be improved by training or mentoring during the acceleration period.

 AND WHAT ABOUT THE FUTURE?

- MOST FOUNDERS EXPECT ANNUAL REVENUES FROM 1 TO 10 MILLION DOLLARS
- 12 MONTHS IS THE MOST EXPECTED DEADLINE FOR SUCCESS

WAYRA ASKED THE ENTREPRENEURS HOW THEY SEE THEIR WORK AND
COMPANY THREE YEARS AHEAD:
81%

< 1M$

6%
40%

1M$ - 3M$
2%
1-5

5-50

29%

3M$ - 10M$

12%

5%

50-100

24%

> 10M$

+100

EXPECTED REVENUE (YEAR/DOLLARS)

EXPECTED EMPLOYEES
31%

8%

18%

24%

12%

5%
7%

9%

36%

UNTIL IT WORKS OR FAILS

9%

13%
32%

11%

38%
33%

15%

CEO

28%

23%

CTO

32%
16%

COO

EXPECTED TIME TO SUCCEED

OTHERS

24 MONTHS
18 MONTHS
12 MONTHS
6 MONTHS

THE BOTTOM LINE

After analysing the characteristics of the projects that applied to Wayra between January and
February 2014 and the ones that got preselected there are some issues to highlight.
This time it was twice as hard to get a place in Wayra in Latin America than in Europe; this is
because the number of applications was almost the same while the spots available was nearly
halved.
From the 2113 projects submitted in the last call for projects, only 3% of the companies were
chosen to be funded by Wayra, proving just how rigorous the process is.
A business acceleration programme implies going very fast and experience shows that the more
mature and developed they are, the higher the probability of being chosen and receiving financing
from Wayra. Still, there were differences in the maturity of the preselected projects within the
regions. In Latin America there were more startups in MVP or beta stage while in Europe the
number of products that were already launched grew.
However, there are always surprises to discover. In general, one out of every twenty projects
chosen was at the idea stage to be implemented during the programme.
Most of the projects submitted can be grouped into one of five industries. Projects related to
Communications & Connectivity, IT Services & Platforms, Shopping Experience, Education and
Social Innovation. However, emerging areas, such as energy, surveillance and music & video have
the best chance of being chosen, due to the particularities of the sector and that the technological
and innovative component is usually greater.
In terms of funding, 36% of applicants had received funding from third parties, like angel investors,
non-repayable grants or subsidies.
When estimating the funds required for next year, most of the Latin American startups claim to
need up to U$S100,000, but in Europe up to half a million dollars.
To sum up, the main reasons why a project is selected to be accelerated in Wayra are:

!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!

- GLOBAL MARKET OPPORTUNITY

- TECHNOLOGY IS KEY
- SHORT TIME TO MARKET
- HAVE A DEEP ANALYSIS OF COMPETITORS
- WELL-BALANCED TEAM WITH THE RIGHT AND DIVERSIFIED SKILLS
- MEMBERS OF THE TEAM FULLY COMMITTED
- PROVEN PROGRESS AND TRACTION IN RECENT MONTHS

But if a project lacks some of them or was not accepted for any reason, the team should take the
feedback received, work on it and apply again because when reapplying the chances of getting
into Wayra are greater.