Barcelona Activa hosted its first ever Barcelona Startup Weekend, which kicked off this last Friday, meticulously organized by Ellas 2.0, a growing initiative and community dedicated to cultivating technological entrepreneurship among women in Spain.
To generate the right hype, focus and motivation, Ellas 2.0 invited Isabel Arcones, founding partner of Inveready First Capital and SpainNexus, a business accelerator based out of San Francisco for up and coming Spanish tech companies looking to grow out of the Spanish market into a successful US presence.
On Friday afternoon, 66 participants pitched a total of 20 projects, which quickly slimmed down to a total of seven. Of that seven, 30% (still low) of participants were women, who led 3/7 of the final projects:
- Buy Vakili – Online store for exclusive designer products made from recycled materials.
- Coupies – Geo-localized mobile coupon platform
- Kantox – International currency exchange marketplace-mediator
- It’s Happy – Vertical wishlists
- Cirkana – Alternative mobile travel guides, with a gaming component
- Tripku – Social travel network for matching travel companions
- Shift-o-rama – Online shift scheduling & management platform with social media integration
After the Jury’s (investor panel) deliberations, the winners were…
- Tripku for most innovative
- Kantox for best team
- Shift-o-rama for overall winner
Whether these projects turn into companies with viable products is yet to be seen. More importantly, however, is the atmosphere created and the breadth of dedication these teams put into the learning experience. Ellas 2.0 is planning future Startup Weekend events in several other Spanish locations, so stay tuned.