Valencia, 28 October 2022.- Opentop, Valenciaport’s open innovation hub, today opens the call for its 1st Startup Acceleration Program with the launch of four more challenges related to the port logistics sector.

This initiative, led by the Fundación Valenciaport with the support of Telefónica Open Future, is currently running an incubation program with 5 startups that are developing their projects to solve port logistics challenges proposed by different partners in the sector.

Now, Opentop is once again opening its doors to attract early stage technology startups that have made their first sales or have a minimum viable product and a scalable business model to solve the challenges posed. The call will remain open until December 4.

The initiative seeks solutions that meet the challenges to access an acceleration program that will begin in January and will last for 6 months. The Port Authority of Valencia and Boluda Corporación Marítima have proposed two of the four challenges of this call, completed with two other challenges “Opentop”.

Boluda aims to reduce the carbon footprint of its operations by minimizing investment risk. For its part, the Port Authority of Valencia wants to be able to predict daily port traffic based on the application of digital technologies, integrating data from multiple sources. Opentop, with the first of the two challenges it is launching, is looking for startups with solutions to predict the time that each container will remain in the port, while its second challenge is aimed at the automatic planning of the activities of the parties involved in maritime-terrestrial intermodality.

The projects registered in this call will be evaluated in different areas by a committee of experts who will make a first pre-selection among the candidates. Those startups that pass this first cut will present their projects at a Pitch Day on December 21 before a professional jury made up of specialists in entrepreneurship and in the logistics-port sector.

During the 6 months of the acceleration program, the startups selected after the Pitch Day will have access to the cluster of companies of the Port of Valencia and sources of funding, strategic connections with potential partners, networking and mentoring of high value, with specific personalized support in areas of business, communication, sales, media impact, etc., everything necessary to enhance the growth of the business project.

It will also provide accelerated companies with the Telefónica Open Future investment ecosystem to expand financing options, as well as access to the Port of Valencia business cluster to create synergies and validate their projects.

The rules of the call, the detailed description of the challenges, and the registration form are available through the web: https://opentop.es/acceleration-call/