As part of its commitment to innovation, digital transformation, and digital and entrepreneurial talent, CaixaBank will be heavily involved at MWC Barcelona and 4YFN, which will be held in Barcelona from 26 to 29 February. The bank, which is a supporter of Mobile World Capital Barcelona and main sponsor of 4YFN, will once again actively participate in this leading and influential event in the technology sector.
As part of MWC Barcelona, this year will also feature the first edition of the Talent Arena, a space dedicated exclusively to digital, junior, and professional talent, with the CaixaBank Group as the main partner. The event, promoted by MWCapital, GSMA, the Government of Catalonia, and Barcelona City Council, aims to position the city of Barcelona as a global training hub for digital talent and to promote networking within the technology sector, bringing qualified professionals closer to a dynamic digital industry. CaixaBank will have a presence in this space geared towards attracting talent, where the public will be able to experiment with technological gadgets and enjoy workshops, talks, mini training sessions, and round tables, among other activities.
- CaixaBank Tech, CaixaBank's technology subsidiary that brings together the financial group's specialised technology and systems teams, will organise a visual thinking workshop "Learn to Think in Images!", with Ana Fernández and Sonia Fernández (CaixaBank Tech). Monday 26 from 9:30 to 11:30 in the Talent Arena ring.
- “Software 2.0 in 2024: Tools, models, and frameworks based on AI” round table with Rosa Martínez (CaixaBank Tech), Bea Domench (Lufthansa), Gonzalo Goñi (SalesForce), and Laura Gil (Damm). Tuesday 27 at 11:30
- “Simplify complex development ecosystems: unleash unconditional productivity with Ruby on Rails” round table with Óscar Pérez (CaixaBank Tech), Carlos Valle (Wolters Kluwer), and Sergio González (HP). Wednesday 28 at 12.30
- The bank will participate in a hackathon, to be held on 27 and 28 February. A practical use case will be created as part of this activity, which will allow participants to explore the potential of Open Gateway APIs (open APIs with code that facilitates and logs communications between two or more applications) through creativity, collaboration, and a commitment to continuous learning, with the guidance and help of CaixaBank Group employees.
- As part of its commitment to inclusion, CaixaBank, together with MWCapital, will offer a guided tour of the MWC Barcelona and 4YFN facilities aimed at people at risk of social exclusion who, in addition to exploring the event's main new features, will participate in a cybersecurity workshop, entitled "Anti-cyber villains", which will be offered especially for this group in the Talent Arena space. The aim of the workshop is for participants, most of whom have limited access to technology, to learn how to detect and combat cyber-attacks such as phishing, malware, or vishing. Workshop on Thursday 29 at 12:45
Spaces to connect with technology companies and investors
CaixaBank, through its division specialising in technology companies and their investors, DayOne, will have its own stand at 4YFN. In addition, the bank has organised an extensive programme of activities, which will take place in its own debate space located within the CaixaBank DayOne stand, where over 150 top-level speakers will take part in the more than 40 sessions.
The programme is being organised in partnership with the professional teams belonging to the bank's various specialised areas as well as subsidiaries of the CaixaBank Group, such as AgroBank, Business Banking, Sustainability, CaixaBank Dualiza, Human Resources with the WONNOW Awards, CaixaBank Tech, Imagín, and CaixaBank Payments & Consumer, as well as partners from the innovation ecosystem such as SpainCAP, Endeavor, Tech Barcelona, and AEBAN.
Some of the topics of the sessions organised by CaixaBank DayOne at its stand during MWC Barcelona and 4YFN include: ‘How to raise a first round of investment in an uncertain environment’, ‘different but complementary technology ecosystems’, ‘use cases in sustainable fashion’, ‘the move from online to offline for digital native brands’ and ‘challenges and opportunities for entrepreneurship outside the main technology hubs’. .
Besides the bank’s directors, experts in the ecosystem such as Susana Pastor (director of Nestlé Global IT hub), Iñaki Arrola (Kfund), Javi Fondevilla (Holded), and Azahara Espejo (director of HearstLab International), among others, will also take part in the conferences and talks organised by the bank, explaining the fundamental elements of their business models and sharing their experiences and how they have managed to grow and become a success story.
The CaixaBank DayOne stand will also house an exhibition area for startups that are customers of the bank as well as winners and finalists of the EmprendeXXI Awards. A total of 35 companies will participate in this initiative.
PEXXI: recognising the leading companies of tomorrow
To contribute to the development of young, innovative companies with high growth potential, every year since its creation in 2007, the bank has presented the EmprendeXXI Awards.
As part of 4YFN, the regional phase of these awards will start, recognising the startups with the greatest potential in their region and which may become the future leaders within the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Now in their 17th year, these awards have established themselves as prestigious accolades in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
The winning startup will be announced on 27 February in Catalonia. These awards are co-sponsored by the Ministry of Industry and Tourism, through Enisa, and in Catalonia they have the support of Barcelona Activa, Tech Barcelona, and Acció.
The awards ceremony will take place on Tuesday 27 February at the DayOne stand at midday.
Over 40 content sessions with 150 speakers
On the 4YFN ágora stage, the bank is organising two sessions:
- Imagín, the digital service and lifestyle platform promoted by CaixaBank, is organising a session on its sustainable entrepreneurship programme "imaginPlanet Challenge: Youth Entrepreneurship Programme Tackling Climate Change", with Anna Canela (Imagín), Xavier Terradellas (Imagine Creativity Center), and two of the winners of previous editions of the programme: Anna Martín (Atom) and Patrick Lokkegaard (ecoDeliver). Monday 26 February at 11:30 on the ágora stage at 4YFN.
- CaixaBank DayOne, Endeavor, and SpainCAP are organising the session: “The signs of Maturity of Spanish VC: new strategies and players”, with Sonia Fernandez (Kibo Ventures), Pablo of Muller (Capital Sum), Bernat Farrero (Itnig), and Ferrán Prieto (Gasol Ventures). Tuesday 27 February at 15:00 on the ágora stage at 4YFN.
In addition, the CaixaBank DayOne stand will host over 40 content sessions, such as:
- "Pitch Startups", each day there will be a pitching session so that the startups exhibiting at the stand can present their project to investors and attendees at the event.
- “Business collaboration – startups: CaixaBank’s bet on sustainability and innovation”, with the participation of Francisco Benedito (ClimateTrade), Paloma Martin (Hoopcarpool) and Beltrán Aznar (Clevergy). Monday 26 February at 11:00
- "The move from online to offline for digital native brands", with Pd Paola, Alohas, Cocunat, and Barner. Monday 26 February at 17:00.
- "Challenges and opportunities of entrepreneurship outside the main technology hubs", with LleidaNET, FundCraft, and Ebredrone. Tuesday 27 February at 10:30.
- “How do you make a good use of dry powder accumulated following the hard stop in 2023?”, with Daniel Sanchez (Nauta), Elena Rico (Impact Partners Iberica) and Sonia Fernandez (Kibo Ventures). Tuesday 27 February at 10:00.
- "Barcelona Health Hub (the hospitals' journey towards health 5.0), with Mediktor Docline and Hospital del Mar. Wednesday 28 February at 10:00.
- AgroBank Tech Digital INNovation Event "Welcome Startups", featuring three of the startups selected in the first edition of the programme and the presentation of the results of the programme's second edition. Wednesday 28 February at 12:00.
- “Sportech: between research and athletes", with Kmleon and Fixtoe. Wednesday 28 February at 16:30.
- Session organised in partnership with Microsoft: "Driving generative AI to enhance user experience and service quality", with Daniel Pérez (CaixaBank Tech), Víctor Fontecha (Microsoft), and David Hurtado (Microsoft). Thursday 29 February at 12:00.
See the full schedule here.
