We connect Telefónica and technological disruptors around the world

What is Wayra

Wayra connects Telefónica and technological disruptors around the world. As their preferred strategic partner, we scale them up to accelerate their business and ours. Over 100 startups from Wayra are already working with us to provide disruptive solutions to Telefónica and its customers.

Wayra offers investment and a unique and smooth interface between entrepreneurs and our network of corporates, governments and other partners, adding value to the ecosystems where we are present.

Inside Wayra. Our initiatives

Wayra: Corporate Venture Capital (CVC)


We are a CVC that invests in startups that have the capacity to generate business with Telefónica and are ready to scale. We have a unique venture-client strategy that helps startups scale globally, offering them access to Telefónica's network of 350 million customers.

We always invest hand in hand with other leading VCs and in startups that are controlled by the founders. 

Wayra Hubs


We have 7 Hubs in Europe and Latin America serving 9 countries with the aim of accompanying and supporting entrepreneurs to reach a global scale and connecting innovators with Telefónica's business units to generate joint opportunities.

Through our Wayra Hubs we invest in startups that have the capacity to generate business with Telefónica and that the impact of working with them can be significant for our clients or the company's results.

We currently have more than 400 startups in our portfolio, with more than 100 of them working with Telefónica.

Wayra Builder


With this initiative, we capitalised on the technology, talent and even the patents owned by Telefónica, to create our own startups from scratch and respond to needs for which we could not find a solution in the market. To do this, we co-invest with Business Angels, VCs and corporations, and we also have external talent with solid entrepreneurial experience. The result is pure digital startups, with global ambition and which, despite having emerged within Telefónica, operate independently, allowing us to accelerate their development and Go To Market.

Wayra Perks

Through this platform, we help Wayra entrepreneurs and startups to grow, relying on our partners and Telefónica, offering benefits and credits that represent great savings for the startup. #WeAreWayra.

Innovation drives business

We are Connected Open
Innovation

Wayra is part of Telefónica’s Connected Open Innovation family, alongside:

Open Future: Telefónica Open Future is the Regional Open Innovation Strategy of Telefonica in partnership with public and private entities. Present in more than 35 hubs worldwide we foster the development of the regional entrepreneurial ecosystems and support more than 800 startups to grow and disrupt in our network. Our goal is to decentralise and democratise entrepreneurship.

Telefónica Ventures:  Telefónica’s Corporate Venture Vehicle for strategic investments. Telefónica Ventures aims to address the big challenges facing Telco industry and create new businesses leveraging cutting edge technology. TIV invests, directly in startups or through a network of leading VC’s funds in key markets, to build strategic partners fully aligned with TEF global strategy.

Telefónica Activation Programme: Created to scale the solution of startups in the market. This programme offers exclusive and free access to new technologies in the quickest and easiest way: thanks to our APIs and the personalized support of our experts, we will help you to promote your project through Telefónica's different technological platforms at no extra cost.

We are disruptive

We believe that large companies can reinvent themselves by working hand in hand with entrepreneurs around the world, open to the outside world, to define the technology of the future.

Since 2011, our commitment to open innovation has never wavered, and that will not change. As a pioneer in corporate innovation, we understand that all companies face two choices: disrupt or be disrupted. We believe that corporates can reinvent themselves by standing shoulder to shoulder with entrepreneurs worldwide and scale them to fulfill their digital transformation by scouting, doing business and networking. We are leaders in bringing corporations and startups together to generate joint business opportunities.

We connect Telefónica with disruptors

Our activity

We have a portfolio of over 400 startups. The very best of them will have unparalleled access to our global network of 350 million customers and clients in 24 countries.

We look for technologies that can complement Telefónica’s offer or help the group be more efficient, such as IoT, Video, Big Data, AI, Cybersecurity, Fintech, Blockchain, Edge...

Through our network of hubs, we offer startups preferred access to our platforms, our technologies and our experts, so that, together, we can test new products and services and offer them to our more than 350 million customers.

Collaboration is
everything to us

In a Connected Open Innovation ecosystem it is fundamental to build strong collaborative bonds with third parties that also believe in innovation and digital transformation. This way we maximize our joint efforts in scaling startups.

We have vast experience in playing the corporate-startup collaboration game. We succeeded, failed, learned and stood up again. Gain your competitive advantage through our learnings.

We are partners with over 100 companies and institutions to improve Open Innovation practices and develop verticalized programs.

Together, we will define the world of tomorrow

We support female
entrepreneurs

At Telefónica, we are no strangers to the lack of diversity in the tech sector, although, as we have witnessed in our day-to-day business, diverse companies are more successful. Therefore, we are committed to women’s entrepreneurship as a transforming tool that enables us to create a fairer, more equal society.

20% of our portfolio has women in senior management positions (70% CEOs or founders). Diverse startups are 50% less likely to fail.