- The platform promotes ideas and projects with a technological or digital component and a positive direct impact on rural areas
- Elewit and Hispasat will support the launch of the best projects, for which Ruralizable guarantees free attendance at the South Summit 2022
- The deadline for submitting applications is March 30
Ruralizable is an initiative of the Los18.org group, which counts with the additional support of the Red Eléctrica Group, aimed at contributing to the revitalization of rural Spain and reversing the country’s depopulation, which affects three out of four municipalities. Besides collaborating economically, the company offers the participants professionals from its subsidiaries (Elewit and Hispasat), with extensive expertise in entrepreneurship and innovation, to offer them mentorships that help them shape their projects. Likewise, both companies will analyse the participating ideas and projects to assess whether they have an impact on any of their verticals of interest and offer them the possibility of developing pilot projects within that frame, in a real-life context.
“Supporting those who look to the rural environment to develop their business ideas is a fundamental tool for the economic and social revitalization of depopulated areas and, therefore, for the rebalancing between the urban and the rural. If we are also talking about innovative projects that incorporate technology or digitization into their business models, such as the Internet of Things or Artificial Intelligence, then we will be contributing to the necessary digital transformation of a large part of the country's productive sectors", says Antonio Calvo Roy, Director of Sustainability of the Red Eléctrica Group.
“Ruralizable wants to be a bridge between entrepreneurs who work in rural areas and the main entrepreneurial ecosystems, where opportunities connect with resources. This year, in addition, we will try to align their businesses with local and national strategic plans, for them to be able to access European financing", explains Javier Haroun, from Ruralizable, referring to the European Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027 and the Next Generation funds, which generate a volume of investment in Spain similar to that experienced during the 1980s and 1990s.
Fifteen days of access to mentoring and assistance at the South Summit 2022
Ruralizable is aimed at projects at the initial stage or with a certain leverage and is especially committed to projects which generate the greatest positive impact -social and/or environmental- in rural Spain, provide innovation, can be easily transferred to different contexts, and contribute to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.
The call, which is open until March 30, will select 60 ideas or projects that will receive mentoring for 15 days by professionals with extensive expertise in innovation and entrepreneurship. Subsequently, on April 23, they will compete in a hackaton in digital format, in which a specialized jury will choose between 30 and 40 projects. For the latter, the platform has reserved free attendance at the South Summit 2022, the main entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem in the country, and one of the most relevant at global level.
"Ruralizable represented a great opportunity for Ventum, thanks to them we managed to meet other companies and proposals in the sector, with whom we can collaborate and provide differ-ent perspectives and solutions to problems in unpopulated areas, and better understand their needs. In addition, the event was a magnificent opportunity to present ourselves and a gate-way to the entry of investors and both public and private financing. In short, we would repeat without any doubt".
Miguel Ángel Morales Piñero, development engineer at Ventum Innovation, dedicated to the management and control of farms in real time.
"It is exciting to see how all these brilliant ideas connect with the SDG-11 and contribute to im-proving the emptied Spain".
David Espeso, CEO of Yhood, an aggregator of local stores.
“We have taken a small step forward by understanding that, thanks to the SDGs, we can gener-ate change in the short, medium and long term”.
Javier Olmedo, CEO of Geko Navast, enterprise specialized in innovation based on satellite navigation technologies.
“Ruralizable has helped us to visualize our initiative at a national level and to obtain many con-tacts of interest for the development of our initiative. It was a pleasure and our good luck to participate in your hackaton”.
Elio López Garcia, CEO of Innogando, a start-up that applies tech-nology to improve the profitability of livestock farms and the quality of life of their owners.