The Lanzarote and La Graciosa Chamber of Commerce held this Thursday the "Demo Day" of Phase 2 (Despega) of the Impulsa Startup program, a pioneering initiative in the Canary Islands promoted by the Chamber of Commerce of Spain, co-financed by the European Union and the Cabildo de Lanzarote. This project is specifically designed to support the consolidation and growth of innovative entrepreneurial proposals in the island's economy.
Diversification and support for the business fabric
The opening event featured the intervention of the president of the business corporation, José Valle, who highlighted the institution's commitment to talent and the development of new companies on the islands. During his speech, Valle stressed the importance of decisively supporting innovative initiatives, highlighting their ability to generate new economic opportunities and contribute decisively to the diversification of Lanzarote's productive fabric.
Throughout this second phase of the Impulsa Startup program, participating companies completed a rigorous itinerary of specialized mentoring, adapted to their operational needs to accelerate their growth and strengthen their positioning in the current market. Likewise, through group mentoring sessions, the project leaders received strategic guidance and direct advice from prominent experts and investors linked to the national innovative ecosystem.
Award-winning projects at the "Demo Day"
The acceleration process culminated with the celebration of the "Demo Day," a public event where entrepreneurs presented in detail the evolution and viability of their initiatives to a jury of independent experts and the attending public. After an exhaustive deliberation by the evaluation committee, the project AquantIAlab, led by its CEO Pablo Peón, won the first prize of Phase 2, receiving a grant of 4,800 euros to continue promoting the development of its business activity. In this case, it is an initiative focused on a proprietary hardware and software solution for intelligent water management, in which the technical jury particularly valued its ability to automatically detect leaks or anomalies, as well as recommend or execute corrective actions based on advanced data analysis.
For its part, the recognition as a finalist project of this edition, endowed with a prize of 1,600 euros, went to the initiative Drago, promoted by its founder Diego Ruiz. This proposal, focused on a complete digital guide to access all the island's information, such as events, cinema listings, restaurants, news, sports activities, beaches, and routes, stood out notably before the program's jury for its integration of its own artificial intelligence to act as a virtual assistant, as well as for its high potential to scale the business model to other territories.
Consolidation of the island ecosystem
The Impulsa Startup program continues to consolidate itself as an indispensable support tool for projects with growth potential, facilitating access to highly specialized knowledge, key contact networks, and real development opportunities.
This initiative is financed by the Cabildo de Lanzarote and the European Union through the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), within the framework of the Education, Training, Employment, and Social Economy Program 2021–2027. #EuropaSeSiente