“The sap that feeds innovation in every corner” is a tour of the main accelerators and incubators in Spain by the newspaper ABC, based on the FUNCAS ranking. Among the initiatives highlighted, it focuses on the Business Factory Aero (BFAero), recognized for the second consecutive year as the best accelerator in the country.
Since the first edition, in 2019, through BFAero, 39 technological solutions have been developed, five companies have been set up, another eleven have been attracted to Galicia, 220 high-quality jobs have been generated and in editions 4 and 5, sales of 1.9 million euros were achieved. “The Xunta is the driving force but the management of the accelerator is in private hands. The different editions are carried out through collaboration agreements between the two. We have an incubation, acceleration and consolidation phase; depending on the project and its maturity, it enters one or another phase,” explains Isaac Rosón, director of innovation at IGAPE.
Fifty percent of the projects presented come from abroad. All have tutoring, mentoring, specialized training (both for business management and for the technical solution they propose), networking and “connection with potential clients and investors specialized in the sector,” adds Rosón. “The Xunta also provides a direct grant to develop ideas. In the incubation phase they support three projects with 40,000 euros each to develop small prototypes and validate them. In acceleration, it helps 5 projects with 60,000 euros each and in consolidation 3 projects with 30,000 euros,” stresses the IGAPE innovation director.
Currently, the BFAero promotes projects as diverse as high-precision super-light mirrors for space telescopes, biomimetic drones for bird control in airports, electric propulsion drones with hydrogen fuel cells or marine drones for water rescue operations. This Galician aeronautical ecosystem has more than 55 entities that cooperate with the aim of responding to the needs of entrepreneurs in the aerospace, aeronautics and unmanned vehicles industry.