The director of the Igape, Covadonga Toca, together with the startups selected in the sixth edition of the Business Factory Aero (BFAero) and the driving companies, held a working meeting in the Cidade da Cultura that allowed to detect needs and open new avenues of collaboration.
In addition, during the meeting, representatives of the companies Airbus, Avincis, Telespazio y la UTE Aertec-Tecnobit that are part of the ecosystem, explained the challenges faced by the sector and the lines of innovation in which they focus their resources, with the aim of studying possible synergies with the startups.
The sixth edition of the BFAero, a program promoted by the Xunta de Galicia to support entrepreneurship in the aerospace, aeronautics and unmanned vehicles sector, will promote 12 projects. In the incubation phase, C5 Airtech, DroneSilencer, PLENO GmbH y 3Top have started their formation. In the acceleration phase the proposals of Dronomy, Slimop Spacce, BirdStrikeDrone, Next Generation Airtpirt Solutions and Valar Space and, in the consolidation phase, Kreios Space, Vig-Seg Drone and Arzeos Aircraf.
Covadonga Toca in a moment of her speech.
Support for startups and strategic projects
Covadonga Toca presented the services of the Galician Economic Office, an agile and personalized point of contact that offers specialized technical attention, operational support and strategic accompaniment in an environment of proximity and trust, especially useful for highly innovative sectors such as aerospace.
Likewise, the director of Igape explained the main lines of support activated this year by the Institute, highlighting the programs aimed at startups, direct loans for strategic projects, support for digital transformation and new tools to promote the international expansion of Galician companies.
The day concluded with a networking space in which representatives of the startups were able to share their proposals and concerns with Igape managers and companies in the sector.
BFAero’s impact
The BFAero, best accelerator in Spain for the second consecutive year, has demonstrated in these years a strong economic as well as industrial impact in Galicia. Since its launch in 2018, it supported 46 projects, contributing to the creation of 11 new technology companies, mobilizing more than 7.5 million euros in investment, and facilitating the creation of more than 220 skilled jobs. The sixth edition closed the call with a record 110 registered initiatives, 57% of which came from national and international entrepreneurs.
Galicia is thus consolidated as one of the main innovation hubs in the aerospace sector in Spain, with a dynamic ecosystem that integrates more than 55 public and private entities, all of them united to promote technological solutions that respond to the challenges of the industry and society.