Anjana Data analyses her experience on the Beaz Acceleration Programme

As we told you a few months ago in the previous issue of the article, last year Anjana Data was selected to be part of the Beaz Acceleration Programme,the first public-private startup accelerator in Bizkaia which is looking for innovative grassroots startups technology, with a scalable business model and in a growth phase, to accompany them in the development of their business project. The programme has come to an end and we wanted to tell you about our experience.

This high-performance programme designed and coordinated by Beaz has lasted for six months and has been developed through a business acceleration dynamics which aims to support startups such as Anjana Data through four verticals: exclusive training, expert advice, tailor-made financing and a location in B Accelerator Tower The project is a platform that facilitates access to the market and to a business network with international reach.

From Beaz we have had to suffer both companies and entrepreneurs and the mentors and teachers who have accompanied us in the Programme and here your people (Olatz Goitia, Ander Muñoz, Laura Author, Ione Nieva y Beñat Madariaga) has done a magnificent job of coordinating and juggling all the logistical aspects, scheduling complications and unforeseen events that always arose, as well as always being available for anything we might need. As our CEO points out, Mario de Francisco, Beaz and his people are a key part of all this and what they bring to the participating companies as well as what they are doing for the Bizkaia ecosystem is invaluable“.

Anjana Data was one of the five selected companies (out of almost 100 that applied) to take part in the programme «because they are at an ideal moment of opportunity to accelerate the proposed growth project», according to the Programme's Admission Committee. From the start of the programme until last March, the Anjana Data promotion team has been able to share experiences and work space in the Bizkaia Tower in Bilbao with the other four selected companies: Alterity, Fisify, Innomy y Legit Health.

From the outset, the programme has been focused on adapting to the needs of the specific needs of each of the companies that have participated, defining a action plan to achieve the objectives set by them, with the aim of collaboration of five mentors who have supported startups in different areas of work on their way to achieving these goals:

• In terms of communication and digital we have been supported by Aletxu Echevarría, who has helped us to set short- and medium-term objectives in terms of marketing strategy for enhancing the brand image Anjana Data is committed to maintaining the essence that characterises our company, but without neglecting the concepts of creativity and innovation.
• Norberto Mugarza has helped us to review our entire industrial networking strategy, as well as our proposal for Go-To-Market and to strengthen our ecosystem creation model through partnerships and collaboration agreements. In addition, he has also been supporting us with our financing strategy, We are looking for investment and with the establishment of our activities in Bizkaia.
• With Isabel Vallejo we have been able to review those LEGAL ASPECTS that we are most concerned about or that could arise in the short term and has pushed us to consider some risks that we may have been overlooking.
• Our organisational and business models, our commercial strategy and our customer relationship model have been put on the ropes by Néstor Guerra, He has made us question many of the things we do on a daily basis out of inertia, as well as raising many fundamental questions for our growth and scalability.
• Y Mathieu Carenzo, in its role as financial advisor, It has helped us to review our turnover and cost figures and has also supported us in our entire financing strategy both in the short and medium term, preparing us to meet our current and future needs by keeping better control of our accounts.

Moreover, in Mario's own words, “all of them have been involved from the very first moment to try to help us in the best possible way, they have made us think differently, they have made us consider things from other points of view and they have also opened many doors for us”. In short, “the support of these mentors has been invaluable. for us at the moment we are in; having people of this level at your disposal is real gold for any entrepreneur and/or company that is starting out or that is in a phase of growth and expansion, as is our case”.

In addition to mentoring, the Programme has also included a section on training given by IE University for business growth, designed by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs, The aim of the programme is to provide startups with the knowledge needed to grow a business and the perspective of other founders who have faced the same challenge from different perspectives and positions. IE University's programme has been designed and led by Daniel Soriano, programme director, and Joe Haslam, academic director, and coordinated by Andrea Mallo.

Among the teachers we have had real benchmarks in their fields, They have given us their experience and shared their knowledge in a masterly way. It is not every day that you have the opportunity to share a few hours with people of the stature of: Iñigo Amoribieta, exCOO of WeAreKnitters; Javier Andrés, Founder and exCEO of Ticketea; Javier Escribano, Co-Founder and former CEO of Ontruck; Miguel Arias, Partner of KFund; Matthieu Heusch, CEO of ZubiLabs; David Bonilla, Founder of Manfred and Organiser of the TarugoConf; Diego Díaz Pilas, Head of Ventures at Iberdrola; Itxaso de Palacio, Partner at Notio Capital; Javier G. Recuenco, CFO of Singular Solving; and Joshua Novick, Managing Partner at Bondo Advisors.

Our CPO Ana Melcón together with Mario, has been fortunate to participate in this training section, which she summarises with these words: “It has been a pleasure to listen to the professionals in the training programme and to learn from them, from their knowledge, their experiences and their vision of entrepreneurship. The programme has been very enriching and has provided me with new insights that we have been able to apply both to our company and our product, and above all they have made me reflect on how to face the challenges that lie ahead but also to be able to analyse those already overcome with perspective”.

In addition, the professors have always been open to helping us beyond their class hours and we have had the opportunity to interact with many of them afterwards to look for synergies with their companies. Again, as Mario said earlier about the mentors, “having people of this level at your disposal is real gold for any entrepreneur and/or company that is starting out or that is in a phase of growth and expansion, as in our case”.

All this has been developed in B Accelerator Tower, a internationally connected ecosystem where all actors interact to implement innovative solutions and new technology-intensive projects. BAT responds to an unprecedented model in the field of international advanced entrepreneurship.; The centre is a public initiative of the Provincial Council of Bizkaia and the City Council of Bilbao.

In fact, a multitude of events and forums are organised in this same space, aimed at both training and the dissemination of knowledge and the creation of ecosystems. In this context, last week we participated in a Investment Forum organised by Beaz where we had the opportunity to tell our project to several potential investors. In this case, our CTO Oscar Santiago was in charge of making the pitch and talking to the potential investors and, according to him, “the forum, besides being interesting and entertaining, was a great success. However, this is just a sample of what Beaz is doing to bring companies closer to investors and to how an ecosystem can be created with simple actions that bring the right people together”.

Anjana Data has been proud to participate in such an innovative and disruptive business accelerator programme as the Beaz Acceleration Programme and we hope to be able to contribute our grain of sand to the ecosystem as well as to support the participating companies in future editions with our experience. In this sense, Mario described Bizkaia as “a a growing innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem with a clear focus on Europe”Thanks to the design of programmes such as the Beaz Acceleration Program, which act as a lever to accelerate the growth of the technological development ecosystem that is being forged in the territory of Bizkaia.