BIND 4.0

BIND 4.0 is an Open Innovation Platform led by the Basque Government and SPRI Group. It has the collaboration of 57 leading industrial companies based in the Basque Country and is aimed at startups from all over the world that apply disruptive technological solutions such as robotics, IoT, Big Data, additive manufacturing, or augmented reality to industrial, energy, health, and food chain organizations.

BIND 4.0 is looking for the best technological projects from startups, with the aim of fulfilling a dual objective. On the one hand, helping large companies accelerate innovation and boosting and improving their competitiveness through collaboration with startups, as a source of agile and efficient innovation. And, on the other hand, for startups to accelerate their arrival on the market in the hands of large international benchmark companies with direct access to the Basque industrial ecosystem.

BENEFITS AND FEATURES OF THE PROGRAM

The acceleration program has an annual call in which participating startups will get at least one paid contract for the development of one or more pilot projects with BIND 4.0 partner companies. And that is not all, the selected startups also get the following:

• Participate in networking activities with the driving companies and public agents to facilitate the immersion of startups in the industrial ecosystem.
• They have a mentoring service provided by world-class professionals, as well as a complete training program for the development of the skills and abilities needed to succeed in the industrial field.
• They have access to different sources of funding and economic aid, as well as free workspace in the BICs (Business and Innovation Centers) of the Basque Country.
• They will present their projects to the Venture Club, an investors’ club, aligned with the specialization of the accelerator, whose aim is to reinforce support services and promote contact between participating start-ups and specialized investment entities.

5 YEARS, 130 PROJECTS

BIND 4.0 is now in its fifth edition and, since its creation, has accelerated more than 130 startups and promoted the development of more than 200 projects, with a turnover of more than €6.5 million. This public-private initiative of the Department of Economic Development, Sustainability and Environment, which is managed through the SPRI Group and its UpEuskadi platform of the Basque entrepreneurship ecosystem, has become a benchmark for open innovation and acceleration of Industry 4.0 worldwide.

The platform has been selected as the winner of the 14th edition of the European Business Promotion Awards, organized by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for the Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, in the category of improving the business environment. And it was one of the platforms selected by the international consultancy firm Gartner to drive innovation in industrial ecosystems.