Rafael Nadal and Telefónica Open Future are teaming up to support tech entrepreneurs.
The tennis star is calling upon startups that can provide services for the athletes and students at the Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar, including eHealth, audiovisual content, media and smart management with a focus on training and sports spaces.
Companies can take part in an initiative that started on Tuesday and extends to Feb. 15, 2017 when five startups will be chosen to introduce their projects to Nadal in private and be eligible for investment, acceleration or workspace. The investment could come from Wayra, Telefónica’s startup accelerator.
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“We want to extend (Nadal’s) principles to the entrepreneur ecosystem,” Open Future director Ana Segurado told reporters in Spanish.
“(Nadal’s) know-how will help to find the most innovative projects for sports world.”
Open Future supports entrepreneurial talent worldwide and aims to turn ideas into businesses. At the announcement, five startups made pitches that could help those training at Nadal’s academy.
From The Bench is a sports games development company that creates apps and has licenses with top soccer teams, the NBA, the Major League Baseball Players Association and NFL Players Association.
Vilynx can process video and enable sharing.
Gamelearn provides video game-based learning platforms.
Upclose enables users to broadcast live videos using a smartphone app.
Made of Genes has an online platform for genomic data.
.@RafaelNadal at Wayra Madrid. Great pleasure! #RafaNadalEmprende pic.twitter.com/HKLvxpayXt
— Telefónica OF_ (@OpenFuture_) November 29, 2016