The big Munich accelerator Wayra repositioned itself last year. The revised strategy is also due to the new managing director, Christian Lindener, who took over Wayra in 2017. We spoke with him about the new business model, the integration of startups into corporates, and the new resident program at Wayra.
Wayra restructured itself last year. What exactly has changed?
Wayra used to invest in startups first and then try to integrate them into corporations. That didn't work out well. There were various companies with which we later couldn't collaborate. We now approach large companies much earlier in the process, first looking at the technology fields and the solutions needed, and then searching globally for startups that offer the missing technology. So we've completely reversed the process. We only invest in the best, and when we invest, we invest big. Wayra only invests in teams that we can massively scale, beyond Germany to Spain, the UK, and the other eight Wayras around the world. That's also what we've been doing for the last two and a half years. 40 of the young companies we've supported have achieved 100 percent growth year after year and more than 1 million euros in revenue per year.
New strategy at Wayra
So Wayra's offering is no longer aimed at startups in the early stages, but at those that are already much further along?
That's right. When it comes to supporting startups that are just starting out, UnternehmerTUM, the CDTM and that LMU EC an excellent job. We only get involved when they have Exist Founder's Grant We then invest up to half a million euros, bring other investors on board, have Telefónica as a customer, and scale them across the platforms, the national subsidiaries, and ideally over 350 million customers worldwide. Then they become really big. Well-known examples are E-bot7, Conntac, Relayr and Foodora.
So you no longer provide the startups with office space and initial support, but offer them the opportunity to work with a large company like Telefónica to work together?
Exactly, and thus also with 49 million customers in Germany and 350 million worldwide. And they can access our audio, video, data, and AI platforms. All of this is accessible via Open APIs and a huge asset for startups. We only work with startups in the areas of IoT, advanced data analytics, or enterprise AI. And almost exclusively with B2B startups, with a few B2C startups. Because that's a different and lengthy business.
How startups are integrated into corporates
How does Wayra successfully integrate startups into corporates?
In a corporation, the same factors always block innovation: people, processes, and legacy technology architectures. We saw that we could give Telefónica as many startups as we wanted. If there's no one on the other side to take them on, it's pointless, costs time and money, and creates frustration on both sides. Besides, if there aren't clean, functional, and fast interfaces, you can forget about it. So we went through all the processes, built interfaces, and found the right people. We set up an intrapreneurship program. Because we said you have to infiltrate the company to bring in startups. Now all our processes only take 30 days. We also teach the startups how to make a B2B enterprise pitch. Because that's obviously very different from an investor pitch or an event pitch. They simply want to see completely different things.
And what has been the most successful collaboration between a startup and Telefónica so far?
One of the biggest successes is E-bot7, another well-known team from Munich. They were also based here in the office for a long time until they simply outgrew it. Now they're based over at Odeonsplatz. And Conntac, a team from Augsburg. They started out as three hustlers, but now they're also a large team, and the company is worth a lot more, offering its services not only in Germany but also in other countries within the Telefónica universe.
What does Telefónica gain from working with startups?
Last year, Telefónica, among other things, generated double-digit millions in additional revenue through startups. We are now also offering the program we successfully developed for Telefónica as a service to other corporates. And collaborating with startups gives us the ultimate access to innovation. Anyone who doesn't see startups as part of their digital transformation today has essentially already lost. Added to that are the benefits of experimenting with new ideas, cost-effective learning, and speed—the ability to implement innovations quickly. Implementing an innovation project within a corporation often takes years. We can do it with startups in just a few months.
The new resident program at Wayra
What's going to happen to this large office here at Marienplatz? All the startups you supported used to be based there. Who's sitting here now?
We no longer have the Seedy teams here, but we still have 1,000 square meters of office space. We have to use it, too. So we said, why not give something back to the community? If you create an ecosystem or a community, it's good for the city, attractive to others, and it fosters innovation. Now all the people who organize the events are based here, a few startups like Smokeless, people from the ecosystem. Then there are also many young startups that we're still looking at. They can use the office space for free. Our invested startups are also based here, as are people who come in for workshops and our internal colleagues from Telefónica.
And in return? What does Wayra expect from the residents, i.e. the startups and individuals who now use the office space?
Every resident can create a resident project. We're a community, so we bring the right people together. The residents are very committed. They love the space and Wayra and understand what we do. So we have multipliers everywhere, out there, telling the Wayra story. They can create their own projects here, organize their own events, and use the meeting rooms. You don't build an ecosystem just with money, but by purposefully bringing people together.
What exactly do the resident projects look like?
This could be a meetup, for example, or Quesadillas Friday. Yesterday, for example, we organized the CTO Roundtable. The CTOs came together and discussed their topics. We have many topics like Female Entrepreneurs, Find Your Cofounder, and How to Raise Money events. So, all of these topics we've had before, but they're now being organized by the community for the community.
How do I become a resident at Wayra?
We decide on a case-by-case basis. We look at who the person is, whether they have a connection to the startup ecosystem, how well-connected they are, and what they do. Of course, there has to be a willingness to live in such a community, implement a project, and abide by the rules. We initially did it without rules, but we realized that didn't work because you still need a framework. That's what people wanted, too. They wanted to know what they could give back.
And that's how the projects came about. We have activities like trash dates, where everyone takes out the trash together and gets to know each other. There's also a points system based on how active you are on Slack, for example. Or you ask around here to see who knows person xyz. And if five people say they don't know who that person is, then person xyz doesn't get very good social points. It's also simply about being involved in the community.
Advantages and disadvantages of the ecosystem in Munich
What do you like about Munich and what do you miss?
Munich is a great location for B2B startups because of the local corporations. It's the golden triangle of corporations, investors, and academia. Everything that makes an ecosystem thrive is created within this triangle. What still needs improvement, however, is that we have so many players in the system here who do the same thing but are incredibly poorly connected. Everyone is cooking up their own little scheme and isn't willing to work together. For example, everyone here organizes their own demo day. We've now proposed organizing one together. And now we're organizing the Summer Expo. This is the first time something like this has happened. We could be doing a lot better in this regard.
