The ceremony of the 6th Sacyr Innovation Awards for the best Infrastructure and Services Startup took place yesterday, chaired by Manuel Manrique, Sacyr Chairman. The winner of the award was the startup Actisa; a young company from Granada, which has developed artificial intelligence software to optimize courses and feasibility studies of major linear infrastructures (roads, bridges, tunnels, railways, etc.).
Actisa, promoted by María José Sánchez and Salvador Mansilla, also developed artificial vision and augmented reality solutions that substantially improve planning during the project phase, integrating the infrastructure with the landscape and environment.
The Sacyr Foundation is increasing its commitment towards innovation and entrepreneurship with this award, which consists in a participative loan for the winner startup of 50,000 Euros, plus mentoring and specialized support for the development and implementation of the startup. In addition, Sacyr seeks synergies and cooperation options with other projects among the 50 presented and that have great potential.
The other finalists were:
- PayThunder, a startup from Cordoba that has developed its own encrypted ultrasonics and geolocation via triangulation platform. This platform allows developing marketing activities and manage remote payment from any mobile device with a speaker and microphone.
- Metrikea, from Madrid, based on a solution that combines sensors and analytical software for exploiting data obtained from geolocation of users in buildings (transport hubs, hospitals, restaurants, outlets...). The Metrikea sensors (low cost), identify users based on Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GSM signals sent by their mobile devices.
- Witrac, a startup from Valencia that has developed a technology platform based on its own technology used to communicate, control and position any physical object in real time and safely (vehicles, urban furniture, etc.), through the use of wireless sensors that do not require electrical or data connections.
The Chairman of Sacyr, Manuel Manrique, during his speech highlighted that "this year we are celebrating two major milestones: the completion of the works of the Third Set of Locks of the Panama Canal and the thirtieth anniversary of the company. I would like us to consider these two moments and realize the capacity of our projects to transform and improve the people's quality of life," he added.
The managing director for Strategy and Corporate Development at Sacyr, Víctor de Ávila, explained during his intervention the group's transformation in terms of innovation and initiatives carried out such as lfridays (sessions to promote innovative culture, through presentations and round tables with technology experts, and latest innovation trends), Ingenium (innovation platform to share and drive ideas within the Sacyr Group), Ilabs (innovation laboratories for fast prototyping of ideas and technologies with a potential business impact) and the new innovation management model, among others.
The selection process of this edition, which convened 50 startups, was carried out by an internal committee that selected the 12 best initiatives, which presented their projects during a pitching day; the 4 finalist startups were selected from that presentation, after which the winner was selected after an in-depth analysis.
Awards for the best internal initiatives
During the event, the awards for the best initiatives carried out by Sacyr employees through the campaign Todos Sumamos (which had 240 proposals) were also handed out.
The winners of the best innovative projects over the last three years were:
- In 2014, the initiative "Development of a new business through maximization of biomass in olive groves" based on the development of a new business involving the energetic maximization of a sustainable and environmentally friendly fuel: biomass obtained from pruning olive groves. The award was received by: Juan Espejo del Campo, Francisco Mesa Herrador, Sara Casimiro-Soriguer Baum and Juan Luis Casimiro-Soriguer Escofet.
- The following initiative was rewarded in 2015: "Mobile app for managing service incidents." It is a mobility system for citizen support workers, offering a significant increase in quality through early detection and correction of detected incidents. The award was received by: Luis Miguel Mancha Merino, Carlos Manuel Rubio and Alejandro Guerrero.
- And, in 2016, "Dependence support service mobility" won: a platform to guarantee home support quality for dependent persons, through real time monitoring of each visit, the activities carried out, and any possible incidents. The award was received by: David Piernas Arranz, Concha Massa Gutiérrez del Álamo, Manuela Martínez Moreno, José María Lizan Carrasco and Monserrat Castro Osuna.