Yodiwo accesses business opportunities with Galp

On 16-17 December 2019, companies supported under the European Innovation Council (EIC) pilot increased their possibilities in accelerating their business, by collaborating with Galp, one of the global players in the energy market. YODIWO was one of the 15 innovators Galp welcomed to pitch and present their business cases in Lisbon, Portugal.

EIC Corporate Days are tailor-made and highly effective acceleration services to facilitate collaboration between large corporations and EIC-funded SMEs. More than 60 top corporate representatives of Galp opened the doors to startups and scaleups that provide innovative technologies in circular economy, smart energy, urban mobility and digital solutions. The European innovators expanded their network and took the chance to leverage their business in 62 one-to-one meetings with Galp c-level managers.

YODIWO shared its vision for YodiFEM, its Computer Aided Integrated Facility and Energy Management platform, and how Artificial Intelligence can lead to significantly lower cost of facilities’ operation in conjunction with better living and working conditions.

At the event, Carlos Gomes da Silva, CEO at Galp, spoke of the motivation behind it: “We’re looking for very capable, focused, and determined people with open mindsets that help us to see the world with different eyes. In the interaction with the startups, we aim to find solutions that can be clearly industrialized and impact the transition that we are living today.”

Galp’s COO, Susana Quintana Plaza, highlighted the benefits of collaborating with external innovation providers like EIC-funded SMEs: “The SMEs have the innovation, the speed, and the best interest to make innovation happen. Corporations like Galp have the access to the markets, have the brand, and the access to customers. Our goal is to collaborate with SMEs who already have products, solutions and business models and then to scale globally. It is a win-win situation for both sides.”

Jorge Fernandes, Global Head of Innovation at Galp, commented on the initiative: “We really admire these startups for their ingenuity and for their resourceful creativity. The EIC ecosystem is fantastic. We’re talking about a pool of over 5.000 companies that have already been selected and validated through the EU funding mechanisms. Out of those we selected 15 that are very promising in delivering solutions that meet our challenges. We gained a very nice overview of startups that are really at the forefront of innovation and technology and we are looking forward to collaborating.”

“We’re very happy to have participated in this matchmaking day promoted by the EIC pilot business acceleration services. We believe our Facility & Energy Management digital solutions are aligned with the business of Galp and we hope the connections we made can help us scale-up our business.” Alex Maniatopoulos, CEO of Yodiwo, said.

The purpose of the EIC Corporate Days is to promote business between big corporates – which are always looking for innovative solutions to improve their products and services – and the SMEs funded by the EIC pilot.