The startup accelerator BIND 4.0 has closed the registration deadline for its fourth call with a total of 577 projects registered, which means an increase in applications of 10 percent over the previous year. An evolution that shows growth, since it has gone from 257 in 2016, to 385 in 2017 and at 524 last year. In addition, the number of participating countries has also increased, which were 64 in the previous edition and 78 in this one. Also, a total of 81 companies that were presented were Spanish and the rest, foreign.

This growth of applications at national and international level shows the success of this Basque business acceleration program, which has the support of EDP because the energy company remains faithful to its strong commitment to the companies that are developing in an energetic and innovative environment.

All the startups registered in this fourth edition presented avant-garde solutions of great quality, with the aim of improving processes, services and products. To this end, they apply innovative technologies such as collaborative robotics, internet of things, artificial intelligence, Big Data, cybersecurity, virtual and augmented reality, indoor positioning systems, artificial vision or drones. One of the most important novelties of this edition of Bind 4.0 is the creation ofan investor club aligned with the accelerator specialization whose objective is to reinforce support services and promote contact between participants and entities of specialized investment.

BIND 4.0 was launched in 2016 as a meeting point between innovative startups and large companies. This is an opportunity to promote the digital transformation of the industry and, in turn, accelerate the consolidation of initiatives through the validation of technologies in real customer scenarios. Since its creation, 70 new companies have accelerated their business through this program and more than 120 projects of industry 4.0 have been developed, which have reached a real turnover of 3.5 million euros.

These are the next key days for Bind 4.0:

December 20, 2019: communication of the selected companies.

January 17, 2020: Start of the acceleration program and projects with partners.

July 3, 2020: 'Demo Day', the day of presentation of the results of the fourth call of BIND 4.0.