The finalists of Starter Business Acceleration 2021 are now known. The 10 selected startups will take part in the global module of the programme, which will take place on 6, 7 and 8 July in a virtual format. Among those chosen are 3 Spanish startups:

Full&Fast: Specialised in energy solutions for transport companies.
Hovering Solutions: They develop specific technical solutions and tools mainly applicable to civil engineering, public works, mining and the environment.
Iomob: Offers a Mobility on Demand marketplace for companies.
In this phase of the programme, the participating startups will have the opportunity to present their solutions for the energy sector and develop their pilots together with the different business units of EDP, EDP Spain, EDP Brazil and EDP Renewables, which together serve around 12 million customers and are present in 22 countries.

This year's edition of the Starter Business Acceleration, which received 736 applications from 78 countries around the world, is entirely virtual and will conclude with the grand final, where the 10 selected candidates from 6 different countries (Spain, Brazil, Germany, USA, Poland and Slovenia) will compete for a prize of 50,000 euros.

In line with EDP's strategic areas, Starter Business Acceleration is looking for projects in seven categories: customer solutions, digital innovation, energy storage, clean energy, smart grids, energy access and innovative internal processes. During the programme, the startups will also receive support and advice from innovation and energy experts, among others.

US-based Yotta Energy, which developed a scalable, decentralised solar energy storage solution, was the winner of the last edition of Starter Business Acceleration, which last year attracted more than 800 startups from 74 countries. EDP already has 15 confirmed pilot projects with startups that participated in the 2020 programme and another 18 are in the evaluation phase.

The other finalist startups are:

Annea.ai (Germany): Predictive maintenance and underperformance detection for renewable energies.
LESS Industries (Poland): Smart monitoring for industrial and agricultural applications.
Litro de luz Brasil (Brazil): Lighting communities without adequate access to electricity.
NeuralMind (Brazil): Uses cutting-edge artificial intelligence technology to increase business efficiency.
SolarZ Technology (Brazil): Provides a SaaS platform to help owners and sellers of solar photovoltaic systems.
Terra Pave International (USA): University of Texas startup offering innovative and environmentally friendly road materials.
TROIA d.o.o (Slovenia): Innovative IT company.