Telefónica Tech Ventures is supported by ElevenPaths, Telefónica Tech’s cybersecurity arm, and Telefónica Innovation Ventures (TIV).
The new vehicle has a double objective. Firstly to give Telefónica Tech its own investment capabilities in a dynamic sector which, according to some market estimates, will attract more than $8 billion in investment around the world this year.
Secondly, to detect the most disruptive innovation in this field thanks to a dedicated team of professionals from ElevenPaths and TIV. Telefónica Tech Ventures was set up with a portfolio of nine invested cybersecurity start-ups selected from the portfolio of TIV and Wayra, Telefónica’s global open innovation hub.
In addition, it plans to invest in the next three years in up to 15 start-ups, both early-stage and more mature entering series A, B and C rounds, and dedicate the necessary resources to execute follow-ons in the startups with the best performance.
Most disruption
The new investments will be aimed at startups with great disruptive potential in areas such as threat intelligence, cloud security, data protection, and the application of automation or artificial intelligence to protect organisations of all sizes, regardless of the type of assets they seek to protect.
The focus of the investments will be in Telefónica’s strategic markets of Spain, Brazil, Germany and the UK, as well as “other relevant technological markets” such as the US and Israel, with an investment ticket of up to €6 million.
Telefónica Tech Ventures will target startups that can round out the ElevenPaths product portfolio, integrate new capabilities into the company and even create new M&A opportunities.