Wayra UK, a subsidiary of telecommunications firm Telefónica, has joined University of Edinburgh to form a UK-based artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain accelerator.
The Edinburgh initiative will be Wayra’s first in Scotland and will receive assistance from state-owned economic development agency Scottish Enterprise. It will be open to spinouts and startups, and will accept 20 local businesses a year from September 2018.
Founded in 2012, Wayra UK currently consists of five accelerators training approximately 50 portfolio companies per year. Participants in this accelerator will have access to Telefónica’s UK and global businesses to improve the chances of scaling their businesses.
More than 200 UK and Ireland-based startups have so far taken part in Wayra UK and have raised more than $198m in funding between them.
Gary Stewart, a director at Wayra UK, said: “There is no doubt that AI and blockchain will change the way that we all live and work.
“It is, therefore, an honour to work with the world leading University of Edinburgh, a global player in artificial intelligence and informatics, to find and support the entrepreneurs that will define our collective future.”
– The original version of this article appeared on our sister site, Global University Venturing.