The Scale Lab Andorra program, which supports entrepreneurial projects and is promoted by Crèdit Andorrà, invested in ten startups in 2022, after having analyzed 750 candidates. Scale Lab is an investment and business support program aimed at newly created companies that base their business model on differential technology and on a validated and scalable project that has high growth potential.
This aid system aims to facilitate the consolidation and expansion of the selected companies. For this reason, each selected project has an investment that can reach 500,000 euros, with the option of participating in subsequent rounds of financing. Scale Lab also provides support for the development of the business and the possible landing of a company in the Principality.
The aid program also allows Crèdit Andorrà clients the possibility of investing in the companies selected by Scale Lab. This investment is made through the SIO Strategic Investment Opportunities Sicav-Scale Lab subfund, a differential and up-to-date investment vehicle that expands the bank's offer and that adds value to the products. This year, in addition, the leading Andorran bank has reduced the stipulated minimum investment amount from 100,000 to 50,000 euros. During the past year the volume managed increased, which is close to five million euros.
The bank permanently analyzes companies to incorporate them into the Scale Lab Andorra program, especially those located in strategic sectors, such as sustainability and energy efficiency, health and well-being, leisure and sports, mobility, and of course the fintech sector. During the last financial year, companies from sectors such as logistics, catering and the silver economy have also been added, which group economic activities and services aimed at people over 50 years of age. The objective of expanding the catalog of companies and sectors is to diversify the possibilities of the investment portfolio for Crèdit Andorrà clients.
The options chosen by Scale Lab Andorra in the health and wellness sector in 2022 are the investment in the startup Elem-Bio, a cloud platform that allows biomedical companies, through the use of human models, to foresee security and the efficacy of therapeutic products for the heart and, at the same time, accelerate the development of new treatments. In the logistics section, two companies were selected. On the one hand, Box2Box, a company that offers an online storage room rental service that collects, stores and generates an inventory of objects to deliver them when the client needs them. The other company chosen is Mox, a technology company that covers all distribution processes and also digitizes and optimizes deliveries for clients of companies such as Amazon, Just Eat, Uber or Aliexpress.
From the Horeca sector (bars and restaurants) the look of Scale Lab has been directed at Miss Tipsi, a technology company that offers complete comprehensive management software for restaurants, bars and cafeterias through the digitization of processes. Also in the same sector, investment has been made in Proposs, a company specializing in the recognition of food through deep learning algorithms and computer vision, and also in the automation of processes such as payments and quality analysis.
The rest of the startups selected for the Crèdit Andorrà aid program have been Bejao, a mobile application that helps to practice sports in a structured way and following the appropriate training plans, in addition to facilitating its timely monetization for the creators of fitness content; Twojeys, which is dedicated to the design and sale of unisex jewelry; Arengu, a program that optimizes registration processes and allows you to visually create personalized user authentication flows; Payflow, a mobile app that allows employees to get paid whenever they want, instead of once a month, without affecting cash flows or changing payroll processes. Finally, another selected startup has been Durcal, a telecare watch with a GPS locator that measures vital signs and detects falls.
Scale Lab also has the objective of implementing new solutions in Andorra with the aim of positioning the country as a suitable environment for the development of entrepreneurial projects. The program simplifies the possible arrival of companies through professional support so that they can take advantage of the differential advantages that the country offers. Companies interested in participating in the program can formalize their application through Scalelabandorra.com. Since the program began, it has invested in 28 startups, most of them European with some exceptions from the United States. The goal is for Scale Lab to have investments in up to 40 companies.
