"It's incredible to think that ten years ago we were just four cats walking around the grounds of the Montjuïc Fair", reflected yesterday Pere Duran, director of the 4YFN entrepreneurs' congress, as he walked through one of the full corridors of the hall, which is celebrated with a parallel, but integrated, to the Mobile World Congress.
On its tenth anniversary, the 4YFN is fitter than ever. It has gained a pavilion compared to the previous edition, it has more vigorous stands and, in some areas, it has carpeted the floor, a privilege that until now only Mobile attendees enjoyed.
"We hope to break attendance records and surpass last year's 50,000 visitors and 900 exhibitors", said Duran, who did not venture to detail more figures. Among the attendees are the usual ones: Barcelona Activa, Tech Barcelona, the Department of Action of the Generalitat, Enisa, CaixaBank, Banc Sabadell, public and private universities, investors, business schools and dozens of small emerging companies - both local and international – who want to make themselves known and win customers.
"The 4YFN is the biggest party of the digital ecosystem in Barcelona, an exhausting but essential congress to be connected with each other and to project ourselves towards the global market", said Miquel Martí, director general of the Tech Barcelona association, who has experienced the expansion of the congress practically from the beginning.
According to his perception (contrasted with other agents), the 4YFN has become a reference fair in Europe among professionals linked to the world of emerging companies. "The 4YFN is the largest entrepreneurs' fair in Europe after the Web Summit, which is held annually in Lisbon", assured Martí. "It is a benchmark in its own right. In the last decade, the congress has grown in the same way as the emerging companies in our country have done", said Irene Gómez, CEO of Wayra, the Telefónica company specialized in emerging companies, which has also experienced the transformation of Congress over the last decade.
In the middle of the crowd, yesterday you could see long lines of young professionals waiting to attend the conferences given by leaders in the sector, such as Ariadna Font (Alinia, ex Twitter), Rubén Bonet (Fractus), Jordi Romero (Factorial) or Avi Meir (Travelperk), among others. The list of speakers is long, and in the coming days interventions are expected from other professionals such as Oscar Pierre (Glovo), Olga Xikhantsova (Speedinvest), Sara Bisbe (Aily Labs) or Pau Gasol (former athlete and investor).
In addition to the young people, yesterday there were also well-dressed veteran professionals chatting among the booths of start-up companies. "For the top executives of the Mobile World Congress, the 4YFN is a showcase of the trends that will dominate the technology industry in the future", pointed out Gómez.
As it could not be otherwise, the trend that is being the protagonist of the 4YFN this year is artificial intelligence. So are digital health, businesses that fight climate change and those that develop deep technology or with a high technological component. "This year we have opted for these three verticals, because we see that they will be key in determining the future of the economy and society", detailed Duran.
If mobile phones lose prominence every year at MWC, the truth is that at 4YFN they have never had one. "We come here to look for business opportunities in a broad sense, to meet companies open to collaborating and improving Vueling's operations", commented Javier Álvarez, the airline's IT director, who is repeating this for the third consecutive year.
Less ambitious is the bet of the Music Tech Hub, a project that is starting to work with the aim of promoting emerging companies linked to the music industry in Catalonia. "The 4YFN is a great showcase that allows us to reach audiences different from those we are used to and meet potential collaborators", pointed out Rita Giménez, one of the promoters of the initiative.
Despite the fact that it has become an event of great magnitude, the 4YFN keeps intact its initial purpose, which is none other than to make visible the work of emerging companies taking advantage of the potential of the mobile world congress.
