A group of companies and organizations that are experts in the sector, representing the fishing extraction, processing and marketing, are leading a pioneering initiative in the sector worldwide. It is a unique and revolutionary project, aimed at identifying and attracting the best technological solutions for the sector.
Startups and technological companies in other fields wishing to accelerate their projects in the fishing industry will be invigorated by this program. The companies participating in the program and Galicia will become benchmarks in innovation in the sector at a global level.
“Fishing Accelerator” will channel the challenges of the companies involved, searching and selecting those startups whose disruptive technologies may become the solution to these challenges. The annual programme will seek the validation and incorporation of these technologies by means of real projects with companies. Therefore, it also includes a genuine immersion in the market, including training, pilot tests and business development.
The fishing industry has grown exponentially in recent years, and has continued to deal with very relevant changes due to legislation or new consumer habits. This has forced leading companies to focus on and invest in innovation to effectively and swiftly solve the new industry challenges.
The lack in many occasions of suitable or custom solutions has caused quite a lot of harm to the industry and has caused the need to lead the way, in the belief that the answer should come from the fishing sector itself. This is the context of the emergence of the acceleration program.
Benefits
The many benefits offered to its partners by the “Fishing Accelerator” include direct access to the best global cutting-edge technology; directly applying the technologies to real pilot tests; process improvement due to the swift incorporation of technology and a stronger competitive capacity in an accelerated, measurable and short-term manner.
The driving forces of the project are Kaleido Tech and Inxenia Desarrollos Tecnológicos. The former contributes their input and expertise in acceleration environments and a tested methodology in the development of open innovation which, together with the extensive expertise linked to fishing innovation that Inxenia has, make this programme unique at a global level.
The programme will enable to quickly detect and absorb global cutting-edge technology, in real environments; with objective data to assess its impact on the business.
The one-year long programme has three stages, ranging from the partner companies defining their needs, the identification of the technologies and the selection of the startups, to starting-up real pilot projects.
It is in these pilot projects where the technologies will be tested in market environments and led by the corporate partners, so that each of the startups can be evaluated based on an actual experience. Thus, the entities involved will have the result of the experience and will be able to assess their effectiveness to deal with the problem encountered.
The Fishing Accelerator, open to further incorporations in the coming months, will strengthen the role of Vigo and Galicia as technological benchmarks in fishing innovation.
The importance of the accelerator collaborators
The vision of PescaPuerta, Mascato, Opromar and Orpagu shaping this global pioneering initiative is also reflected in their significance in the sector. Present in over 15 countries, the founding companies bring together more than 100 ships producing over 70,000 annual tonnes of annual catch of several species. With a processing capacity of more than 35.000 tonnes, and a marketing capacity of 110.000 tonnes in over 80 countries, this initiative ensures the required initial traction to turn it into the global benchmark Accelerator of the Fishing Industry.
