Benidorm, innovation and technology laboratory with the Demium startup incubator

Antonio Pérez, mayor of Benidorm, accompanied by the Councilors for Innovation and Quality, Aida García Mayor, and Employment and Local Development, Mónica Gómez López, presented this morning, together with the Territorial Director of the East Zone of Demium Incubator for startups, Jaime Guillot, the initiative that has been set in Benidorm for the genesis of companies that provide new solutions to tourism management needs.

The mayor said that this new challenge that adds Benidorm in entrepreneurship will mean “a reputational advancement and positioning of the city itself” to find a vertical initiative in Tourism and Travel within the framework of the application of New Technologies in reference to the reality of Management of an Intelligent Tourist Destination like Benidorm, which is a benchmark in Innovation, and governance.

The Valencian Demium is established in seven countries (Spain, Portugal, Hungary, Poland, Ukraine, Belarus and Greece) and within them in the capitals and main cities, with a London investment hub to obtain financing. This group of cities with start-up incubators (StartUps) is now joined by Benidorm for the success of its dynamism and amount of talent in the management of the tourism model that makes it an example to follow.

"The success of Demium is total when choosing Benidorm," said Mayor Toni Pérez because "Benidorm is a real laboratory of innovation and technology that generates employment and attracts talent and investment." Jaime Guillot confirmed these words and pointed out that “Benidorm for us is a winning bet; It is one of the main tourist capitals of Europe and has a lot of talent that we want to take advantage of. ”

Guillot explained that "Demium focuses on assembling teams and developing business models, helping in the initial phase." For the company, "the challenge is the recruitment of talents", warning that the act of undertaking "is not easy, nor is it for everyone, because of the risks involved". What Demium will do, Guillot said, is "create the basis for those who are capable to achieve it."

The mayor, then, encouraged "all those who have talent, ideas, vocation and ability, and who assume the risk of starting a new company from scratch, to attend the appointment with Demium."

The first call with ideas and talent will take place on September 17 in the premises of Plaza del Torrejó where the presentation of the initiative will be made and the selection project will begin, forming groups that comprise the three basic profiles “in sales , with leadership, development and marketing capabilities ”of the teams that will validate a minimum viable product (MVP)“ that attracts investors, finds markets, builds a partnership and obtains financing, ”said Guillot.

The selected candidates will be integrated into the AllStartUp, which will take place in Benidorm between October 25 and 27 where Demium will provide business ideas validated in other countries that can be implemented to solve previously detected issues.

Previously, “daily necessities and problems to try to solve them with these startups” will be identified in a meeting with entrepreneurs from the sector (Pain Day) that will be held on imminent dates, Guillot said.

This incubation program aims to achieve emerging companies that become the spearhead and export the consolidated and viable idea with companies based in Benidorm that generate employment and structure in Benidorm. "The objective is to establish 5 to 10 companies a year so that in five or eight years we can have a business fabric of fifty or sixty companies generating half a thousand new jobs based on technology."

Demium has a business viability index of 75% when identifying business models and applying them obtaining adequate financing.

The private initiative Tourist-Lab of the local businessman José Such joins the initiative by offering his coworking space.