Go Ignite Partners seek 5G use cases in global call for startups

Bonn, Madrid, Paris, Singapore - Following the success of its previous global calls for start-ups, Go Ignite, an alliance of four leading global telcos, has launched Go Ignite: 5G Open Call for Start-ups to engage start-ups or venture capital-backed companies which are developing 5G products or services catering to the consumer or enterprise sectors.

Go Ignite comprises hubraum, Orange Fab, Singtel Innov8 and Connected Open Innovation, the open innovation arms of Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Singtel, and Telefónica respectively.

Interested participants can submit their proposals from 22 July to 7 September 2020 through the alliance’s website at www.go-ignite.com. The alliance members will evaluate the proposals based on each project’s degree of technological innovation, feasibility, rapid implementation time and maturity. Selected start-ups will have the opportunity to present their proposals to key management of the Go Ignite alliance members in an online workshop on 21 - 23 September 2020. The workshop is designed to help the selected start-ups validate their proposals by engaging the business units of the alliance members. From their feedback, the start-ups can refine their solutions and sharpen their strategies to better align their innovations with market requirements.

Start-ups which successfully complete the online workshop would be better positioned to launch their 5G products or services to the market given the Go Ignite members combined customer base of more than 1.2 billion customers across Africa, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Australia.

Mr Axel Menneking, Head of hubraum said: “The tech incubator of Deutsche Telekom has already carried out successful 5G programs with start-ups, from which interesting projects have emerged. We are looking forward to new interesting use cases that demonstrate the potential of this technology."

Mrs Karine Dussert Sarthe, Executive Vice President Product Marketing & Design in Orange’s Innovation Division, said: “We look forward to engaging with start-ups to develop 5G new use cases. We are convinced that 5G could bring value by accelerating digital transformation in a world facing unprecedented economic and ecological challenges. We strongly believe that leveraging a newly emerging 5G ecosystem will accelerate 5G value creation for everyone’s benefits.”

Mr Edgar Hardless, CEO of Singtel Innov8 said, ““Through this global call, we look forward to engaging start-ups which have exciting ideas for 5G and to help them bring their innovative solutions to the markets across the Southeast Asian region where the Singtel Group is rolling out 5G. Ecosystem innovation will enable us to harness 5G’s potential as a game-changer to accelerate enterprises' digital transformation and provide innovative and differentiated consumer offerings.”

Mr. Miguel Arias, Global Entrepreneurship Director of Telefónica said, “Telefónica is committed to 5G technology, which will open up our telecommunications ecosystem to a wide range of vertical industries where start-ups with scalable products and global impact may develop concept tests on the new services, products, experiences and business models in the future.” For more information about Go Ignite and the registration process, please visit www.go-ignite.com.