Catalan tech companies at #MWC14, Part 1

  • There are about 60 Catalan companies exhibiting at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week. The majority can be found in the Catalan pavilion, next to the Catalan Government's stand.

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24.02.2014 - 18:12

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The first company I talked to was Magazapp, whose CEO is Pere Sanz. Magazapp is a publishing service that takes a PDF of a business’ catalog and converts it into a branded app that can be downloaded into Android and iOS. Magazapp offers various pricing terms, depending on whether the business needs a one-time solution or if they want to be able to update the catalog more frequently. In fact, Magazapp converted the catalog of Catalan businesses at MWC14 into an app for the Generalitat. You can download it to get an idea of how it works.

Next I spoke with SlashMobility which is a start-up that began by developing mobile apps, but whose developers have spun off other companies for their own apps, including Manduka Games and DressApp. SlashMobility offers marketing and training and serves as an incubator. Manduka Games has just released its first game, Quicks. DressApp lets you catalog your wardrobe and then mix and match the pieces and plan out what you’re going to wear each day. They are also working with clothing stores to offer direct sales through the app.

Eyetok is a Catalan start-up that wants to let users all over the world share video with other users, and thus serve as their eyes in another country. Eyetok displays a map of connected users to which you can ask to connect or offer your own video. All of the video is currently public.

Dinube is looking to offer payment options in the cloud, similar to Paypal, but using the payment terminals that are already available in 80% of the commerces in the Spanish State together with a mobile device. Dinube’s Security Architect, Arnau Vives, explained to VilaWeb that a user can create a Dinube account, and in the store, already equipped with a payment terminal, and taking advantage of a NFC connection, can choose either to pay anonymously or with a customer card. To cover the payment, the user can transfer money into their Dinube account.

Effilogics is a Catalan company that grew out of the technology incubator of the Catalan Government. Albert Vidal explained that they have developed software that can control and monitor electricity usage of businesses or hotels in order to gauge whether savings can be made. Effilogics can determine how much electricity is being used in lighting, in air conditioning and heating, and in other systems, and at what time so that businesses can assess which adjustments need to be made. They can also use the app to control the electrical usage remotely, turning on or off lighting, or adjusting the climate control as necessary. Vidal said that most businesses can expect a return on their investment in two years or less.

iDisc is a translation company based in Olesa that specializes in multilingual and multiplatform communication systems. Pere Grivé that they had managed the translation of important software programs into various languages including Catalan, Spanish and Quechua. They also translate web sites and web apps, by going into the code and making the necessary changes.

Finally, ShareisFashion is a social network app that is designed to help make decisions in the dressing room. Users can upload pictures of themselves in two outfits and ask their network to vote on one or the other outfit. ShareisFashion, whose general manager is Àlex Fenoll and whose marketing manager is Núria Castells, said that they have also made deals with different clothing stores to make their clothing available on the app.

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