A student from the ETSi stands out internationally for his startup proposal

The team formed by Rodrigo Romero Zamorano, a student in the Telecommunications Engineering degree program at the School of Telecommunications Engineering (ETSI) of the University of Seville (US), and John Nicolás León Kabarity, a student in the Mechanical Engineering degree program at the School of Engineering (EPS) of the US, has been selected as one of the ten participants in this summer's European Innovation Academy (EIA) in Porto, Porto. This program, created by the prestigious universities of Stanford and Berkeley, gives students from around the world the opportunity to experience, in a real-world setting, launching a startup in just three weeks. 

The team, comprised of these two students from the University of Seville, along with Caitlin McCarthy from Mount Royal University in Calgary (Canada), Alexita Velasco from UC Berkeley (USA), and Diogo Michel Henriques Falcão from the Instituto Superior Técnico in Lisbon (Portugal), presented the BoomTickets initiative. This project aims to enhance the ticketing experience for parties and venues by offering users a direct social marketplace. They won the creation of their brand identity by Codehouse and access to Antler Iberia, a global venture capital fund manager for pre-seed-stage companies.

The group came to the EIA this summer as a prize for entrepreneurship programs held last year along with nine other students from the University of Seville.

A total of 100 teams made up of five international students presented their innovative start-up ideas to a jury of expert investors, after identifying problems, validating the idea with potential customers, prototyping and making the minimum viable product, as well as launching marketing campaigns, accompanied by specialized mentors.

Among the highest scores

These 10 selected teams had the opportunity to present their business ideas to a wider audience and received special awards. The European Innovation Academy (EIA) is an internationally recognized educational program that fosters the development of startups in a multicultural ecosystem. This initiative is organized by Stanford University, Berkeley, and Google, and this year more than 500 students from 85 countries are participating.

Teams needed to have certain elements to be selected: a website, an up-to-date EpiProdux, a validated target market, confirmed customers (300+ sign-ups for B2C or 3+ letters of intent for B2B), and an established business model. Investors judged the teams on a five-point scale, evaluating opportunity, traction, scalability, execution, and presentation. The top ten teams were distinguished not only by the highest investor scores but also by feedback from their mentors.