28 February 2024, Barcelona: Qilimanjaro Quantum Tech was crowned winner of the annual 4YFN Awards during a ceremony hosted today at the Banco Sabadell Stage.Quantum computing startup Qilimanjaro Quantum Tech was selected as winner after an on-stage pitching competition judged by a panel of experts from the investor community and a live audience consisting of investors, business executives, entrepreneurs, government officials and the general public. Among the perks awarded to the winners are a €20,000 cash prize courtesy of GSMA Foundry, as well as a startup exhibition pod and speaking opportunity at 4YFN MWC Barcelona 2025.The 4YFN Awards is a global startup competition aimed at finding the best digital startups around the world, and is the highest recognition offered exclusively to startups at MWC Barcelona.
Pere Duran, Director at 4YFN, said, “Congratulations to Qilimanjaro Quantum Tech for winning the 10th anniversary edition of the 4YFN Awards, and to each of the four finalists that took to the stage this evening – I’ve been continuously amazed at the level of innovation and entrepreneurial spirit we’ve seen on the 4YFN stages over the past decade. The future is bright for the global startup ecosystem, and we look forward to the next 10 years of connecting founders with investors and shining a light on the planet’s best digital startups.”
The winning startup was selected by a jury made up of Kate Cornell, General Partner at All Iron Ventures; Hendrik Brandis, Co-founder & Partner at Earlybird Venture Capital; Shesh S, Sr Director – CVC at SK Telecom; Nicole Leblanc, Partner at Woven Capital; and Sébastien Lefebvre, Partner at Elaia Partners.Qilimanjaro Quantum Tech faced tough competition from the other finalists – Bitsensing (South Korea), Mica AI Medical (Israel), Ocean Econstructures (Spain) and Whispp (the Netherlands) – who were shortlisted from the 4YFN Top 50 Startups list. The finalists were selected based on criteria including the innovation of the startup’s proposition, its impact, its future potential and more.The 4YFN Top 50 Startups list, which was published for the second consecutive year in November 2023, recognises the digital startups at the forefront of technology.
Celebrating a decade of impact at 4YFN
Now in its tenth year, 4YFN is the startup and innovation platform at MWC Barcelona. To celebrate its 10th anniversary edition, 4YFN24 has unfolded across two Halls – Halls 8.0 and 8.1 – and featured seven stages, four networking spaces and a number of programmes dedicated to key topics such as Digital Health, Green Tech, Fintech and more. Debuting this year is the Founders programme, as well as the University & Spin-off Hub which celebrates academic innovation.Day four of 4YFN will feature a partner programme from AWS focused on the investment and technology trends for startups to consider in 2024. In addition, there will be a full day of panel sessions, fireside chats and pitching competitions. Topics include steps to help founders build resilience in their startups, top tips for sustainable investments, and the importance of driving social change in today’s startup landscape.During a decade of impact, 4YFN has connected over 9,200 founders with 5,400 investors, and this year’s show has welcomed over 900 exhibitors, 400 speakers and over 1,000 investors with collective funds totalling €50 billion.
The 4YFN Awards is sponsored by Console Connect and GSMA Foundry.
