Interview with KPMG
KPMG Digital helps Wayra’s España start-ups
One of the most outstanding advantages that start-ups from Wayra España receive is the unique support from KPMG Digital. In this interview, KPGM explains how they add value to the daily work of the start-ups.
How did this relationship start?
KPMG has been working for several years with Telefonica to develop innovative digital services and in implementing its strategy of Venture Capital, among other projects. Meanwhile, KPMG Management Consulting through its Digital counseling unit has a clear vocation to help companies in their transformation processes Digital, and in addition to innovative startups in developing their value propositions and the Go-to-market of the same. In this context, and given the strategic alignment between KPMG and Wayra, decided to establish a strategic partnership to enhance Wayra entrepreneurship ecosystem that is developing in Spain, with the ultimate goal of maximizing the return on investments in the ecosystem and the level of innovation of it.
What’s KPGM main role with Wayra’s España start-ups?
KPMG plays a role very similar to the one we develop for our multinational clients. Every startup has a dedicated team of strategy consultants, composed of senior-manager as a coordinator, and a team of analysts-that support it. Our relationship is built around character meetings which takes place twice a week/ virtual in which we discuss the main concerns or challenges every startup faces, as well as future work in which the teams will be designed their main conclusions and potential actions to develop.
Which area’s of expertise brings on-board KPMG to the start-ups?
Digital KPMG starups advises on a wide range of business topics, covering everything from business and financial issues as well as operational or treasury-legal field. Among the recurring themes are: (a) market analysis and sizing of the opportunity, (b) Definition of the business model and value proposition, (c) Definition of operating model and go-to-market (d) development of business plan, (e) marketing and communications plan, (f) legal support, tax and auditing, (g) Valuation of business and (h) negotiating with VCs.
Which learning curve do you expect from the start-ups thanks to this collaboration? What is the final goal that you expect to get at the end of the acceleration process?
Wayra Startups boasts a remarkable training support through the acceleration program, so our ambition is to help strengthen such training from practical experience we have acquired over the years in the market. The experience of past years has shown that the learning curve is so enthusiastic teams 100% exponentially, something surprising. For the Demoday we could detail various objectives, like maximizing quality and professionalism in the communication of the same etc… but the ultimate goal is to exceed the number of startups funded by Business Angels and VCs., thus ensuring its medium-term development potential.
How many people from KPMG are collaborating in the project and what is their profile?
The KPMG team stationed at Wayra is equipped with 25 consultants, organized into seven multidisciplinary teams. The teams are led and composed mainly of our consultants and Operations Strategy Consulting, but we also have the unique collaboration of our team of IT consultancy, Tax, Legal and Audit.
How do you contribute to Wayra and how does Wayra contribute to KPMG?
Wayra brings KPMG the possibility of joining their teams of consultants in an ecosystem relate business with a level of innovation and motivation difficult to achieve in a traditional business. These characteristics are of a huge value which is essential to our profession, and also the union to the ecosystem allows us to develop new ideas that will help our future growth. Meanwhile, KPMG provides practical experience having advised on the development and transformation of both traditional business, as digital scope. Additionally we provide to the startups of an objective, disinterested, and the dedication of our multidisciplinary team of consultants to contrast with any kind of questions they have about their Business.
How have you planned to work in these next few months, previous to the Demoday?
We have worked with each Wayra startup during the first weeks of collaboration to identify the most relevant topics to develop in successive stages, so that every startup has its own development schedule. Knowing this, in the early stages of collaboration it usually increases the opportunity to work on optimization and business or operational model, then work on the business plan development and communication of the same, to finally concentrate in assessing the startups, fundraising and negotiating with VCs.
What’s the outcome you expect to get after this experience with Wayra’s España start-up?
For us the most important of this relationship is the experience itself. For our teams is a very important experience for the degree of uncertainty and innovation that we face with startups. We believe that helping to develop the our philosophy that underpins our digital business advisory. Beyond that, it would be an honour to help some of the startups in its IPO sometime! Can you imagine?
What is your biggest challenge in this project?
The biggest challenge we face is to be able to innovate in our proposals and approaches to a similar level as they do their own startups, especially considering the heavy workload that we have with our customers on a day to day.