Alaian is born, a global alliance for innovation
Six of the world’s leading telcos announced today, the creation of Alaian, an alliance to connect the open innovation ecosystems of these leading global telcos to reach 50 countries and 700 million customers.
The members of Alaian are Bouygues Telecom, Cellnex, KPN, MTN, Telefónica and WINDTRE. With this alliance they seek to join forces to share best practices on innovation and generate different use cases on the latest market developments and technologies they are implementing, in their ambition to constantly innovate.
The alliance is also committed to global open calls to attract companies that are aligned with its strategic innovation priorities. In this context, they are taking the opportunity to announce a global call for start-ups. Interested companies can participate via this link.
Alaian will be looking for start-ups with 5G-based use cases in Communications & infrastructure, Industry, manufacturing & logistics, Mobility, Utilities & Energy, Metaverse & Web3, Media, Entertainment & Gaming and Retail.
“We are proud to form part of the Alaian alliance which will give us an opportunity to work with and share best practices with globally competitive telcos. Innovative digital solutions are a huge part of our strategy and our involvement in the alliance will further expose us to partnering with start-ups that are a strong fit with our Ambition 2025 strategy of leading digital solutions to Africa’s progress”, Chika Ekeji, Group Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer of MTN Group.
The selected companies will be able to access the best 5G connectivity and edge computing resources of the alliance’s member telcos, as well as carry out tests in the 5G LABs with the intention of integrating them into the solutions of the different telcos.
In addition, the companies will also be able to exchange knowledge with specialists and network teams with whom to co-develop and solve problems together, taking advantage of the technical, commercial and product support of the alliance members’ network of experts, mentors, and trainers.
The start-ups selected by the alliance will be able to benefit from the resources available to the telecoms such as knowledge of the markets they are in, access to their network of contacts, design and build pilots with customers around the world. Apart from this, there is the opportunity to help start-ups additionally with fundraising, training for entrepreneurs, visibility and exposure at the alliance partners’ headquarters, flagship shops, demo centres, labs, and hubs to showcase their product to the network of customers and partners. In addition, equity investment will be possible from any of Alaian’s member investment vehicles, as well as exposure to its global network of venture capital firms.
“We are very proud to participate in the Alaian program. For a long time, we have decided to get closer to those who have the ideas, those who innovate and create. With Start-ups and Open Innovation, we can invent the future together. This new alliance gives us the chance to meet new start-ups from different backgrounds, to discover and share opportunities with companies that share the same challenges as us (5G development, customer experience, sustainable development, metaverse…)”, Stéphane Allaire, Chief Innovation Officer of Bouygues Telecom.
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