Vodafone is the latest company to launch a start-up accelerator, opening its doors to 24 early-stage ventures in Silicon Valley. The new Vodafone Xone, based in Redwood City, will provide a test lab for tech start-ups to trial their products on the Vodafone network prior to launch.
Start-ups could also receive funding, with Vodafone saying that it will “assess options for strategic investments” via its funding arm, Vodafone Ventures.
Vodafone Xone will serve as an incubator with office space for up to 25 companies at a time. Vodafone Xone is intended to identify and qualify innovative technologies from startups, R&D labs, universities and venture capital portfolios with the potential to deliver new and innovative products and services to Vodafone’s global customer base.
Siavash Alamouti, director of Vodafone Group Research and Development said: “Vodafone Xone™ offers Silicon Valley start ups access to more than a third of a billion customers in more than 30 countries around the world. We’re excited about this opportunity to share our scale and global expertise with the brightest and best the valley has to offer.”
