30 Apr 10 finalists selected for the FootballCan 2041 innovation challenge organized by Banco Santander and GSIC powered by Microsoft

• Nearly two hundred companies from 5 continents around the world have participated in the first phase of the call, which seeks to detect innovative solutions and projects that help improve soccer in terms of inclusion, diversity and sustainability.
• The 10 finalists will present their projects during a spectacular event broadcast by Movistar+ and with the participation of a jury made up of representatives from LaLiga, UEFA, CONMEBOL, Microsoft, Marca, ESPN and Twitter.
• The 3 winners will receive a cash prize of €10,000, the possibility to carry out a pilot project valued at €10,000 and a free membership in the GSIC. In addition, if one of the winning projects succeeds in improving Fieeld’s functionalities, it will receive an additional €5,000.

Madrid, April 29, 2020 – Banco Santander (Santander) and the Global Sports Innovation Center powered by Microsoft (GSIC), are pleased to announce the 10 finalists of FootballCan 2041, a project with great social impact born from Santander’s philosophy of improving the lives of people and society through soccer, which seeks to identify the most disruptive solutions and the latest technologies around the world that can turn the soccer of the future into a more inclusive, diverse and sustainable soccer.

The participation has reached about 200 companies from 30 countries, being the most representative Spain, UK, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, USA, and Germany, along with other more varied countries, such as Trinidad and Tobago, Nigeria, Urguay Romania, India, Australia or Switzerland among others, thus representing the 5 continents of the world, demonstrating the commitment and vocation of entrepreneurs globally to support initiatives that promote a more inclusive, diverse and committed to the environment soccer.

Likewise, the 10 finalists are: Sceenic (UK), Access Earth (UK), Brintia (Spain), Pressenger (Hungary), CamOnApp (Argentina), Zonyx (Soocial)(Spain), Pledgeball (UK), Xeerpa (Spain), FanPlay IoT (India), Gol2Soul (Colombia).

For her part, Iris Córdoba, General Director of the GISC, added that “Many startups in sports are born from knowledge of a sport, from a need that turns into an opportunity and that opportunity into a business. This contest is a great opportunity to showcase new initiatives that solve proposed challenges and generate social impact in soccer. Undoubtedly the challenge is great, but it is also noteworthy the level of proposals we have received is very satisfactory, and we hope to be able to carry out the implementation of more than one of the proposals received. ”

On May 17, a jury of 12 experts and professionals from the sports industry and other stakeholders will evaluate the finalist solutions and define the 3 finalists in a special event broadcast live on Movistar+.

The jury will be composed of leading professionals from different sectors linked to the industry, such as Juan Manuel Cendoya, Vice President of Santander Spain and General Director of Communication, Corporate Marketing and Research at Santander; Sebastian Lancestremère, Global DT Partnerships & Sports Industry Managing Director at Microsoft; Iris Córdoba, General Director of GSIC; Urs Kluser, representative of the UEFA Foundation; Juan Emilio Roa, Commercial and Marketing Director at CONMEBOL; Olga de la Fuente, Director of the LaLiga Foundation; Ronaldo Nazário, former professional soccer player and Santander ambassador; Sonia Viñas, Director of the Universia Foundation; Chris Riedy, Vice President of Twitter in EMEA; Juan Ignacio Gallardo, General Manager of Marca; Juan Mata, professional soccer player and founder of Common Goal, as well as a representative from ESPN.

The 3 winners will be announced on the same day of the final event and will receive a cash prize of 10,000 euros, the possibility to carry out a pilot project valued at 10,000 euros and a free membership in the GSIC. In addition, one of the winners will have the opportunity to receive an additional prize of 5,000 euros in case their project helps to improve the functionalities of Fieeld, a device developed by Santander that allows blind people to feel the soccer by following the movements of the ball and the trajectory of the play using their fingertips.