“For projects based on the Blue Economy, I would tell you that there is no better place than Cádiz and Incubazul”
Saturnino Jose Gonzalez Aguilera (9/28/1981). – Almería) is part of the important Incubazul startup team. Specifically, it was incorporated in February of this year with the third call for the project, so far the most numerous with 23 emerging companies added to the incubator.
The CEO of Agualytics, who considers his team dynamic and passionate, has a GAP (Public Management and Administration) diploma from the University of Almería and is a senior technician in Web Application Development. He believes that whoever launches an entrepreneurial initiative must be a person “creative, dynamic, restless and with leadership” , and on the other hand “with the ability to train skills such as rapid prototyping and to generate detachment from ideas that do not work”.
And take advantage of this interview to encourage those who think about launching their project and their “blue adventure” to do it with Incubazul.
Saturnino answers the Incubazul questionnaire.
What is your role within the company?
Today the role I play within the company could be much closer to that of Business Developer than CEO or software developer that is sometimes presumed. Fortunately, Agualytics has a team with a lot of experience and passion for their work, which greatly facilitates my day-to-day focus on the work that we will be carrying out in 7 years with the peace of mind that the work that has to be done today is going to be done in time and form.
What does your value proposition consist of?
Our value proposition is based on the WEFE Nexus (Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystems) and its vision of water, energy, food and ecosystems as complex and necessarily intertwined entities. This vision and its application to the primary sector, responsible for feeding an increasing population with fewer and fewer resources, cannot be carried out without data, much less without information. At Agualytics we obtain data and convert it into information to facilitate efficient and sustainable use of water and energy, favoring responsible, profitable production that is respectful of the environment.
How does your solution contribute to the sustainability of marine resources?
Currently, the water-energy binomial is present in almost all the production processes of the goods and services that surround us, a good use of water, regardless of its origin, and the energy necessary to "move it" means that we end up living in a more friendly and comfortable environment. A direct application of this responsible use of resources could, for example, occur in aquaculture where we should begin to grow and produce food in the most efficient and sustainable way possible, fortunately today thanks to knowledge and technology we can do it with a high ROI and a simple and fast implementation.
What aspects differentiate you from your competition?
The ability to use technology as a tool, and not as an end, to give the primary sector real solutions to real problems with a very smooth learning curve. Our clients usually obtain savings in water and energy of up to 30% and a reduction in breakdowns, leaks and abnormal consumption close to 70%. These savings and reductions, added to the advantages of digitalization of processes based on Artificial Intelligence, IoT, Big Data and Edge Computing, among other technologies, generate a very attractive cost reduction for a client who will end up discovering the rest of the advantages that our software offers. It offers you not only at that first moment for your activity but also in the medium and long term, generating a positive impact on society.
How do you think technology helps to enhance your solution?
Our solution is 100% technological, today there is a lot of talk about digitization and on many occasions we find that technology itself is the barrier to entry to technological solutions. Putting the focus on knowing the problem to be solved and the user is the key to success. Technology, no matter how technological we are, is just a tool.
Have you come into contact with potential clients?
Thanks to Incubazul, we have not only contacted potential clients, but we have also found a new line of business in which we can apply both our experience in the primary sector and most of our technologies; digitization of aquaculture.
How did you find out about the Incubazul acceleration program?
Thanks to the scouting and recruiting work that takes place in the incubator itself. As entrepreneurs we have found ourselves, on many occasions, faced with programs that (surprisingly) do not focus on the company, have an admission filter that is too general, and are very surrounded by the interests of the corporations that finance them or that count on them. With terribly insufficient programs, if we add to this the cyclical tendency of the entrepreneurial ecosystem to sweeten the task of undertaking, we can end up finding ourselves facing bland and monotonous scouting, recruitment and selection processes. Fortunately to know, in this scouting, the advantages of an unbeatable enclave, in terms of blue economy, such as the Cádiz Free Zone (which is already a reference as a province in this field), to discover that the Incubazul program It is "tailor-made" and adapts to the needs, moments and capabilities of each company, solution or idea and, above all, knowing it from the hands of professionals who carry out their work with passion and commitment was what undoubtedly encouraged us to want to know more. about the program and enroll in the selection process of the 3rd Batch.
How is your experience in the accelerator?
The founders of Agualytics are dynamic and passionate people. These characteristics, which are not always beneficial, make us really enjoy the change and learning processes that make us realize that we do not know everything and Incubazul is being one of these processes. Thanks to the mentors of the program, active professionals with a contemporary vision of the sector, the ecosystem and the market, we have been able to know, understand and begin to define solutions to real problems that we ourselves would have been unable to see in such a way. agile and efficient.
What areas of mentoring do you think can bring you more value?
All of them, no matter what experience you have, what you have done before, how many awards, recognitions, mentions or awards you have in the showcase, you can always learn more or better. We try to face the programs in which we participate with an open mind, being aware (although sometimes we get confused) that at any moment, anyone can change you forever.
What would you say to other entrepreneurs who want to launch their project based on the blue economy?
In general, and understanding that you ask me about someone who hasn't released anything yet, I always say the same thing, if you have a passion, if there is something that fills you up completely and you want to earn money for it: work for someone else, be an employee, If it is your passion, you will dedicate time and effort to it and you will receive a salary accordingly, but do not set up a company because you will end up dedicating a very small part of your time to your passion and you will spend the rest of your time doing "entrepreneurial things". If, on the other hand, you are a creative, dynamic, restless person with leadership, start a business and if you lack something, as we all do, look for people who know more than you and pay them well. In addition to this, which is the most important thing for me, it is also not bad to train the skills of: rapid prototyping and easily generating detachment from ideas that do not work.
And in a not so general way and taking into account entrepreneurs with projects based on the Blue Economy, I would say that there is no better place than Cádiz and Incubazul, who have until June 2 to present their projects to the 4th call and that if you want to know more about how the "blue adventure" of a man from Almería in Cádiz is going, you can find me on LinkedIn and ask what they want.
This High Technology Incubator Project for the promotion of innovation and technology transfer to microSMEs in the blue economy sector in Andalusia “[BlueEcoIncuba x Logistical]Tech = ZONA BASE – INCUBAZUL 2.0” is 80% financed by the European Regional Development Fund within the Pluriregional Operational Program of Spain FEDER 2014-2020 OP. “A way of making Europe” within axis 3: Improving the Competitiveness of SMEs, Thematic Objective 3 Improving the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises, and investment priority 3 Promotion of entrepreneurship, in particular, facilitating the economic exploitation of new ideas, and promoting the creation of new companies, also through incubators.”
