Wayra

Wayra is a Latin-American and European seed-stage startup funding firm, established in April, 2011 as a division of the Spanish telecommuncations provider Telefónica. "Wayra", is a Quechua word which translates as ‘changing wind’. The firm is part of the recently formed Telefónica Digital Unit. It was launched by Jose Maria Alvarez-Pallete, former Telefónica Latin America CEO and now CEO of Telefónica Europe, in response to the lack of available support for the growing number of innovative start ups in Latin America.