From the 28th to the 30th of this month, we had the honour of being part of the acclaimed Mobile World Congress 2023 in Shanghai. Spika Tech S.L. stood out with two of our most promising projects: VR-CARDIO and PRAS.
Our team was represented by Fernando Pozo, Operations Director, and Enrique Saiz, head of the Robotics Department. Both shone as ambassadors of the company and, without a doubt, of each of these innovative projects.
Now that they have returned, we are eager to share their impressions of this exciting experience in Shanghai:
- What was the overall reception of the PRAS and VRCARDIO projects?
ENRIQUE
The robot has been received with great interest and amazement among both the visitors and the Spanish delegation. At the congress there were more companies bringing robots, but none of them were mobile robots of these dimensions and characteristics (both aesthetic and functional).
FERNANDO
We liked it a lot, but due to the location of the stand we didn’t have a very large number of visitors. The fact that it was not a specialised health event was also a problem to solve in the message we conveyed.
2. How would you describe the experience of participating in an event as important as MWC Shanghai?
ENRIQUE
The experience has been enriching in all aspects. We have been able not only to get to know how the Asian market works, but also to understand some of the customs and habits of the population, which are key when it comes to selling our products in this market.
FERNANDO
A very enriching experience for any company in our situation.
3. Did you receive any kind of recognition or interest from investors, companies or the media?
ENRIQUE
Several investors were interested in both the VR-CARDIO and PRAS projects. Each of them was given a personalised presentation of the products and we stayed in contact for possible future funding opportunities.
Yes, we conducted interviews and a lot of material was collected by the media managers of the fair. On our side, several investors and companies showed interest in VR-CARDIO and PRAS technology.
4. What were the highlights of your projects during the presentation?
I would highlight several points:
ENRIQUE
- Disruptive projects. All it took was a cursory glance at our products for interest in them to escalate.
- On the VR-CARDIO side, the possibility of visualising heart signals with virtual reality has left more than one person completely amazed.
- On the part of PRAS, the fact of having a robot of such dimensions carrying out tasks in the healthcare field, such as handing out glasses with medicines or taking the temperature of potential patients, offers visitors a disruptive vision of the technological advances in robotics that are about to reach all sectors in the coming years. Many visitors wanted to have their photo taken with the robot, uploading some of these photos to social media.
5. What important learnings or lessons did you take away from your participation in MWC Shanghai?
ENRIQUE
China is a country somewhat different from Western countries in terms of customs and the way of doing business.
One of the important lessons that the PRAS team took away is that, in order to globalise the distribution of our product, it is necessary to work with reliable local distributors. There are companies that are only focused on the distribution of robots on a large scale and we have had the pleasure of contacting Chinese and Japanese distributors.
FERNANDO
It is a short stay where you have to quickly establish contacts and come well prepared to present the product in a direct way. Also, the language barrier (English/Chinese) presented a problem, so it was important to have a Chinese interpreter nearby.
6. Do you think the experience at the event will open up new opportunities or connections in the industry?
ENRIQUE
Without a doubt, the contacts acquired during the congress will be very useful for our business expansion in China.
FERNANDO
Yes, we have met quite a few local entrepreneurs and we have made contacts so that if we have to place our product in the Chinese market, it will be much easier for us.
7. What advice or recommendations would you give to other entrepreneurs who aspire to present their projects at international events such as MWC?
ENRIQUE
Again, several points to mention:
It is definitely worth attending this type of event, not only for the contacts you can make with investors, customers or distributors but also for the contact with the local culture of the country where the congress is held, which is a very enriching aspect if the aim is one day to sell your products in that market.
Have everything related to the trip well tied up, as depending on the country where the event takes place, it will be more or less complicated to arrange entry into the country, flights, hotels, etc. Problems can always arise on the ground, but the more everything is taken care of, the less chance of error there will be.
FERNANDO
Take all the details of the trip very well prepared in terms of knowledge of the market, investors, search for partners, meetings organised, location of the companies.
9. Is there any interesting aspect or detail about the preparation or development of the presentation that you would like to share?
FERNANDO
These are two products through which a society as globalised as China’s can take advantage of their use. This has a direct impact on people’s quality of life, and the effect on a large scale is evident.
10. How would you describe the potential impact of the PRAS and VR-CARDIO projects on industry or society in general?
ENRIQUE
Both projects are disruptive in their fields, Healthcare for VR-CARDIO and Robotics for PRAS.
Although it is true that the current PRAS prototype is focused on the healthcare environment (delivering medicines and taking the temperature of patients), the ultimate goal of the project is to break into the market with a new type of concept in terms of affordable general-purpose robotic platforms, being able to massify its use beyond the manufacturing industries and for the whole of society to benefit from this technology.
FERNANDO
These are two products through which a society as globalised as China’s can take advantage of their use. This has a direct impact on people’s quality of life, and the large-scale effect is evident.
El Mobile World Congress 2023 en Shanghái fue una experiencia excepcional para Spika Tech S.L., donde nuestros proyectos más prometedores, VR-CARDIO y PRAS, se destacaron entre la multitud. Nuestro equipo, representado por Fernando Pozo y Enrique Saiz, brilló como embajadores de la empresa y obtuvimos un gran interés tanto de inversores como de medios de comunicación. Aprendimos valiosas lecciones sobre el mercado asiático y la importancia de establecer contactos locales confiables. Sin duda, esta experiencia abrirá nuevas oportunidades y conexiones en la industria, allanando el camino para nuestra expansión comercial en China. Ambos proyectos son disruptivos y tienen el potencial de impactar positivamente en la sociedad y mejorar la calidad de vida de las personas a gran escala. Estamos emocionados por el futuro y el impacto que estos proyectos pueden tener la industria y en la sociedad en general.
