4YFN

What 4YFN does

4YFN (4 Years From Now) is an annual startup event and networking platform operated by GSMA, the global mobile industry trade association, co-located with MWC Barcelona at Fira Gran Via. The platform serves three primary customer segments: startups and scale-ups seeking funding and partnerships, investors (VCs, angels, corporate venture arms) sourcing deal flow, and corporates scouting innovation and emerging technology. A fourth segment, public entities and delegations, leverages 4YFN to attract foreign investment and showcase regional startup ecosystems.

The core product is an exhibition and networking platform hosting over 1,000 startup exhibitors whose investors collectively represent more than €70 billion in funds, supplemented by four supporting modules: the 4YFN Awards pitch competition (€20,000 grand prize, five thematic tracks), 700+ curated one-to-one meetings engineered by the 4YFN team around attendee goals (over 60% between startups and investors), a digital agenda spanning 110 hours of content across 300+ speakers and 260+ startup pitches, and regional meetups such as the 4YFN Madrid Roadshow. The underlying technology is described as digital infrastructure for event management, attendee networking, and meeting coordination rather than a standalone software product.

4YFN's business model combines event participation fees (exhibition booths and registrations) with corporate sponsorship revenue. Sponsorship is structured in tiers: Banco Sabadell and CaixaBank as Main Sponsors, EY as Theme Headline Sponsor, ACCIO (Government of Catalonia), ICEX, MWC, and BCA as Host Sponsors, and GSMA Foundry as 4YFN Awards Prize Sponsor. The platform is funded and controlled by GSMA, a private member-funded trade association rather than a venture-backed or publicly listed company, which means revenue is not publicly disclosed and financial reporting operates outside standard corporate disclosure norms. The 4YFN27 edition is scheduled for March 1-4, 2027, continuing the annual event cadence that has built a 10+ year alumni community of award-winning startups.

Name

4YFN

Legal name

GSMA (GSM Association)

Website

https://4YFN.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Barcelona

HQ country

Spain

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Event Participation Fees: Revenue generated from startups, exhibitors, and attendees paying to participate in the 4YFN event. This includes exhibition booth fees and registration charges.
2. Sponsorship Revenue: Corporate sponsors pay to align their brand with the 4YFN event and startup ecosystem. Sponsors include Banco Sabadell (Main Sponsor), Caixa Bank, EY (Theme Headline Sponsor), ACCIO (Host Sponsor), ICEX, and GSMA Foundry.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

4YFN operates an annual startup-focused event and exhibition platform held alongside MWC Barcelona at Fira Gran Via, providing founders, scaleups, investors, and corporates with exhibition space, curated one-to-one investor meetings, themed content tracks, and a flagship pitch competition (4YFN Awards). It sells access, exhibition packages, and sponsorship rights to participating startups, venture investors, and corporate partners seeking deal flow and innovation scouting opportunities.

Product overview

4YFN (4 Years From Now) is an independent startup event and platform organized by the GSMA, run alongside the Mobile World Congress (MWC) Barcelona at Fira de Barcelona Gran Via. The core offering is an exhibition and networking platform for startups, investors, and corporates, enabling deal flow, startup scaling, and business outcomes. The portfolio consists of a core exhibitor/startup platform (hosting 1,000+ startup exhibitors with €70 billion+ in collective funds), supplemented by the 4YFN Awards pitch competition (with a €20,000 grand final prize), five Curated Tracks (Climate Tech, Digital Horizons, Fintech, Health Tech, Mobile Frontiers) feeding finalists into the awards, Curated Meetings pre-scheduled by the 4YFN team to connect startups and investors, and regional meetups such as the 4YFN Madrid Roadshow. The event attracts 105,000+ total attendees across both 4YFN and MWC, with over 2,600 media and industry analysts in attendance.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• 4YFN Awards: Startup pitch competition awarding €20,000 cash prize to the grand final winner, with tracks in Climate Tech, Digital Horizons, Fintech, Health Tech, and Mobile Frontiers.
• 4YFN Madrid Roadshow

Products and services

• 4YFN Awards A flagship startup pitch competition held as part of the 4YFN event, providing selected early-stage and growth-stage startups with a high-visibility stage to present to investors, corporates, and the broader MWC audience. Winners receive recognition and ecosystem visibility within the global mobile startup community.
• 4YFN Exhibition Platform The main exhibition floor and booth program at 4YFN, providing startups, scaleups, and country pavilions with branded physical exhibition space and access to the MWC Barcelona attendee base. Sold as paid booth and pavilion packages.
• 4YFN Curated Meetings A curated one-to-one matchmaking program that pre-schedules meetings between exhibiting startups and registered venture investors during the 4YFN event. Sold as part of investor and startup participation packages.
• 4YFN Curated Tracks Themed content tracks featuring curated speaker sessions, panels, and workshops within the 4YFN event, organized around specific technology or industry themes relevant to the mobile and startup ecosystem.
• 4YFN Madrid Roadshow A regional satellite event under the 4YFN brand held in Madrid, extending the startup and investor programming to a separate Spanish market. Provides participating startups and investors with a regional extension of the flagship Barcelona event.

Quantifiable outcome

• 4YFN Awards alumni have gone on to secure major funding rounds and global partnerships after participation
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core, main sponsor, sponsor, theme headline sponsor, host sponsor, 4yfn awards prize sponsor and event partner.

• Ukrainian Startup FundcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 2 March 2026The Ukrainian Startup Fund supported Ukrainian startup participation at MWC/4YFN Barcelona, organizing the UAtech Venture Night side event with support for 9 Ukrainian startups to participate in the MWC Open Innovation Challenge and Startup Pitch Competition.
• Banco Sabadellmain sponsorGTM or Marketing PartnerBanco Sabadell serves as the Main Sponsor of 4YFN. Through its bstartup brand, the bank supports the startup ecosystem and gains visibility among the entrepreneur and investor community at the event.
• Caixa BanksponsorGTM or Marketing PartnerCaixa Bank supports 4YFN as a sponsor, aligning its DayOne startup-focused initiative with the event's ecosystem of entrepreneurs and investors.
• EY (Ernst & Young)theme headline sponsorGTM or Marketing PartnerEY serves as Theme Headline Sponsor of 4YFN, providing thought leadership content and gaining access to innovative startups for potential advisory and consulting engagements.
• ACCIO (Government of Catalonia)host sponsorGTM or Marketing PartnerACCIO, the government of Catalonia's agency for business competitiveness, serves as Host Sponsor, promoting Catalonia as a hub for innovation and supporting local ecosystem development.
• GSMA Foundry4yfn awards prize sponsorGTM or Marketing PartnerGSMA Foundry sponsors the 4YFN Awards, providing prizes and programming that connect winning startups with the broader GSMA mobile ecosystem.
• Glovoevent partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerGlovo provided its Barcelona office as the venue for UAtech Venture Night, a Ukrainian startup pitching event coinciding with MWC/4YFN Barcelona. This demonstrates 4YFN's role as a platform enabling ecosystem building activities.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Web Summit: Lisbon-based annual tech and startup conference that brings together founders, investors, and corporates globally. Closely comparable in audience (startups/VCs/corporates), revenue model (sponsorships + exhibitor fees), and curated-meetings focus, making it 4YFN's most direct global competitor outside the MWC ecosystem.
• TechCrunch Disrupt: Flagship startup conference operated by TechCrunch featuring a startup pitch competition and major investor/corporate participation. Directly comparable to 4YFN on the startup-pitch-meets-investor format, awards competition, and founder-attendee base.
• Slush: Helsinki-founded annual startup event with strong investor and founder attendance across the Nordics and globally. Comparable in mission (connecting founders to capital and corporate partners), startup-pitch competition, and curated networking model, though with a colder-climate positioning vs. 4YFN's Barcelona setting.
• Collision Conference: Web Summit's North American startup and tech conference, operating with the same attendee profile (founders, investors, corporates) and sponsorship-driven business model. Effectively a regional peer in the broader Web Summit portfolio competing against 4YFN for international attendees and sponsors.
• VivaTech: Paris-based annual startup and tech event co-organized by Publicis Groupe and Les Echos, bringing together startups, investors, and large corporates across Europe. Comparable in audience (startups/VCs/corporates), sponsorship model, and curated meeting programming, making it a direct European competitor.

Broad incumbents

• South by Southwest (SXSW): Austin-based long-running tech, music, and film festival with a sizeable startup/innovation programming track. Comparable as a large-scale multi-track event with corporate sponsors and startup visibility, though broader in scope (not startup-exclusive) than 4YFN.
• CES (Consumer Electronics Show): Annual Las Vegas consumer technology trade show owned and operated by the Consumer Technology Association. Comparable as a massive technology industry exhibition with global attendance, but it is broader in scope (consumer electronics vs. startups) and serves as an incumbent trade show rather than a startup-focused event.
• GITEX Global: Dubai-based large-scale technology and startup exhibition with strong investor and corporate presence. Comparable as a global tech trade show with a dedicated startup/investor program, but its geographic focus (Middle East, Africa, South Asia) makes it more of a regional competitor than a direct overlap with 4YFN's Barcelona positioning.

Regional players

• Mobile World Capital Barcelona: Barcelona-based public-private foundation continuing MWC-related ecosystem programs in the city year-round. Highly relevant as the local ecosystem partner and host of MWC's legacy activities in Barcelona, but operates as a foundation driving city-level innovation programs rather than as a competing event business.

Emerging players

• TechCrunch Startup Battlefield: TechCrunch's flagship startup pitch competition embedded within TechCrunch Disrupt, awarding cash prizes and global media exposure. Directly comparable to the 4YFN Awards competition format (pitch competition, prize, investor exposure, alumni outcomes) but operating as a content/IP property rather than a standalone event.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses3 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/4YFN_MWC
• Facebookfacebook.com/FourYearsFromNow
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/4yfn---4-years-from-now

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments1 record

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about 4YFN