The Cellnex Foundation

What The Cellnex Foundation does

The Cellnex Foundation (Fundación Cellnex) is a Barcelona-based non-profit corporate foundation established in 2021 and wholly backed by Cellnex Telecom, Europe's largest independent telecommunications infrastructure operator. The Foundation's stated mission is to deploy technology and connectivity to reduce digital, social, and territorial divides across Europe, with operational presence in Spain, Italy, France, the United Kingdom, and Portugal. It is governed by a board led by President Lluís Deulofeu and directed operationally by Àngels Ucero, and it holds ISO 27001 certification for information-security management.

The Foundation's core products are program-based rather than commercial. The flagship is Cellnex Bridge, an eight-month startup accelerator that has supported 19 startups across four editions since 2021, offering €15,000 in proof-of-concept funding per startup and ongoing engagement through the Cellnex Bridge Community platform. Complementary programs include Youth Challenge (volunteer-led activities for at-risk youth across four countries, with 84+ activities and 149+ volunteers), Preparando El Futuro (a STEM-focused summer camp for children aged 9-12), and Corporate Volunteering, alongside occasional collaborations with cultural, environmental, and heritage organizations such as SEO BirdLife, Castell de Peralada, and Abadía Montserrat.

The business model is non-commercial: the Foundation does not charge beneficiaries, generate revenue from programs, or price services. Its funding flows from parent Cellnex Telecom and from programmatic partners, including co-founders AticcoLab and Innuba for the accelerator. Beneficiaries are vulnerable or underserved populations — children, youth at risk, people with disabilities, rural communities, and low-employability groups — and the Foundation's "customers" in the traditional sense are the startups it incubates and the partner ecosystem it animates. Distribution leverage comes primarily from the Cellnex Telecom parent and from institutional venues such as Mobile World Congress 2025.

Name

The Cellnex Foundation

Legal name

Fundación The Cellnex Foundation

Website

https://thecellnexfoundation.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Cellnex Foundation is a Barcelona-based non-profit launched in 2021 by Cellnex Telecom that uses connectivity and technology to reduce digital, social, and territorial divides across Spain, Italy, France, the UK, and Portugal through programs including the Cellnex Bridge startup accelerator, Youth Challenge, and Preparando El Futuro.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Corporate Foundation Services

NAICS

Social Assistance (624), Child and Youth Services (62411), Civic and Social Organizations (813410)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Digital Inclusion & Civic Tech (Connectivity, GovTech for Social Good) (BPAGALAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

Community Foundations (BPAGAKAB)

Keywords

• Digital inclusion programs
• Social impact accelerator
• Corporate foundation services
• STEM youth education
• Rural connectivity initiatives

Headquarters

HQ city

Barcelona

HQ country

Spain

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Foundation funding from Cellnex Telecom: The Cellnex Foundation operates as the corporate foundation of Cellnex Telecom. The foundation receives funding from Cellnex to carry out its social mission of reducing digital, social, and territorial gaps through technology and connectivity programs.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Cellnex Foundation delivers social impact programs that use connectivity and technology to reduce digital, social, and territorial divides. Its flagship offering is Cellnex Bridge, an 8-month acceleration program for social impact startups providing mentorship, business support, and €15,000 PoC funding per startup, complemented by own programs for vulnerable youth (Youth Challenge and Preparando El Futuro), corporate volunteering, and occasional collaborations with other foundations and NGOs.

Product overview

The Cellnex Foundation operates as a corporate foundation focused on using technology and connectivity to reduce digital, social, and territorial gaps. Its primary product is Cellnex Bridge, an 8-month startup acceleration program for social impact ventures. The Foundation also runs own programs (Preparando El Futuro, Youth Challenge), corporate volunteering initiatives, and joint programs with strategic partners. The portfolio is organized around four pillars: own programs, joint programs, corporate volunteering, and specific collaborations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Cellnex Bridge: An 8-month acceleration programme for social impact startups that work on reducing digital, social, and territorial divides and contributing to environmental sustainability.
• Youth Challenge
• Preparando el Futuro
• Cellnex Bridge Community

Products and services

• Cellnex Bridge An 8-month startup acceleration program for early-stage social impact ventures that use connectivity and technology to reduce digital, social, or territorial divides and contribute to environmental sustainability. Selected startups receive mentorship, business support, €15,000 proof-of-concept funding, and access to Demo Day and Mobile World Congress visibility. The program is delivered directly by The Cellnex Foundation with strategic partners AticcoLab and Innuba.
• Preparando El Futuro Free summer camp for children aged 9-12 focused on technology and computational thinking, teaching programming, robotics, digital skills, and creative thinking in a rural setting such as Puig-reig. The program is intended to spark STEM interest at an early age for children from vulnerable contexts.
• Youth Challenge Volunteer-based program that accompanies and trains at-risk secondary school students to reduce school abandonment and increase employability through career fairs, individual mentoring, workshops, and workplace visits. Currently operating in Spain, Italy, France, and the United Kingdom with partners including Fundación Exit, Fundación United Way, CIAPE, S'Orienter Ensemble, and Education Business Partnership.
• Cellnex Bridge Community Community platform that connects startups, organizations, and experts from all Cellnex Bridge editions, enabling participants to share experiences, access resources, and maintain ongoing collaboration beyond the formal acceleration cycles.
• Corporate Volunteering Programs Corporate volunteering initiatives that engage Cellnex Telecom employees and former collaborators in social impact projects, including Volunteer Days, mentoring, workshops, and community support activities tied to the foundation's programs.
• Specific Collaborations Project-based collaborations with other foundations and NGOs that provide economic, technical, or human resources for high-social-value projects. Active examples include digitization of the Castell de Peralada Festival archive (50,000+ files), IoT-enabled Smart Sanctuary at Abadía de Montserrat 2025, CO2 capture support for Greennova, bird conservation with SEO BirdLife, social integration land work with Formació i Treball, and office furniture redistribution through Associació Cívica La Nau.

Quantifiable outcome

• 19 startups supported since 2021 with €15,000+ funding each
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 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

AI capability9 records

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Fundación SEO BirdLifeminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2023Collaboration with Cellnex Telecom and Cellnex Spain for conservation of wild birds and their habitat in Spain and Portugal, focusing on agro-steppe species.
• Fundación Abadía de Montserrat 2025minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 March 2022Patronage agreement to transform Montserrat into a Smart Sanctuary with IoT systems for capacity, parking, intrusion, and air quality management. Includes mobile voice and data coverage improvement.
• Fundación GreennovaminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Financial contribution to Greennova's CAPTACO2 and GRAFECO2 projects for atmospheric CO2 capture, contributing to climate change mitigation.
• Fundació Formació i TreballminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Social integration partnership for land clearing and maintenance at Cellnex rural installations, employing people at risk of social exclusion.
• Associació Cívica La NauminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Partnership to donate office furniture to social organizations, with over 1,500 items distributed to around 100 entities.
• Fundación Castell de PeraladaminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 October 2021Collaboration to digitize the 35-year documentary archive of the Castell de Peralada Festival, including over 50,000 searchable files. The foundation provides material and human resources for the digital transformation.
• AticcoLabcoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 1 July 2021AticcoLab is the startup accelerator partner for Cellnex Bridge program. They provide mentorship from their network of entrepreneurship experts and open innovation specialists. The partnership has been active across all 4 editions of the program.
• InnubacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 July 2021Innuba is the social innovation consultancy partner for Cellnex Bridge. They bring expertise in social entrepreneurship and impact measurement, contributing to the program's methodology and mentoring framework.
• Fundación United WayminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Partner in Youth Challenge program for youth career guidance and STEM education in Spain.
• Fundación ExitminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Partner in Youth Challenge program supporting youth at risk of school dropout in Spain.
• Centro Italiano per l'Apprendimento Permanente (CIAPE)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Italian partner in Youth Challenge program for youth career guidance initiatives.
• S'Orienter EnsembleminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021French partner in Youth Challenge program for youth orientation activities.
• Education Business PartnershipminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021UK partner in Youth Challenge program for youth career guidance in Britain.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Fundación "la Caixa": Spain's largest private foundation running broad social, educational, and research programs including digital-divide and employability initiatives. Operates at materially larger scale than The Cellnex Foundation but addresses overlapping beneficiary segments.

Direct peers

• Wayra (Telefónica): Telefónica's global corporate-backed startup accelerator network. Directly comparable to Cellnex Bridge: telecom-corporate sponsorship, equity-free acceleration, structured cohorts, and demo-day showcases for early-stage ventures.
• Fundación Ship2B: Spanish non-profit foundation that accelerates impact startups and connects them with corporate and institutional capital. Directly comparable to Cellnex Bridge as a social-innovation accelerator operating in Spain with corporate sponsorship.
• Vodafone Foundation: UK-headquartered corporate foundation of Vodafone running the Vodafone Discover and Connected Sustainability programmes across Europe and Africa. Direct peer in scale, scope, and digital-inclusion mission tied to a major European telecom operator.
• BBVA Microfinance Foundation: Spanish banking-sector foundation promoting financial inclusion and social-impact entrepreneurship with structured programs for vulnerable populations and impact measurement frameworks. Similar nonprofit-foundation structure using corporate parent resources.
• Fondation Orange: Corporate foundation of Orange (French telecom operator) running digital-inclusion, women's digital training, and health programs across Africa and Europe. Closest French telecom-corporate-foundation analogue with similar programmatic pillars.
• Fundación Telefónica: Spanish corporate foundation of Telefónica focused on digital inclusion, education, and employability—directly comparable mission and operating model to The Cellnex Foundation, including vocational training and digital-skills programs for vulnerable youth in Spain.

Emerging players

• Impact Hub Network: Global network of impact-focused innovation hubs and accelerators supporting social entrepreneurs in over 100 cities. Comparable as a complementary ecosystem player for early-stage social ventures that may emerge from or feed into Cellnex Bridge.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/CellnexFndn
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/thecellnexfoundation

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments5 records

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

Frequently asked questions about The Cellnex Foundation