Advanced Material Future Preparedness Taskforce (AMPT), Fira de Barcelona and the Mobile World Capital Barcelona will jointly launch PUZZLE X next November, a new initiative focused on the use of Materials Deep Tech to build a better and more sustainable future for humanity in line with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Supported by several public administrations, PUZZLE X aims to grasp the potential of Frontier materials to solve some of the challenges that society is facing. The initiative includes a yearly event and a venture builder incubator to support Materials Deep Tech startups, attract investment and build a global ecosystem.

Supported by the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism, the Government of Catalonia and the Barcelona City Council, the first edition of the event will be held on November 16-18 at the Gran Via venue together with Smart City Expo World Congress and Tomorrow.Mobility. It will be structured in three distinct one-day programs: XChange (November 16th), Co-Create (November 17th) and Ignite (November 18th). The three-day event will feature global visionaries and thought leaders in innovation, deep tech science, sustainability, industry, technology investment, private equity and more.

This initiative has been submitted today at MWC Barcelona, by Galo Gutierrez, General Director of Industry and Small and Medium Business of the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism; David Ferrer, Secretary for Digital Policies of the Government of Catalonia; Laia Bonet, Third Deputy Mayor of Barcelona City Council; John Hoffman, CEO of GSMA Ltd; Pau Relat, Chairman of the Governing Board of Fira de Barcelona; and Zina Jarrahi, Director General of the AMPT.

Frontier and advanced materials, including quantum materials, low dimensional materials, 2D materials like graphene, advanced materials, and intelligent composites, have a great impact in industries such as Energy, Mobility, Healthcare, Transportation, Construction, Electronics, Textile and Connectivity, among others, and therefore are great tools to steer innovation aligned with impact and SDGs. To achieve this goal PUZZLE X will focus on four SDGs every year and on 2021 these will be SDG 3, Good Health and Well-being; SDG 9, Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, SDG 11, Sustainable Cities and Communities; and SDG 13, Climate Action.

The Director General of the AMPT, Dr. Zina Jarrahi Cinker, has stated that “frontier materials are the building blocks of the next generation of technologies. PUZZLE X will provide the first collision grounds of Materials Deep Tech and Sustainable Development Goals for harmonious problem solving. There is currently no initiative in the world to bridge this gap and we want to bring together all actors involved to spark ideas, connect the dots, catalyse solutions to use the materials of the future to help our world today.”

PUZZLE X ™ Venture
The goal of PUZZLE X is to go beyond a yearly event and create an environment capable of nurturing disruptive ideas and transform them into tangible useful tools and products. To do so, AMPT will partner with the Mobile World Capital Barcelona (MWCB) to create a venture ecosystem through the MWCB’s Collider program to incubate and accelerate innovative startups in Barcelona with globally scalable solutions. PUZZLE X Venture Barcelona will become the first hub of entrepreneurial activities that will attract Materials Deep Tech companies and talent and establish Barcelona as the epicenter of Frontier Materials and the crossroads with SDGs.

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