Andrés Saborido's appointment comes as the corporate venturing group seeks closer alignment with the parent company.
Andrés Saborido is the new CEO of Wayra, Spanish telecommunications company Telefónica’s corporate venturing arm. He takes over from Irene Gomez, who has led the CVC since 2020.
Saborido was the part of the founding team at Wayra, which was set up in 2011 and has invested in 1,200 startups.
Saborido was the managing director of Wayra Global since 2020. He was responsible for direct investments in Brazil, Spain, the UK and Germany.
He was also the director of Wayra Spain for six years and the founder and director of Wayra Argentina before that.
The new hire comes as Wayra seeks to “strengthen its alignment” with parent company Telefónica. The CVC will prioritise investments with a direct impact on internal innovation and will concentrate on key markets and technologies for the group, according to a release.
Key investment areas for Wayra will be cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, networks, communications and user experience.
Wayra has more than 520 startups in its portfolio, making it one of the most prolific corporate investors.
See Wayra’s recent startup deals in the CVC Funding Round Database
