Wayra, Telefónica’s startup incubator, is one of the five best business accelerators in the world according to a ranking recently compiled by digital magazine ‘MuyPymes’.

An accelerator is the ideal place to help entrepreneurs who need a jump start in order to move their projects along, and their assistance can represent a vital step to transition technology companies into their growth phase. Accelerators assist young firms and give them access to a network of contacts, as well as helping them to navigate through the changes necessary for their business models to succeed.

The accelerator ranking from digital magazine ‘MuyPymes’ includes three American companies and two from Europe. Highlighted among the European firms is Wayra, which was founded in 2011 by Spanish telecommunications group Telefónica. Wayra focuses on startups in Continental Europe and Latin America, operating in eleven countries. It has supported successful ventures such as Trustev (a digital identity verification company) and the crowdfunding platform StudentFunder (crowdfunding is a financing initiative which aims to raise funds from its network of backers over the internet).