Duke of York launches Wayra Enternships startup careers fair

HRH The Duke of York talking to new startup founders at a recent Wayra Academy day

A twist on the traditional careers fair format, the event connected undergraduates and graduates from the UK’s top universities with the very best digital startups at London’s Wayra Academy.

This comes in recognition of that fact that careers fairs are an increasingly popular platform for many startups wanting to offer opportunities for a new generation.

Applicants were given the opportunity to come face-to-face and with tech founders, CTOs and other employees at the Academy and were able to see firsthand exactly what it would be like to work for a Wayra-accelerated team.

The Duke of York met with a number of Wayra Enternships hopefuls, as well as touring the Academy, talking to startups from the 2012 and 2013 Wayra programme and speaking to attendees on the importance of nurturing young talent and enterprise in the UK.

His Royal Highness’s visit was part of his continued focus on supporting initiatives that promote entrepreneurship and encourage young people to pursue business ventures.

Rajeeb Dey, founder and CEO of Enternships, said: “We are honoured to have The Duke of York in attendance today and it is immensely exciting to have him championing the work we’re doing. Not only does it show his passion for ensuring the youth of the UK have access to interesting, fulfilling and genuinely rewarding opportunities, it is confirmation of the fact that there’s never been a more important time to support our graduates and startups. We are excited about the potential in connecting our young entrepreneurs with brilliant student talent and, as the Wayra Enternships platform continues to grow, we hope this message and mission reaches ambitious young people across the UK.”

Ronan Dunne, CEO of Telefónica UK commented: “Initiative’s such as this one are incredibly important if we are to help nurture and develop the next generation and empower them to reap the benefits of technology. Telefónica’s Millennial Survey reveals that 76% of the millennial generation believes an understanding of technology makes it easier to get a job and that UK millennials value their digital literacy more than those in any other nation. Wayra Enternships provides the perfect platform to help drive our economic recovery by partnering young talent with the very best digital start-ups in the UK.”

Wayra Enternships was created to give young people the chance to work for the most incredible digital startups in the world, housed at Wayra Academies across Europe in London, Munich, Dublin and later this year Prague. Interns will also find opportunities with Wayra alumni, whose growing enterprises are fostering the next generation of talented young people. There are also several highly competitive internships within the academies themselves, working for Wayra.

Waya forms part of Telefónica’s recent commitment to help develop entrepreneurship among young people across Europe. Within its 2015 targets, Telefónica pledged to build a Telefónica Think Big community of more than 300,000 young people working to build a more entrepreneurial Europe.