At a gala event in the Portuguese town of Sabrosa, Aumentur won the award in the "Culture, Entertainment and Tourism" category of the "Culture, Entertainment and Tourism" awards. 5th Magellan-Elcano AwardsThese international awards aim to highlight the efforts of those entrepreneurial projects that entail a high degree of innovation and social commitment and that, in doing so, are capable of inducing positive changes in society.

In the words of Sol Barbado, co-director of LabME Social Innovation and director of the Magellan-Elcano Awards ".the awards recognise the creativity, perseverance and commitment of those who meet the challenges of our society with innovative solutions".. In the case of the "Culture, Entertainment and Tourism" category, special value was placed on the commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically SDG 9 (Industry, innovation and infrastructure) and SDG 17 (Partnerships to achieve the goals), in addition to aspects such as leadership, differentiation, social impact and international influence of the project.

Javier Melero, co-founder of Aumentur, at the awards ceremony thanked the technical committee for having valued the social transformation proposed by the app with its new proposal in the way of doing tourism, allowing visitors to learn about the history and traditions of large cities and rural destinations with their own mobile phone, and stressed that "... the app is a great tool to help visitors to discover the history and traditions of rural and urban destinations.the SDGs are so embedded in Aumentur's project that we realised this two years after we started, when an expert pointed out that our vision and values were fully aligned with at least eight of the Sustainable Development Goals.".

During the 4th International Congress on Social Innovation LABMEwhich took place in Vila Real (Portugal) prior to the awards gala, Melero was able to present Aumentur as "...the best way to promote Aumentur".the technological solution for smart destinations, providing a comprehensive response to the needs of tourists when visiting destinations and territories.". Thanks to the platform model proposed by Aumentur, the co-founder of Aumentur stressed, ".territories generate synergies between them and emotional connections with visitors, impacting positively on the local population and economic development"..

The innovative nature of the tourism solution, which makes extensive use of the latest advances in artificial intelligence (AI), geolocation and multimedia (audio, immersive videos, augmented reality and 3D models), as well as the integrated proposal for the different types of public targeted by tourism and culture, seems to have been decisive in the decision of the jury of these prestigious international awards. A cutting-edge technology on a world level which, as Melero pointed out, "...is a technology that has been used by many people in the world.is available to all destinations, large or small, thanks to the platform model offered, which is also an innovation in the sector.".

About Aumentur

Aumentur is a technological platform whose app, free for iOS and Android, is consolidating its position as a national technological benchmark. The mobile application, which already has more than 60,000 users, offers detailed information on the points of interest of more than 600 destinations, with interactive routes and guides with advanced multimedia content such as videos or 3D models, to explore destinations in an autonomous and enriching way. Children can also discover the culture and history of the places they visit with Aumentur, with gamified routes with quizzes and games that make knowledge more accessible.

Aumentur has been part of the Smart Tourist Destination Network's catalogue of solutions since its launch in 2021, and has won awards at the main international tourism forums, such as the Tourism Innovation Summit 2024 and FITUR 2023.

Magellan-Elcano Awards

The Magallanes-Elcano Awards are organised annually by Labme Social Innovation, and in this edition have been supported by the Municipal Chamber of Sabrosa, Regia Douro Park (Science and Technology Park of Vila Real), Fundación Andalucía Emprende and the Department of University, Innovation and Research of the Regional Government of Andalusia, to support the best entrepreneurs in Spain, Portugal and Latin America who solve social and environmental challenges. In the four previous editions, 28 of the more than 400 projects submitted have received awards.

The technical committee that evaluated the applications was made up of social innovation and entrepreneurship professionals from Spain and Portugal, as well as accelerator managers and university professors.

Along with Aumentur, the following projects have been awarded in this 5th Edition of the Magallanes-Elcano Awards: Digitalitza't (l'Hospitalet, Catalonia), Cientista Regressa à Escola (Portugal), Yenxa_eco (Noáin, Navarra), Projeto Calisense (Aveiro, Portugal), and Lista Rural (Seville, Andalusia). The winner of the First Magellan-Elcano 2024 Social Innovation Award was the biomedical solution Flamingo Biomechanical Lab from Cordoba.