Founders in Telefonica's London startup nursery have raised over £22 million this year

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Little Riot Joanna Montgommery

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Little Riot founder Joanna Montgomery is currently in the Wayra incubator.

Startups at Telefónica's startup nursery in London have raised $34.1 million (£22.4 million) so far this year, Wayra told Business Insider today. That's more than 50% of the total amount raised by all the startups that have enrolled in Wayra's company building programme over the last three years.

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But startups at some of the other London incubators appear to be raising more. For example, startups at Google's London incubator raised £34 million in 2013.

Total investment in Wayra UK companies now stands at $61 million (£40.1 million).

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Startups in Wayra, situated just off Tottenham Court Road in Central London, have also secured $5.1 million (£3.4 million) through contracts with Telefónica.

In return for an equity stake, Wayra gives startups up to $50,000 (£33,000), a place to work, mentors, business partners, access to its network, and the opportunity to reach Telefónica customers.

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Startups currently in the Wayra programme include the likes of invoice app Albert and Scottish startup Little Riot, which is currently trying to raise capital on Kickstarter for its device that allows couples in long distance to relationships to hear their partner's heartbeat as they fall asleep.

Gary Stewart, director of Wayra UK & Wayra UnLtd, said: "Corporates that want to avoid being disrupted are eagerly seeking new innovation models. Telefónica was at the forefront of this movement, and it's great to see that the results are now beginning to speak for themselves.

"What's even more pleasing is that this isn't restricted to any one country. Qudini, for example, came through Wayra UK and has now been selected as our preferred queue management solution in stores across 17 countries."

Wayra UK's demoDay will be held at the startup academy on Wednesday. Following the event, Wayra will accept 19 new companies into its cohort.

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