Telefónica has today announced a significant development in its alliance with China Unicom and Tsinghua Holdings Technology and Innovation (THTI), with THTI to invest USD 300,000 in Spanish firm Ludei, a product of its Open Future_ accelerator programme. Ludei has previously received investment from Kibo Ventures, through its Amerigo network of funds, which invests in Telefónica Open Future_ startups.
Ludei, a company engaged in simplifying the creation of apps and games for different mobile platforms, is a Spanish startup with 20 employees and offices in Bilbao and San Francisco. Its competitive advantage is that its applications are developed in the HTML 5 programming language, which enables them, after just a few changes, to be used as apps for iOS, Android and Windows Phone. Users only need to upload the apps to the cloud to enable Ludei's platform, CocoonJS, to process them and return them in an app that can be downloaded in Apple, Google or Microsoft stores. This is a flourishing business model as, according to consulting services company Gartner, by the end of 2016, 70% of apps will be based on HTML5. 
This injection of capital will also enable Ludei to launch in China, where it is to open a new office in Beijing. This will give it access to the world's largest market for videogames and applications in general which, according to consultants Newzoo, in 2015 will generate USD 22.2 billion in a country with 700 million smartphones. 
The company has also entered into agreements with partners like Chinese mobile devices maker Xiaomi, and Maxthon, one of the leading browsers in the Asian country, and within the next few weeks expects to access a round of financing amounting to USD 2 million. 
Eneko Knörr, CEO at Ludei, said, “We are very grateful to THTI, China Unicom and Telefónica Open Future_ for this opportunity to enter China, since it is a country where the entire ecosystem of applications based on HTML5 is becoming a reality. In China, they are further ahead than in Silicon Valley in everything concerning the mobile sector”.
“We are very pleased with this, the first investment by THTI in a company in our portfolio, because it clearly shows that the diversification of our portfolio and the commitment we are making to companies offering unique innovative technological solutions is what consumers over the world are demanding. In addition, the fact of being present with brick-and-mortar offices on three continents is of great benefit for the ecosystem we are working with, as it allows them to go international”, added Ana Segurado, director of Telefónica Open Future_.