The start-ups range from a real-time dating service (TrueView) and an educational teaching tool (Night Zookeeper), to a foodie social network (Epicurely) and new software that turns pictures into passwords (PixelPin).

The selection follows three days of intensive pitching by 30 shortlisted start-ups to a panel of nine judges including venture capitalist and founder of Smarta.com, Shaa Wasmund, CEO of Enternships.com and Co-Founder of StartUp Britain, Raj Dey, and corporate finance partner at KPMG, Mark Farlow.

"The selected businesses not only give an insight into the breadth of imagination and innovation in the UK, but also deliver confirmation that the UK has a strong pipeline of talent capable of building the future digital economy that will deliver growth and jobs," said Wasmund.

Later this month, the 16 successful start-ups will embark on a six-month residency in the , located in central London. They will receive financing, mentoring, access to technology tools and expertise as well as links into a network of entrepreneurs from Wayra's other accelerator academies.

At the end of the six-month programme, the start-ups will be introduced to a network of venture capitalists for next stage funding. In exchange for initial financing, Telefnica receives the right of first refusal on products, but it does not require the entrepreneurs to give it exclusivity.