Roundup of the first ever SEC2U (Startup Europe Comes to Universities) week!
The first ever Startup Europe Comes to Universities (SEC2U) week has come to an end, with over 35 universities taking part, across 18 countries.
Startup Europe Comes to Universities (SEC2U) is a cross-border initiative that aims to showcase the commitment of European universities to create a culture of entrepreneurship and facilitate connection between the academic and entrepreneurial community.
In particular, it hopes to bring together universities, entrepreneurs, local government and local business people on university campuses across Europe. It is coordinated by the Startup Europe University Network and comes under the umbrella of Startup Europe, a European Commission initiative.
For this first edition of SEC2U, the participating universities hosted 38 different entrepreneurship events on their campuses, all during the same period, between 17th & 21st of October.
The grand opening
The first ever edition of SEC2U was kicked off on 17th October with an event in Brussels at the EBN.
After opening the event and introducing the SEC2U initiative, there was a roundtable entitled “What is the role of Universities in the startup and entrepreneurial ecosystems development?”
The week saw a great diversity of events, with the following universities taking part:
Albania: European University of Tirana
Austria: WU – Vienna University of Economics and Business
Belgium: EBN
Croatia: Algebra University College
Cyprus: European University Cyprus, University of Cyprus
Germany: Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg
Greece: Technological Educational Institute of Western Greece, Athens University of Economics and Business
Hungary: EötvösLoránd University
The Netherlands: Maastricht University
Ireland: Dublin City University
Israel: Bar Ilan University
Italy: Polytechnic University of Milan (Creative Industries Lab), Roma Tre University – Department of Engineering
Kosovo: Universum College
Lithuania: Mykolas Romeris University & ISM University of Management and Economics
Portugal: NOVA University of Lisbon, University of Lisbon – Faculty of Sciences
Romania: University Politehnica of Bucharest, AlexandruIoan Cuza University of Iasi, Stefan cel Mare University
Spain: University of Salamanca, U-TAD: Centro Universitario de Tecnología y Arte Digital, University of Cantabria (CISE project), Technical University of Cartagena, University of Granada, University of the Basque Country, University of Extremadura, University of Almeria
United Kingdom: Ravensbourne, University of Sheffield, London South Bank University, GSM London & Formation Zone London
Although all of the events were based on entrepreneurship, each University offered its own special perspective. For example, some universities showcased the culture of entrepreneurship within their own locations (their university or city), and others focused on particular expertise such as raising finance, learning from failure and innovative technologies.
A great success!
Overall, SEC2U had more than 2000 participants across 38 events hosted by the 35 participating institutions from 18 countries across Europe.
There were more than 1500 tweets & retweets with the #SEC2U hashtag along the week with a total reach of more than 1 million people!
What they said
It was very interesting and inspired me
I could talk face to face with young startuppers, they were so enthusiastic about their ideas
The speeches were really exciting
All in all it was a brilliant week which saw some excellent events and we hope to see you next year!
Useful information:
Startup Europe University Network: www.startupeuropeuniversities.eu
Startup Europe: startupeuropeclub.eu
SEC2U contact: Matevz Gantar, University of Salamanca / BISITE Accelerator
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