“La Comisión Europea crea un mapa que conecta a todos los actores del emprendimiento”
“La Comisión Europea ha lanzado Startup Europe Map, una iniciativa que aspira a conectar al conjunto de actores relacionados con el emprendimiento en el ámbito europeo. Explica el organismo comunitario que Europa “brinda un panorama muy interesante para las startups”, pero recuerda que la colaboración y conexión entre todos los actores implicados es “crucial para crear un entorno competitivo”.
Advierte la Comisión que el marco europeo hay “mucho talento”, pero su dispersión ocasiona que en no pocas ocasiones sea “complicado” para los emprendedores desarrollar su idea por falta de conexiones con otros actores que puedan colaborar en el proceso de creación y desarrollo de una startup.
El programa Startup Europe es una iniciativa de la Comisión Europea que tiene como misión fortalecer el entorno referido a las startups dentro de la Unión Europea a través de diferentes proyectos y eventos. En su seno, el Startup Europe Map es uno de sus proyectos y tiene como objetivo la conexión de todos los actores como startups, inversores, aceleradoras, incubadoras, universidades, administraciones públicas y espacios de co-working a través de toda Europa.
Lo hace, entre otras razones, por que la colaboración resulta enriquecedora para todos los actores implicados, ayuda a los inversores a encontrar oportunidades y a las startups a encontrar apoyo para desarrollar sus proyectos, promueve las buenas prácticas empresariales y la transparencia y entiende que la creación de startups y su desarrollo genera riqueza económica y trae consigo nuevos puestos de trabajo.
Agrega la Comisión que la creación de un ecosistema conectado en Europa es una ventaja competitiva para crecer como potencia en innovación y para ayudar a la internacionalización de las startups en otros lugares como África, India o Estados Unidos donde el proyecto persigue continuar.”
Retrieved from Todostartups.com
STARTIFY7: “Los finalistas de STARTIFY7 visitan Bruselas para la fase final”
ALMERÍA.- Trece participantes del Campus de Verano de la Universidad de Almería, para el desarrollo del Emprendimiento, celebrado en el marco del programa Startify7, y financiado por la Comisión Europea, han sido seleccionados para la fase final del proyecto. Hasta Bruselas han acudido durante los pasados 5, 6 y 7 de octubre para presentar sus proyectos ante un panel de aceleradoras, business angels e inversores institucionales.
El programa Startify7 es fruto del trabajo conjunto de 12 universidades y centros de fomento del emprendimiento en toda Europa. Ha desarrollado 7 campus de verano en 7 ciudades distintas con el fin de desarrollar las capacidades emprendedoras de los jóvenes europeos a través de un enfoque aplicado y basado en el trabajo en equipo. Cada uno de los campus de verano ha desarrollado proyectos alrededor de un área tecnológica distinta.
Así, en el campus de Almería, organizado por profesores de la Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales el pasado mes de julio, 50 participantes de 26 nacionalidades distintas investigaron y desarrollaron soluciones emprendedoras en el ámbito de las simulaciones, la realidad virtual y aumentada.
Los equipos almerienses finalmente galardonados en la fase final de Bruselas han sido:
- Dresy, una solución de realidad aumentada que permite probar la ropa virtualmente en las compras por internet
- Vrehab, un servicio de rehabilitación para niños con parálisis cerebral a través de juegos en realidad virtual
- Relieve, una solución que permitirá a las ONGs mostrar las condiciones de vida en los campos de refugiados a la sociedad a través de paseos de realidad virtual
- ArStory, un software de realidad aumentada que permitirá a los turistas contemplar los monumentos en ruinas en todo su esplendor.
Tres estudiantes almerienses forman parte de estos equipos finalistas que asistieron a la fase final en Bruselas en la que recibieron formación especializada en la financiación de startups tecnológicas y han tenido la oportunidad de defender sus proyectos ante un panel de expertos e inversores. Toda la información sobre este evento puede seguirse en la web: www.startify7.eu
Retrieved from: Teleprensa, Almería edition (Spain).
CREA ICT BUSINESS IDEA CONTEST @ SMAU Milan, 27th October 2016
The European Competition for business ideas, mixing ICT and Creativity
Are you looking for fresh new ideas in the ICT field? Do you want to meet European Talent aspiring to be the entrepreneurs of tomorrow? Do you wish to engage in productive networking with European incubators and business angels? Then join the CREA Business Idea Contest @ SMAU 2016. Young talent that have gone through intensive training will present their ideas in 3 minute pitches and will be reviewed by an expert jury.
We are also still looking for new incubators and accelerators in Europe that would like to join the jury and to offer incubation programs for the winners.
Following this, you will be able to ask controversial questions to business angels and incubators in a Crossfire Chat and gain an insight into the way they work.
The three best ideas selected by the jury will finally be awarded during an evening award ceremony.
TARGET
Anyone interested in new ideas and solutions in the ICT field; researchers; business angels and investors; University representatives; HR & talent scouters; incubators and accelerators.
CREA SUMMER ACADEMY EUROPEAN PROJECT
CREA aims to support talented students, who have a real interest in becoming entrepreneurs by combining creativity with ICT. The seven Universities, business support initiatives and incubator partners of CREA have developed a Summer Academy model with a strong focus on creativity and ICT as drivers for the next generation of innovative startups. This program is particularly directed towards University students who find themselves between the idea and incubation phase, by filling a gap in the current incubation and acceleration programs available. Through mentoring and individual coaching, as well as group work and informal talks with successful entrepreneurs, students are accompanied through all the stages needed to build a company.
In the long term, CREA also aims to build a wide European network of universities, incubators and development agencies to further promote entrepreneurship cultures among Europe’s youngest generations.
CREA ICT BUSINESS IDEA CONTEST
@ SMAU Milan
27th October 2016
Hall 1 and 2 Fieramilano City, viale Scarampo Gate 8, Milan
#CREA16
#SEsummer16
More information at www.creasummeracademy.eu
We Start Lisbon – The European conference for students and young web entrepreneurs!
After two successful editions of MY-WAY’s Student Enterprise Conference, the StartupEurope projects DIGISTART and MY-WAY joined efforts to create We Start Lisbon, theEuropean conference for students and young web entrepreneurs.
The one-day event is part of the Startup Europe comes to Universities week and will be held in the Universidade Nova de Lisboa,Portugal on the 21st of October, 2016.
MY-WAY and DIGISTART are EU funded projects which are part of the Startup Europe initiative. Whereas MY-WAY focuses on enhancing and improving the role of student organisations, connecting them with web entrepreneurship initiatives and web/business experts for the benefit of young adults across Europe; DIGISTART’s focus is to provide an Europe-wide web entrepreneurship ecosystem by connecting two local ecosystems (Lisbon and Malmö) in order to help university students to develop business analytical tools for digital startups.
The projects joined forces to create “We Start Lisbon” – an event which will serve as a unique opportunity and meeting point for young entrepreneurs and students willing to launch their business to meet investors, mentors and other key players of the European startup ecosystem, network with peers, and learn new skills to pursue their dream. The event will also host a little job fair, which will connect students and young professionals with promising startups that are currently hiring. A great opportunity to join a fast growing tech company and learn about web entrepreneurship first-hand.
If you want to know more about social entrepreneurship, product development,copywriting, how to pitch investors, how to build a business network, how to raise funding and how to get the attention of the local and international media,then this event is for you!
At “We start Lisbon” you’ll also meet some inspiring female entrepreneurs, learn about how and when to think about internationalisation and get valuable entrepreneurship advice on how to learn from failure.
Register now and become a part of the European web entrepreneurship ecosystem. The event “We start Lisbon” is for free, so don’t hesitate and secure your ticket now!
If you’re a startup founder and currently aiming to grow your team, make sureto contact the “We Start Lisbon” organizers in order to take part in the little jobfair, which is going to take place during the conference. A link to the contact form can be found on the event’s Eventbrite page.
Startup Europe Comes to Universities (SEC2U), which “We Start Lisbon” is part of, is a Europe-wide initiative which engages many European Universities and enables them to exhibit their effort with spreading entrepreneurial culture. TheSEC2U week is going to take place from 17th to 21st of October 2016.
The successes of Startup Olé 2016!
What-a-WEEK! The effort that was put into making Startup Olé such a great event really showed. You could feel the passion on stage, at the fair, in the corridors, and in Salamanca.
This was a great success and we owe it to you – the participants, the volunteers, the speakers, the sponsors, the organisation and everyone who contributed! More than 600 people made their way to Startup Ole to share their ideas and their work – and this is something that will just keep on giving.
You can now take a look at the photos here and we also keep collecting what the press is saying about us – over 100 publications and some very cool videos & interviews too!
Highlights
For a startup event, the most important component is, of course, the Startup Fair.
This is what truly sets the mood, shows you what’s going on, who came, and what there is to see. 100 startups were showcasing their work from many different verticals – from IoT to Travel – Virtual Reality to Fashion! Beer, cats, electric scooters, drones, shoes, humanitarians, games … you name it!
The most ambitious and amazing startups also got the chance to participate in the Startup Pitching – competing for prizes and catching the eye of the investing judges! Learn more about the winners at Startup Olé’s pitching page.
At the fair, the startups, but also the organizations that supported them, such as universities, scientific parks accelerators, and many other ecosystem builders who brought their own projects as the best way to showcase their impact on the startup world.
Startup Europe – one of Startup Olé’s main supporters – brought over 10 different EU projects who work on developing a Pan-European startup ecosystem – showcasing their work at the joint stand. Isidro Laso Ballesteros, leader of the initiative, also presented his view on what have been the highlights and what the future holds for startups and the European Commission.
In the Auditorium, many high level speakers gathered to discuss the main issues for those who work with startups. We can highlight sessions about scaling up in Europe, accessing markets beyond Europe, creating innovation spaces, FinTech and many others.
Accelerator Assembly sessions included panel sessions on the latest trends of acceleration, including corporate involvement in startups. The sessions were from NESTA and invited participants from Fundacion Repsol, Wayra, Iberdrola, ZED, IMPACT Accelerator, ACE Creative, Startup bootcamp & Eleven. Accelerator Assembly brought together more than 50 accelerators who organized several independent activities – “Accelerator Pitching” to help startups get to know different accelerators; Workshop on how to understand, choose and apply to accelerators as well as many office hours throughout the day. More details at the Accelerator Assembly website.
The Opening session gave us high level keynote speakers who showed their commitment and their experience in boosting entrepreneurship. The Closing Session was a chance to give back to the community by awarding the different prizes we gathered for our startups, such as the Recognition Awards.
StartUp Europe Awards winners can be checked here.
Matchmaking & working areas: Over 600 meetings through the matchmaking app, not counting the informal get-togethers and serendipitous encounters!
Participants took advantage of the various networking areas throughout the venue: 1-on-1 meeting rooms, open spaces, cafeteria, etc.
Invite-only networking events were organized for the Salamanca Investors Club, speakers and sponsors, profiting from the good weather to bring together the rainmakers that will help push Salamanca and Europe forward.
So much more happened during the event that it’s impossible to put it all in one post. We invite you to stay in touch, follow us on social media, subscribe to our newsletter and SPREAD THE WORD: Startup Ole 2017 will happen sooner than you think… want to get involved?
StartUp Europe Awards 2016 recognises the best Spanish startups across 9 categories – Startup Olé
- The 9 winning startups from all over Spain are: Ecoche, WaynaBox, BeOnPrice, Human Surge, eKuore, TubEnergy, Komilibro, Apsu, and Discomon- KienMou.
- The selected startups will represent Spain in the European finals of the StartUp Europe Awards to be held in Brussels during 2017.
- The aim of the SEUA 2016 Awards is to highlight local successful models that serve as an example and inspiration for others, and give startups a European dimension.
On Thursday 8 September, the StartUp Europe Awards 2016 recognized 9 startups at the Startup Olé event held in Salamanca, which will go on to represent Spain in the European finals of these awards in Brussels. These startups have previously been recognized in events like ZincShower and Cultural Industries Summit, or in important calls such as H2020 SME Instrument, Climate KIC and Neotec, among others.
The startup ‘BEONPRICE’ won the ‘Startup Pitching International Fair of Entrepreneurship Startup Olé 2016’ award and will therefore represent Spain in the ICT category at SEUA2016 in Brussels. BEONPRICE specializes in Revenue Management technology solutions that help hotels to make business decisions.
The winning startups in Spain are, by category: Ecoche (Environment), WaynaBox (Tourism), BeOnPrice (ICTs), Human Surge (Social), eKuore (Health), TubEnergy (Energy), Komilibro (Creative Industries), Apsu (water), Discomon – KienMou (Cities).
“We want to identify successful models and replicate these across all the local startup ecosystems in Europe. We need these to inspire young people and also help local authorities to develop tailor-made programmes, support programmes and for public-private collaboration. These models will be used many times by external investors to approach local ecosystems”
Isidro Laso, Director of Startup Europe, DG Connect, European Commission.
“Startups generate innovation that improves citizens’ quality of life, social integration, as well as environment and health issues. They prove that anyone in their field can contribute to making progress by taking individual action”
Juan Manuel Revuelta, director of Finnova and StartUp Europe Awards.
StartUp Europe Awards is an initiative promoted by the European Commission and implemented by Finnova, in collaboration with Startup Europe, with the dual purpose of creating an alliance of institutions to support entrepreneurship and innovation and on the other hand, to reward startups across Europe for their work in nine different areas (cities, creative industries, energy, green, social innovation, tourism, ICTs, water and health), across five levels (local, provincial, regional, national and European).
The winners of the StartUp Europe Awards Spain will gain huge visibility across Europe and access to a mentoring programme in Brussels (on European funds, training, visibility, lobbying, etc.), through the Finnova Foundation and the partners of the StartUp Europe Awards, allowing them to develop their projects and make them more viable at a European level.
Press contact
Catalina Valencia
[email protected]
LIFE Project: Money, Team, Customers: Exploring the obstacles faced by European startups- Tech.eu
The LIFE project looks at the different challenges for European startups during their development. Some eye-opening data and conclusions down below:
Tech.eu has been breaking down the findings of a white paper published by the LIFE project, a European Commission-sponsored project that examined the challenges and failures of European startups.
The paper catalogues the obstacles and experiences of entrepreneurs. So far we’ve looked at the supposed skills gap in Europe and the common mistakes made by startups in its very early days, such as finding relevant co-founders and identifying a real problem to solve.
In this post, we’re looking at the specific kinds of challenges that startups meet at the four different phases of their journey – Discovery, Validation, Efficiency, and Growth.
Discovery
The first phase, ‘Discovery’, is where most startups encounter problems (above), perhaps unsurprisingly. Of the startups surveyed, 74% had experienced problems in this phase, mostly in the areas of Team, Money, and Minimal Viable Product (MVP). Other problems included market fit, legal matters, and gaining first clients.
From this data, the LIFE project concluded that – regardless of whether it’s an experienced or first-time entrepreneur – most founders experience problems in this phase.
This led to the creation of the graph below, which drills down further into the data to better represent the kind of problems faced at the ‘Discovery’ stage.
For example, this graph breaks down the 43 problems cited in Team to show that the majority (36) of these matters related to finding talent but collaboration and coordination of employees was a problem too. Similarly, we see a breakdown of data on money problems that shows at ‘Discovery’, these kind of problems pertain more to financial management rather than seeking investment.
Validation
In the ‘Validation’ phase, even more startups recorded problems – 90%. Money, Development and distribution of the product and Team were by far the three biggest obstacles.
According to the survey, Validation is where most startups quit or decide to pivot. This is reflected in the high number of startups that said they faced issues.
The graph above once again breaks down the answers to illustrate the exact kinds of problems startups faced at ‘Validation’. Unlike the previous phase, the split between Money problems is little more even as the pressure to find investment begins. Of the 40 problems cited here, 18 were financial and 22 were investment-related.
Efficiency
It became very clear at the ‘Efficiency’ stage that the vast majority of startups experienced problems at all stages. The graph below shows another high figure, this time 80%, of startups who says they experienced during this phase.
However, the matter gets a little vague at this stage. To wit, 30 complaints were filed under “Other Issues” while Team and Money comes in second and third. The previous phases had clear explanations of the problems – recruitment, costs, investment – but here that’s not the case. Below we see another breakdown of the rest of the results.
Growth
The ‘Growth’ phase is where many startups hit a level of maturity where money isn’t quite the issue. More often than not, startups have achieved some level of funding by this phase. The problems that emerge here relate to expansion and scaling. Developing a sound strategy for growth and internationalisation proved to a big obstacle. This is illustrated in the graph below.
Breaking down the problems in the expansion category, the LIFE project found that most of the problems related to time and resources. Experience, strategy, focus, goals, and contacts accounted for the rest.
In conclusion, LIFE found that Money and Team issues are the most recurring challenges for startups, but it’s interesting to note that the priorities change with each phase.
Article retrieved from: Tech.eu
Image retrieved from: StartupStockPhotos / Pixabay
Startup Olé & Startup Europe coverage: Drones and alt energy tech star at Spanish start-up fiesta
Skill and enthusiasm on the Iberian peninsula
Hardware tech such as drones and energy reclamation technology predominated at the Startup Ole conference in Salamanca, Spain last week.
The two day event gathered 100 startups and more than 1,000 attendees to the historic University town in Western Spain. Similar events in the UK would be dominated by app developers or in Israel by cyber security firms – many of them alumni of the IDF’s famous Unit 8200 intelligence unit.
The Spanish crop featured a far more diverse group of companies across a greater range of technologies including energy and aviation as well as information technologies. Among the firms we met were AEInnova, which is using thermal cells to create power generation from waste heat. Applications include power sensors in industrial environments without relying on battery or mains power supplies.
The second annual Startup Ole showcase also featured Canard Drones, a startup that wants to replace specialist light aircraft for drones in calibrating the navigation aides at airports.
“There’s an eccentric element to it and startups are working from the bottom up on technologies,” Joe Haslam, professor at IE business school Madrid and founder of Hot Hotels, explained. “People do what they want to to do.”
Haslam added that unlike the UK and the USA – where places of learning such as the University of Cambridge and Stanford University – act as feeders as incubators for tech startups Spanish Universities don’t fulfil the same role. The University of Salamanca, for example focuses on the arts. Barcelona University has good technology courses but that alone isn’t enough. Madrid Universities tend to act as feeders to big companies. Accelerators in the country service “start-up tourism” without much output, according to Haslam.
Spain has never produced a Nasdaq listed tech firm. Part of the reason is cultural. “Starting a business is seen as disruptive to family life,” Haslam explained. “People don’t believe in themselves.”
There was certainly no shortage of energy, skill or enthusiasm on display at Startup Ole and reason for optimism, when it comes to funding. The Spanish government was mandated to put money into startups as part of the 2008 bank bail-out by the EU.
Startup Ole also incorporated Startup Europe – the European Commission’s initiative for startups. Panels on acceleration trends, how corporates want to interact with startups, universities and their role in startup ecosystems featured during the show as well as a pitching competition that (much like a school sports day) seemed to reward everyone with some prize or other.
Disruption
Your own correspondent chaired a 30 minute session of disruptive technology during the conference. Alejandro Delgado Sanchez of IBM talked about the application of artificial intelligence in applications such as customer relationship management.
Miguel Amador of Startup Braga discussed how startups lead the way to new products based in nanotechnology and new materials, bridging the gap between science and market in the process. Miguel Arjona of Altran delved into virtual reality and, specifically, in the emerging technologies that will allow a full cognitive and sensorial immersion in the virtual worlds. he mentioned applications including real-time 3D mapping and avatars creation), touch sense through haptic and mechanics globes and brain machine interfaces (EGG headsets).
Article by: John Leyden
Retrieved from: The Register
Startup Europe Comes to Universities (SEC2U) 17th-21st Oct!
Under the wing of Welcome, Startup Europe and the European Commission, Startup Europe Comes to Universities (SEC2U) is set to take place from 17th-21st October!
This will be the first ever edition of SEC2U, and is set to be an exciting platform to bring together Universities, students, entrepreneurs, government, local businesspeople and technology parks across Europe.
What is SEC2U?
SEC2U is an initiative that aims to support universities to hold events within their local startup ecosystems, to connect startup players, and foster a strong culture of entrepreneurship and innovation across European universities.
SEC2U aims to bring together 30 European universities and business/scientific parks with an entrepreneurial perspective, and act as a platform for innovation in society.
How does it work?
Universities with initiatives that support entrepreneurs and startups can sign up to create an event by visiting the signup page for SEC2U.
The events will be supported with additional resources by the Startup Europe University Network and the European Commission, including guidelines and dissemination materials.
Where are events taking place?
Events will be taking place all over Europe, with each event focusing on the local or regional ecosystem in that particular area for entrepreneurs and startups.
There are currently a number of events being planned at universities in many countries, including the UK, Spain, Ireland, Portugal, Israel, Cyprus, the Netherlands, Greece and Romania, with multiple universities taking part.
By taking part, you would be part of this exciting SEC2U network, and showcasing the commitment of European universities to create a strong culture of entrepreneurship.
I’m in! How do I sign up?
Just visit the SEC2U page to fill out the short application form!
Let’s showcase the commitment of European universities to create a strong culture of entrepreneurship and innovation in university communities!
FACE: Failure, the road to success- true stories and tips from real entrepreneurs
39.1%.
Out of context that number means nothing, and it kind of feels awkward all by itself. When you look at it closely it kind of feels like a 40%, yet it still means nothing out of context. It’s not a happy number or a scary number it just is. If we add context things might change. According to the GEM (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor) 39.1% of people who could and would want to startup are held back due to fear of failure. You want more context? It turns out that 39.1% is the highest number globally, even before Africa, Asia or South America. Suddenly that awkward lonely number kind of becomes scary, at least for us at FACE Entrepreneurship it is. It’s the dragon we have to slay.
FACE Entrepreneurships has had a very specific mission, to promote a risk taking attitude amongst young Europeans to overcome fear of failure and boost ICT entrepreneurship.
Since our launch at South Summit 2015 we have held 7 of our own offline events and collaborated in many others. One of the events we participate in is Startup Olé.
On September 8th, at 13.00 we will be there with 4 entrepreneurs and ecosystem players that will in a way be our “knights of the round table” sharing their personal stories on failure and success and hopefully helping us slay thedragon that is the social taboo of “fear of failure”.
What can you expect from our panel? You will hear real entrepreneurs share their struggles on their road to success. They will discuss how they overcame different challenges and the lessons learned. From an young Italian, to an investor and social entrepreneur leading “mujeres Tech” we will be able to share the different points of view and you will be able to get the insight that you need.
Learning by sharing is our game and let’s just say that we have gotten pretty good at it, but every event is a challenge that we overcome with the help of our collaborators and more importantly the attendees.
We hope to see you there on September 8th, at 13.00.
FACE Entrepreneurship, it’s worth it!