Startup Olé Accelerator hosts SEC2U
Entrepreneurship is increasingly seen as a valuable career choice for recent graduates. Developing your entrepreneurial competencies is now seen as crucial, not only for starting your own business, but for contributing to the success of small companies. Even large corporations are beginning to see the value in entrepreneurial skills for their employees.
There still exists a struggle for students to obtain entrepreneurship skills and experience, with commercialization and knowledge transfer often overlooked. For this reason, we welcome Startup Europe Comes to Universities (SEC2U)!
SEC2U is an initiative endorsed by the European Commission(Startup Europe) to create a strong culture of entrepreneurship and innovation within universities across Europe. This consists of a series of events that bring together students, university staff,entrepreneurs, businessmen and representatives of local governments in order to showcase the available support andform valuable connections in the startup ecosystem. The second edition of SEC2U will take place from the 23rdto the 29thof October and the University of Salamanca/Startup Olé Acceleratorwill be joining the initiative!
During the event that will take place in the Narodowy Stadium, Warsaw as part of the CEE Acceleration Summit on the 26thof October, where Universities will come together with Accelerators, Corporations and Policy Makers to bring up the startup ecosystem in Europe
Startup Olé Accelerator of the University of Salamanca will be supported by other universities across Europe, taking steps towards the internationalization of the CEE region together with over 30 prestigious universities in the SEC2U initiative.
With approximately 3000 people expected in attendance, this is a time to showcase the work of universities in the entrepreneurship area, build bridges between university communities and startup ecosystems and facilitate connections!
Take the right step towards your future and don´t miss out on this opportunity. Find out more about SEC2U and the events near you: http://startupeuropeuniversities.eu/
See you there!
About Startup Europe Comes to the Universities (SEC2U)
Startup Europe Comes to the Universities (SEC2U) is a Europe wide initiative to engage universities (from the Startup Europe University Network and beyond) and enable them to spread an entrepreneurial culture. SEC2U will hold events across Europe during the week of 23rd to 29th of October 2017.
The main objective of the SEC2U events is to showcase the commitment of European universities for entrepreneurship and to connect universities to the wider startup ecosystem.
The Startup Europe team works with entrepreneurs connecting them with the European ecosystem where talent, investment and learning can be easily captured. We believe Europe’s growth is going to be determined by savvy startups, and we want to support the growth of these startups.
http://startupeuropeclub.eu | @startupEU
Huffington Post coverage of SEC2U
Small Businesses And Universities Should Seek To Benefit From Enhanced European Cooperation
In August a committee of MPs reported that universities and small businesses stood to gain from improved, more effective working relationships. To many working in this sector, this was not news. However the report was received as a welcome confirmation of the importance of universities adapting their services to the needs, priorities and culture of independent small to medium enterprises.
In particular, universities are well positioned to support the productivity enhancement and leadership development of SMEs and this takes place in a number of forms: tackling local skills issues through partnerships tailored to needs of the local economy; providing a new market for trading among small and medium-sized businesses; and providing access to key assets such as space for premises, knowledge for research and development, and marketing support.
However, on the face of it, a partnership between a university and a small business may not be the most obvious of pairings. For anyone who has worked in both environments, the contrasts can be quite stark. On the one hand, small businesses are extremely varied and need different things; they are often dependent on the personality of the owner-manager and characteristics of the market in which the business operates. On the other hand, universities are fairly homogeneous and tend to follow a particular, now well-established, organisational model. The workforce is fairly interchangeable, and individuals have less of a bearing on organisational personality or culture.
However, existing partnerships between universities and SMEs show that the benefits greatly outweigh the risks. It is therefore vitally important for universities to continue to find ways to engage with the small business community.
A good example of this in practice is SEC2U (Startup Europe comes to the Universities), an initiative of the European Commission that operates through the Startup Europe University Network (SEUN). This week over 30 universities across Europe are holding events to present and promote the good work being done between universities and small business. This demonstrates the commitment of universities to create a strong culture of entrepreneurship and innovation not just in the UK but across the continent.
Markedly the partners in this initiative are not just universities and small businesses – Europe as a whole stands to gain. For example a SEC2U event at GSM London brought together business start-ups, entrepreneurs, business associations and chambers, university staff and students, incubators, accelerators, innovation hubs, government representatives, and local development corporations.
By bringing this community together it was possible to integrate multiple perspectives on the start-up, rethinking what this might mean from the ground up. Listening to the views and experiences of local start-ups enables the effective re-thinking and re-formulation of policies, services, and environment for small businesses within the local area.
And when the exchange of lessons and findings from all the participating institutions are combined during the SEC2U week, support networks can be strengthened across Europe, enhancing the recognition of how universities, startups and local communities can work more closely together for the benefit of all.
The UK is currently navigating the post-referendum business landscape but I see no reason why this movement towards closer collaboration should not continue. The UK’s proposed withdrawal from the European Union will undoubtedly create challenges to facilitating this collaboration over time but, as SEC2U demonstrates, goodwill combined with proactive approaches can bring far-reaching benefits.
So in spite of the jolt of ‘Brexit’ and the current uncertainties, good momentum towards European collaboration is building. Britain’s universities and small businesses should continue to look to partners in Europe to share success, experience and to learn from the innovative entrepreneurial support programmes that already exist.
Retrieved from Huffington post on October 26th.