European Venture Academy

The European Venture Academy has been referred to by Time Magazine as "a bootcamp for European entrepreneurs". The programme and format has been developed by Europe Unlimited (in association with IESE Business School) which successfully run over 40 editions of the Venture Academy (Lisbon, Barcelona, Hamburg, Brussels, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Munich, Prague, Milan, London, Madrid, Valencia, Namur, Stuttgart, Porto …)

It is an effective, highly interactive one-day event aimed at developing venture-backed and early-stage entrepreneurs and preparing them for meetings and negotiations with venture capital or corporate investors or with corporate, advisory or entrepreneurial partners.

The European Venture Academy is offered by Europe Unlimited as part of the EurOffice Access to early-stage financing Training, which aims to help SMEs and researchers that have been selected to present at the Benelux Venture Forum. Experienced coaches from the relevant industry areas will work very pragmatically with the presenters to prepare them for their participation on the next day.

Entrepreneurs and researchers willing to access to international markets will be provided with key information, tools and resources in order to successfully partner and grow their business. The Training is part of EurOffice Services, a PRO INNO Europe action. Focus will be on how to meet strategic partners and potential investors’ expectations.

Participants will receive guidance on how their presentations and propositions compare with those of other participants, highlighting the strengths and weaknesses which need to be addressed and improved.

For researchers specific information is provided under the Gate2Start programme, an Europe INNOVA initiative, focusing on partnering and commercialization needs.

The 10th Gate2Start Awareness Seminar addresses the importance of understanding the interactions and the relations between business and applied research in a competitive, innovative and ever changing business world. A dynamic discussion between entrepreneurs, investors and R&D experts as well as researchers will focus on best practices of technology transfer. The seminar helps building successful cross-discipline collaborations between researchers as well as business.

The Workshop is open to all presenting companies and other invited participants and will take place on Monday, 17 March 2008. For more information please contact the conference organiser.