Periodic Reporting for period 2 - STARTIFY7 (A TEAM-BUILDING, THEMATICALLY-FOCUSED AND LEAN-TRAINING SUMMER ACADEMY SYSTEM FOR YOUNG FUTURE ICT ENTREPRENEURS)
Okres sprawozdawczy: 2016-01-01 do 2016-12-31
• Research the local needs and the different regional ICT start-up footprints across Europe
• Embed team-building processes within a lean-training structure
• Establish an effective network of trainers
• Create innovative lean-training curricula with thematic ICT focus
• Create a dynamic and competitive environment where the best teams will be promoted
• Create strong synergies with existing initiatives
• Enable online information sharing among the ICT start-up community
• Disseminate, exploit and ensure long-term sustainability of Startify7
As a collaborative project between 11 universities and entrepreneurial start-up organisations across eight European countries the Startify7 consortium will plan, design and implement themed summer academies to support aspiring digital entrepreneurs.
During the first reporting period the consortium has also delivered successfully three of the proposed seven thematic entrepreneurship academies attracting over 480 applications and working with over 100 academy participants. Following the process developed by the consortium, three teams were selected from each of the thematically-focused summer academies to attend the 2015 bootcamp in Brussels.
The bootcamp focused on delivering intensive development for the participating teams raising their understanding of financing their ideas, their appreciation of the entrepreneurial experience and how to build a convincing pitch. The bootcamp culminated in a ‘pitch day’ involving relevant investors for Startify7 participants with prizes being awarded to the teams most highly-ranked by the investors.
The activities of the project in the physical world have been supported and complemented by the development of its online presence. Startify7 has established a website which is updated regularly featuring relevant Wikis and associated project news. The @Startify7 Twitter feed is also active, with over 300 followers and over 250 Tweets.
As detailed in the attached documents, the first reporting period has seen the consortium deliver against its objectives and establish a platform on which the second part of the project can be built. The project consortium for Startify7 is collaborating effectively and has established connections with other European projects. These links to other projects will be further explored and developed during the second phase of the project.
Already the emerging success of Startify7 has been evidenced through the academies and bootcamps held, which have seen the project exceed some of the anticipated objectives that will also prove important to the sustainability of the project. More specifically this includes developing an international network of coaches, mentors and experts engaged, which was intended to be 70 over the 2 year project and after the first 3 academies 71 coaches, mentors and experts have been engaged. In terms of wider stakeholder engagement, the project has engaged with 5 incubators and accelerators directly through the academies and the bootcamps to date and has further interest from other incubators and enterprise centres at universities who are interested in the Startify7 format. Looking forward, the progress to date provides an excellent foundation to ensure the continued delivery of the project and ensure a sustainable legacy is created.