Abstract
Internet review provides critical commentary upon entrepreneurship, small business and innovation information on the web.
As the name suggests, Startup Europe Partnership (SEP; http://startupeuropepartnership.eu) aims to support EU-based start-ups, particularly those that are likely to grow quickly as the EU appears to lag behind other centres of ‘growth start-up’ locations, such as Silicon Valley. A key element of its strategy is to encourage large corporates to partner and support likely fast-growth start-ups.
The SEP website has an application process for potential growth start-ups and corporates to apply through. Events are then held where the needs of the corporates and the start-up are then mapped and the process is also aided by an ‘investors forum’ of approximately 104 accelerator and investor fund companies, two examples of which are http://telenetkickstart.be/ and http://3tscapital.com/, an accelerator and investment fund, respectively.
In June 2106, SEP and one of its board members Nesta (http://www.nesta.org.uk) announced the top 25 corporates who were judged to have effectively supported a range of small start-up companies through a mix of ‘generous procurement terms, partnerships, accelerators, direct investment, mentoring, intrapreneurship schemes, competitions or other dedicated internal programmes’. The company that came top was Cisco (https://blogs.cisco.com/innovation/) for several support programmes that they run. One in particular is their Cisco Entrepreneurs in Residence programme. This involves working with companies that work in fields related to Cisco but lack the full market contacts, aspects of certain technologies or a full customer base.
One such company that Cisco partners with is Tada Web (https://www.tadaweb.com/) who have been nominated as one of the top 100 disruptive start-up companies (http://www.disrupt100.com/) by specializing in offering ‘small data’ solutions into what is said to be a European data market size of €111 billion by 2020.
The Nesta website describes the organization as an ‘innovation charity’ with a mission to ‘help people and organisations bring great ideas to life’. The ‘about us’ link offers a detailed insight into the activities and services that Nesta provides. Partnership worldwide is a key element of how they are able to leverage a range of research and support services. There are also a number of blogs and reports that are free to download that have a particular focus upon innovation. One such report free to download is the ‘start-up factories’ that reviews the progress of accelerator programmes that are aimed at aiding start-ups to grow quickly and successfully. These programmes have three key elements, focus upon entrepreneurial teams rather than individuals, early seed investment and programmes of events and mentoring support of groups of start-ups rather than individual companies, all of which lead to greater synergies.
There are also a number of funding programmes (although aimed largely at UK start-ups) to help seed fund start-ups and the site also has links to other funding bodies. The website also features what Nesta considers to be 50 examples of new radical innovative businesses that Nesta believes has the ‘potential to transform the lives of millions of people’. There are three underlying themes of the 50 finalists in terms of business and community solutions for the ‘migration and refugee crisis, innovations in political engagement and the use of technology to improve disabled access to public spaces’.
One such ‘radical company’ in terms of technology to enhance the lives of the disabled is Euans Guide (https://www.euansguide.com). Euan who is a wheel chair user and his sister have created a searchable information guide website, its aim ‘is to empower disabled people by providing information that will give confidence and choices for getting out and about’. The website also cites the full use of other social media and there is a mobile phone app that also delivers the same information content.
Another radical company to feature is Techfugees (https://techfugees.com). With the immigration crisis in Europe, a number of spontaneous groups have arisen to help support people in desperate need and one such group is Techfugees. The company involves a range of voluntary collaborations with the global tech community and non-governmental organisations who provide services to refugees worldwide. Based around problem-solving workshops and online forums a range of solutions have been achieved from Wi-Fi-enabled refugee camps, to communication solutions for contacting displaced friends and family to recycled mobile phones given to displaced peoples, plus tech-based educational and health services. The website has a range of case studies featuring these services in many different countries and makes good use of other social media to communicate and recruit more volunteers.
With the high failure rates for new start-ups and also the need to encourage social innovation, economic growth and technological leadership, the incentive to support new businesses has never been greater.