HR4RS stamp
Raul Garcia Hemonnet
After the hardest phase of COVID, it is time to take stock of the entrepreneurial ecosystem, highlighting the good practices of business incubators and accelerators that can serve as an example for other platforms of this type.
That is the main objective of the report. 'The services provided by business incubators and accelerators in Spain. Ranking 2022-2023', carried out by professors from the URJC and the UAH and whose main researcher is the professor of the Applied Economics area and director of the Master's Degree in Entrepreneurs, Francis White.
Said report has considered that the best business incubator in Spain is that of Lugo, chosen among 400 platforms of this type. On the other hand, the best accelerator in the country is the CEEI in Castellón.
The report draws, among other conclusions, that, although the entrepreneurship sector has been greatly affected by COVID19, it has also been able to resist and adapt to the new needs of entrepreneurs. "It has gone digital very quickly, training and advice have become online and many incubators have helped entrepreneurs to apply for aid to deal with the crisis caused by COVID-19," says Francisco Blanco.
Several professors from the Rey Juan Carlos University have participated in the drafting of the report, in addition to the management team of several business incubators in whose management the URJC and professors from the UAH participate.
Qualitative leap in entrepreneurship in Spain
The report shows that a qualitative leap has been made thanks to a greater professionalization of entrepreneurship, furthermore, explains Blanco, “large companies have entered through accelerators. It is a sector with a lot of momentum”. This is shown by the fact that Spain has been organizing the South Summit entrepreneurship fair for 10 years, which has been gaining muscle and connects the main entrepreneurial actors with the innovative ecosystem. According to Francisco Blanco, “the crisis has matured the sector. We need to make progress in terms of financing. There is expectation in the face of the new Start Ups Law that will come out in a few months. Large companies have realized that they need small ones to innovate”.
The URJC, vector of entrepreneurship in Madrid
The Rey Juan Carlos University collaborates in the management of several Madrid City Council business incubators and, together with the Móstoles City Council, manages the one in the town in the south of the region. The URJC teaches an official Master's Degree in Entrepreneurship and is about to, as Blanco points out, "launch a project accelerator for our university community in which we will contribute seed capital to launch businesses."
In addition, entrepreneurship at the URJC is present transversally in numerous degrees and is also articulated through the 'entrepreneurship courses 0' and projects such as 'Xplorer URJC' and 'Resident Entrepreneur'. "A university that undertakes is a pole of attraction for future students," says Francisco Blanco.