After participating in the first edition of EOI Coworking programme along with 9 other EU|BICs, North East BIC has once again welcomed Spanish entrepreneurs to the region as part of a five week mentoring programme.

In collaboration with EBN and ANCES, the Spanish EU|BICs Association, the programme is carried out by the Fundacion EOI, one of the leading Spanish business schools, with the aim to support Spanish entrepreneurs by creating a  NETWORK OF MENTORS. 

As EBN has already a wide network of mentors across Europe and beyond, EOI approached EBN from the very beginning to benefit from its expertise by givinng a list of European mentors coming from its members to provide soft-landing and mentoring support to a selection of 50 Spanish entrepreneurs.

Following the second edition, where EBN Member BICMINHO was one of the hosts,  the third edition of the programme is taking place from October to mid-December 2017 and six EBN Members among them North East BIC,  have been selected, the others to complete the list are: Stichting StartLife (Netherlands), BDF (Netherlands), TVT Innovation (France), IPN (Portugal), and Cork BIC (Ireland).

Currently, North East BIC is supporting three Spanish entrepreneurs, as they visit the city to gain knowledge of best practice and an insight from business leaders and experts in the region.

Daniel Velarde has created an innovative online platform that connects sports professionals with users wanting to participate in ‘pay as you go’ group exercises. Maria A. Leon is developing an online community to facilitate a language learning exchange programme and Yrenis Perez has launched a number of Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality solutions for the medical, marketing, gaming, education and training sectors.

Lilla Preston said: “During their visit, the entrepreneurs will be based within our co-working facility, working with the BIC and associate mentors, and learning about the UK market and business culture. 

“With our longstanding membership of EBN, a global business network, we can connect our customers to local, national and international partners enhancing collaboration, stimulating growth globally which in turn will have a positive impact on the local and national economy.”

Talking of her visit, Yrenis said: “I feel it’s important for any growing business to seek new opportunities and to push the boundaries, participating in  the soft landing programme  at North East BIC has enabled me to broaden my understanding of the UK market, which can only help me to develop and grow as an entrepreneur.”

Nathalie Marchand, EBN's EU|BIC Officer, has been involved with the programme from the very beginning, also acting as a judge to startups at the second edition of the programme: 

“Initiated in October 2016, the cooperation between EBN and EOI,  has given excellent results and created closer links between the hosting centres, the EOI and the Spanish entrepreneurs.  This favorable environment has led us to replicate  the initiative with hosting Centres from the first edition and to include new ones who saw it as an opportunity to share their skills and passion for startups by opening the doors of their incubators and of their culture!  I am very excited and impatient to learn about the final results of this third edition.  And I am keen to see other initiatives like this one coming from other EU countries  as they perfectly illustrate the “raison d’être” of an international network as EBN.”

EBN Members interested in sharing their mentoring expertise, and being a part of EUROPEAN NETWORK OF MENTORS can apply for the fourth edition to be taking place next year.

Learn more about the programme at EOI Coworking programme website.