ITC leads the ranking of entrepreneur exchanges in Europe with ‘Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs’

The Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs programme, where the Instituto Tecnológico de Canarias is one of its contact points, has recently published its annual balance sheet of exchanges. This report has concluded that the ITC is the node that has organized the most exchanges during 2023 throughout Europe, with a total of 52 experiences. In this way it is positioned as the most active organism among the 113 that make up the Network. This project dynamizes the productive fabric of the Canary Islands with new entrepreneurs who come to the Islands to strengthen their projects, at the same time that other people go out to return with new ideas and entrenched proposals, supporting and learning from the host companies.

Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs is an initiative of the European Union that facilitates international exchanges funded for between 1 and 6 months with the aim of supporting new entrepreneurs in the definition and start-up of their businesses. The ITC has been part of its Network of Contact Points since 2009 and has facilitated more than 300 exchanges to date, encouraging host companies to benefit from the synergies established in the co-learning process that foster these experiences.

In the context of the Canary Islands, the ITC team that operates as a node of the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs program has worked to implement other specific measures that adapt to the challenges posed by the European Union, where digitalization, resilience and sustainability have primary roles. To this end, meetings and concrete actions have been organized with which to promote green entrepreneurship through networking and the presentation of opportunities offered by the international exchanges financed by the program.

Throughout 2023, several meetings were organized, such as the conferences held with the sustainable tourism company Tivity in the framework of the Anaga Biofest in October, where participants were able to learn about the resources available in the Canary Islands to promote green entrepreneurship. In addition, a networking session was held with which to facilitate a more connected and collaborative entrepreneurial ecosystem. Also, recently, a day was co-organized with Slow & Co in Gran Canaria where dozens of entrepreneurs came together to promote sustainability

In addition, intensive work has been carried out to continue the collaborations, once the stays have been completed, through other European initiatives, such as the Enterprise Europe Network. The ITC is part of this European Network for SME Innovation and Internationalisation, where EYE users find an opportunity to get advice and continue working on their fledgling businesses with a wide range of free information and support resources.

To these achievements are added other milestones that respond to the challenges of the current socio-economic landscape, such as the recent Ukrainian conflict. Hence, during the meeting of the international consortium in December 2023 in Brussels, it was agreed to open a new route under the EYE programme to welcome Ukrainian entrepreneurs, facilitating business experiences in the 36 destinations that can currently be selected in Europe, with the Canary Islands being one of them.

There are two ways to participate in Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs. On the one hand, people who are in the process of starting their business or who have less than 3 years of activity and seek to give it a boost, are candidates for mobility to one of the 36 European destinations with a funded stay. On the other hand, people who manage a business activity with solvency and with a trajectory of more than three years, can welcome new entrepreneurs to learn, from practice, the skills in business management.

Check the services of the Enterprise Europe Network here.

Text originally published on the website of the Instituto Tecnológico de Canarias on 25 January 2024. Can be visited here.