A week of introspection and learning from the Spanish entrepreneurship ecosystem

The objective of this week was to introduce students to the Spanish entrepreneurship ecosystem and give them the opportunity to know the different actors that take part in it, learn from their experiences and get a real vision of their dream business. To achieve this, the 40 students that are part of the Option E specialisation in Madrid were divided into 7 multicultural groups with the objective of perfecting their business proposal.

Each day they got to study and work on different topics and participate in activities such as conferences and discussions with Spanish  entrepreneurs , student presentations, team dynamics and tasks to be developed throughout the day.. All this mixed with the development of specific work  based on market or user research.

Ecosystem week

On Monday, the students worked on the importance of the entrepreneurial ecosystem; on Tuesday, on the users and their needs as key for entrepreneurship ; on Wednesday, on the product-market fit and, on Thursday, on financing and obtaining resources for your project . As closing for this amazing week, on Friday, students made a presentation on their week´s findings related to  their entrepreneurial ideas. Each session took place in a different location, students went to Triple on Monday (co-wroking social), to Open Value Foundation on  Tuesday and to Wyra on Friday. 

The Ecosystem Week was conducted by professor Mari Luz García Archidona, member of the Option E team. The tasks and challenges of the week were designed as a gamified learning process. Everyday, students received an envelope with cards; each card contained a different challenge. By completing each challenge, students were able to improve their projects and win points towards the  final competition.

Exocystem week- Wyra

The students got a chance to pitch their project to a grand jury composed by Raquel Traba, CEO and co-founder of Triple; Sophie Vurpillot, founder and director of PlanetExpat, Pedro Bravo, founder of Soulandia and writer, and Alberto León, consultant, coach, former and developer of technology businesses. The team elected received the first prize:  a one-night stay in Posada del Agua (Ávila).

Jury

Alice Gandon, Manon Leemput, Irina Stefani, Noah Barth, Luigi Bonaccorsi and Gabriele Caccia formed the winning team: What's Next.., a  project consisting of an app that gives personal attention to youth  searching for the right programme that will give them the tools needed for a successful professional career. 

The second place was given to the Ther’Happy project. The team formed  by Lwana Bichet, Angela Lombardo, Léa Orebi, Edouard Duparc and Antoine Bastien, created an  app to improve the communication and effectiveness of psychology therapy between the therapist and the patient. They were awarded with handmade cosmetics from Amarte Sana, which are made with flowers taken from Madrid's Mountains. This gift was done by the entrepreneur Angela Aguilar, founder of Amarte Sana.

A special mention was given to the team Impack Delivery.  Héloïse Beau-Reder, Mae-Li Le Gall, Malte Bock, Edoardo Fasolo, Devi Preetham, Kumar Adimulam and Tyliam Silvini, initiative consisted of a platform to achieve a returnable and sustainable food packaging system. 

Team worl

The Ecosystem Week is without a key stepping stone for Option E students towards building their business plan and final project to be pitched in front of the Madrid Seed grand jury, the closing event for the Option E specialisation. 
 

Campus