The Rector of the University of Granada, Pilar Aranda, inaugurated the SEC2U event that took place at the "BREAKER" Centre for Entrepreneurship of the UGR on Monday, 23 October. The objective of the event was to connect entrepreneurial activities conducted by European universities to the wider startup and innovation ecosystem.
For the second consecutive year, the Startup Europe Comes to the Universities (SEC2U) conference — a pioneering initiative supported by the European Commission — took place at the University of Granada. The main objective of the SEC2U event is to showcase the commitment of higher education institutions to creating a strong culture of entrepreneurship and innovation that extends its reach to university communities throughout Europe. It also aims to foster this culture of entrepreneurship in society by creating startups and spinoffs with high added value, based on knowledge transfer and cutting-edge technological developments.
SEC2U is promoted by the members of the Startup Europe University Network (SEUN). A key goal of this year’s event was to bring at least 30+ European universities and businesses together in order to facilitate the creation of a community of entrepreneurial universities and technology parks.
During the events, entrepreneurs, students, and researchers were able to familiarize themselves with the opportunities and support available for setting up and growing startup businesses. In addition, success stories and cases of failure were employed as a learning resource. Participants also had the chance to network and discuss potential collaborations and partnerships.
Approximately 3000 participants attended the SEC2U events, showcasing the work of different universities in the entrepreneurship field, building bridges between university communities and startup ecosystems, and facilitating connections between all parties (researchers, students, teachers, associations, etc.) involved in the entrepreneurial environment. These participants also had the opportunity to benefit from varied activities, including a presentation of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) in Andalusia, a round table session on topic of knowledge transfer, and the OnGranada case; a success story in innovation.
Thanks to its General Coordination for Entrepreneurship (UGRemprendedora) the University of Granada is constantly in contact with 30+ renowned European universities through the Startup European Universities Network. The participation of the UGR in this network enables our institution to develop strategic internationalization actions focused on enhancing entrepreneurial ecosystems in Granada, alongside prestigious universities such as the University of Cambridge, the University of Warsaw, the University of Salamanca, Trinity College Dublin, and Ravensbourne, among others. The network is currently made up of universities from Albania, Belgium, Cyprus, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain and the UK.
The international conference was jointly organised by the General Coordination for Entrepreneurship (UGRemprendedora), the Research Transfer Office (OTRI) and was developed in collaboration with the UGR Social Council, the Technological Corporation of Andalusia (CTA) and OnGranada Tech City.
For further information, please visit: http://startupeuropeuniversities.eu/
