University environments are constantly renewed with projects and ideas that relaunch and help educational progress. In this article we present the Polytechnic University of Valencia, which through IDEAS UPV manages to increase and promote the entrepreneurial culture, as well as raise awareness and energize the community in the creation of innovative and technology-based projects, offering advice, training, dissemination and an incubation and acceleration program for startups created by students and graduates of this university.
In this interview we will learn how they develop the entrepreneurial and innovative culture thanks to the information provided by Lorena Pedrós, senior technician in the area of entrepreneurship IDEAS UPV.
As a platform within a public university, how was the project born and why?
IDEAS UPV: The Initiative for the Development of New Companies (IDEAS) was born at the Polytechnic University of Valencia in 1992, promoted by the rector Justo Nieto and through the Technology Transfer Center of the UPV led by the researcher Ignacio Fernández de Lucio. The objective of IDEAS was the promotion of entrepreneurial initiatives born in the university.
At the beginning, the program counted on the collaboration of CEEI Valencia, directed by Jesús Casanova, whose technicians visited the UPV periodically to advise entrepreneurs on matters related to the implementation of their business ideas, such as the preparation of the business plan.
In addition, IDEAS had the support of the Instituto de la Mediana y Pequeña Industria Valenciana (IMPIVA), currently IVACE, which financed the program. Initially, IMPIVA’s contribution was aimed at subsidizing the entrepreneurial projects, through an economic endowment for each one, which was destined to the purchase of equipment, development of prototypes, licenses, etc. Shortly thereafter, this funding also allowed the UPV to hire its own technical staff.
Initially, the business ideas and projects that came to IDEAS were led by professors who integrated in their teams students interested in developing business ideas with a disruptive and innovative technological base. Over time, the program began to focus on initiatives and teams formed only by UPV students and graduates.
What is the profile of the entities and companies that most request your help?
IDEAS UPV: IDEASUPV is approached by entities and companies with very different profiles. For example, for international projects we have other European universities that look for us to contribute in projects as a reference in entrepreneurship or to share good practices, other universities from any country that request our help as a reference in entrepreneurship to train them, and even in some cases NGDOs that are interested in collaborating to train educational institutions in other countries in entrepreneurship.
At local and regional level, we also collaborate with other universities and public administrations, creating alliances to promote entrepreneurship in the university environment.
Large companies, for their part, contact us to collaborate and subcontract with startups or seek investment offers. But they also seek access to the entrepreneurial talent of students and startups, for which they propose hackathons to solve challenges.
Finally, we also collaborate with business angels and venture capitalists interested in investing in university startups and spinoffs.
How is IDEASUPV integrated into the university curriculum, i.e., how do you make the different students aware of how the area works? How do you work with the different students of this educational institution?
IDEAS UPV: As an area of entrepreneurship, IDEASUPV is a transversal service that can be accessed by students of any degree and course, as well as graduates of the UPV.
We offer services for all levels: from dissemination and awareness activities to training courses, and we advise and accompany in the creation of companies.
In order to raise awareness of the area among students, we carry out a series of activities throughout the academic year, such as think[EMPRENDE], massive events where we present our services and attendees learn about examples of real cases of entrepreneurship that have arisen at the UPV.
We also promote entrepreneurship through awards and competitions, such as the ‘University Entrepreneur’, in which we reward from basic business ideas to more elaborate business projects, with a specific category in which we award final projects of bachelor’s and master’s degrees or doctoral theses with an entrepreneurial component.
Among the activities with the most successful participation are the challenges, where students come together in multidisciplinary projects to solve challenges that are likely to become business ideas, and where we reward the best solutions.
But one of the key pieces to reach students is through word-of-mouth, so it is key to have a network of teachers who motivate their students to participate in our activities and, of course, with our own users who convince their friends and classmates.
What are the purposes on which you should focus in the coming years in terms of social innovation?
IDEAS UPV: Our mission is to promote and develop the entrepreneurial culture at the UPV, raise awareness and energize the university community in the creation and support of new companies, and support the creation and development of innovative and technology-based companies in the Valencian Community, mainly.
In terms of social innovation, we work to reduce the gender gap in entrepreneurship, highlighting the role of female entrepreneurs who are references both for UPV students and for society in general.
We are also committed to promoting the creation of impact companies, both social and environmental. The advantage of being part of a university environment is that innovation can be applied in sectors whose impact on society is very positive, such as, for example, the health sector.
How do you identify success stories? What is the secret to making your organization successful?
IDEAS UPV: An indicator in this regard could be the number of companies created, and an indicator of success would be the high percentage of survival, which is over 50% after more than 30 years of service.
Related to the previous answer, success perhaps lies in the fact that companies created in a university environment generally have a high degree of innovation, which gives them a competitive advantage in the market.
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