AFAEMME at the Youth Innovation Week

Did you know that you can get direct financial investment for your Startup or SME without an amount of equity or having to pay back later? It happens within the European Union's financial program Horizon 2020 with € 2.8 billion in grant of funding available for entrepreneurs, Startups and SMEs.

We got to know it on the 29th of June 2015, in the framework of the Youth Innovation Week organized by the European Young Innovators Forum; a series of events that took place in 5 European cities, which aim is to highlight the developments and trends in youth innovation. London, Athens, Nicosia, Warsaw, Barcelona, each city hosts an event relating to local startup ecosystem around Europe.

Valkiria Hub Space, an innovative business platform that promotes a new way of working in Barcelona, is the place chosen for discussing about the internationalisation of the European startup ecosystem. Special guest was Fadi Bishara, founder of Blackbox, a global accelerator from the Silicon Valley that supports Startups in becoming global, through matching human capital, talented entrepreneurs and venture capital needs across the globe. Fadi was joined by one of the Europe’s entrepreneurs driven a Venture Capital company, Christopher Pommerening, founding partner of Active Venture Partners

The Panel represented an opportunity for younger businesswomen to receive strategic recommendations for the creation of a Startup and its global orientation and competitiveness. In fact, taking risks, altering mindsets, focusing in a specific market that is inevitably other than the own, are key elements to face challenges in this field.

Women entrepreneurs have so many opportunities to start their successful business. In addition to EU funding programs, they can develop their Startup with the help of professional mentor, who guiding talented entrepreneurs in their path and venture capital firms, which provide funds to early-stage, high-potential and growth startup companies.