The prestigious business school IESE has been chosen to manage EUR €4.3 million from the European Union to promote entrepreneurship and innovation in Latin America over the next five years. This amount is part of a broader financial package, with a total value of EUR €34 million.
The European Commission has put its trust in IESE to co-lead three initiatives to enhance high-quality entrepreneurship, foster technological adoption, and accelerate the commercialization of innovations made by startups and established companies in LatAm.
One challenge pinpointed by IESE is the gap between advanced technological research and its practical market introduction. Through these projects, there’s an ambition to bridge this gap, ensuring innovations swiftly transform into practical solutions available to consumers. Moreover, these efforts aim to boost job creation and champion technological adoption in budding companies that hold the potential to become market giants, colloquially referred to as “unicorns.”
Gaizka Ormazabal, Associate General Director of Research at IESE, emphasized the significance of backing entrepreneurs with a genuine mission who bring substantial value to society through their endeavors.
The three projects led by IESE include:
- Collaboration with Elite Engineering: This project, anticipated to last four years and commence in November, aspires to cultivate synergy between top-tier engineering institutions and distinguished business schools like IESE and HEC Paris. The goal is to fast-track the commercialization of breakthroughs originating from pioneering research.
- Alliance with the European Commission: Through this venture, IESE collaborates with various European entities in launching the ‘Scaling Club’ of the European Innovation Council. Under this initiative, IESE will produce a series of 12 reports.
- Promotion of Transcontinental Innovation: The third scheme seeks to amplify the collaboration and innovation between European and Latin American companies and startups. IESE partners as the academic associate of the UE-ALC Digital Accelerator, an organization focused on enabling interaction and cooperation between startups and firms from both territories, all with the primary vision of propelling digital transformation.
These projects underline IESE’s dedication to championing entrepreneurship and innovation on a global scale and mirror the faith esteemed institutions like the European Commission have in this business school. Digital transformation and transcontinental collaboration are perceived as vital instruments for imminent sustainable development and growth.
It’s worth noting, based on a report published by Statista, that Latin America hosts some of the premier ecosystems for fostering and cultivating startups globally, with Mexico City taking the lead in the region, followed by cities such as Bogotá, Buenos Aires, Santiago de Chile, and Curitiba in Brazil.