ACCELERATE-EEE

The vision of ACCELERATE-EEE is to build capacity at partner higher education institutions (HEIs) to catalyse the development of data-driven entrepreneurial firms in areas such as fintech, medtech, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things.

This goal is approached through a range of interventions that embed an entrepreneurial culture within partner HEIs, create mechanisms for aligning HEIs with industry best practice and scaling up the provision of entrepreneurial support to a broader range of stakeholders.

ACCELERATE-EEE brings together four HEI partners, one intermediary organisation and four associate partners from across European ecosystems. Working together, the partners will leverage their respective ecosystems’ distinctiveness and individual character to achieve synergies as part of an integrated, open and collaborative network.

The vision is achieved through the following objectives.

• Removing barriers to participation: Building a high-quality online module for academic staff and students who want to explore how to build a data-driven start-up. The flexible and accessible nature of the online module will offer an inclusive mode of study for would-be entrepreneurs who may otherwise be unable to attend in-person.
• Becoming entrepreneurship educators for the partner HEIs: HEIs find they often prioritise external stakeholders when delivering entrepreneurial education. The project re-orients attention to overlooked internal stakeholders and promises a joined-up approach to developing entrepreneurship capacity.
• Developing capacity by learning from industry: Recognising that technology industries move fast, the project seeks to closely align internal support activities with external trends. This is achieved through working closely with the project’s industry partner STAC, who delivers training to non-academic colleagues in entrepreneurship and commercialisation support roles, and associate partners from industry who feed into workshops and curriculum.
• Creating communities of practice across partner HEIs: To achieve long-term sustainable impact, the project will seek a community of practice for HEI stakeholders who support entrepreneurship development in their work roles. This will be accomplished through a series of in-person workshops in which participants will develop action plans to improve support mechanisms at the HEI, and through international mobility for staff between partner HEIs.
• Expanding capacity by leveraging partner ecosystems: The project will capitalise on expanded knowledge, experience and resources. Through the network, the project developed an international mentor network that connects academics, non-academics and students with industry experts. These connections will address barriers to scaling high-tech ventures, which can occur due to the distributed nature of specialised know-how.

ACCELERATE-EEE will train 600 students as well as 57 academics and 57 non-academic staff. Over 171 HEI stakeholders will be mentored through the international network.