Startup Ole: for 8 years, an unmissable date for the whole international entrepreneurial ecosystem.
You read that right: an international event with the key players who support entrepreneurship, in an unbeatable setting, the city of Salamanca, and all thanks to its promoter, host and master of ceremonies, Mr Emilio Corchado, and his team.
Before I forget, here is a photo of the team – I think a little over 50 volunteers, students from the Universidad de Salamanca. They work incredibly hard and are everywhere to help you find your way around the event, as we take over several venues. They are super nice, and some of them are even friends by now.
The crew – the Startup Olé dream team
The event takes place at the Universidad de Salamanca, in the Colegio Arzobispo Fonseca, and this year we took a big leap by also taking over the Palacio de Congresos (Conference Centre).
There are certainly lots of events for entrepreneurs in Spain: some with big budgets, many offering you an app to connect with attendees, many with interesting content, others with thousands of attendees, others with good catering and even a party.
But Startup Olé is unbeatable on every front. I say this from experience, having been to 4 of the 8 editions and to hundreds of events in Spain and abroad.
Is this event for you?
If you are an entrepreneur, you’ll be able to rub shoulders with investors, business angels, venture capital funds, funds investing in social impact companies, the big names in public funding such as ENISA and CDTI, companies that raise European funds, crowdfunding platforms and much more.
But the best part is that, besides contacting them through the app to hold a formal meeting in the networking area, you’ll have half a dozen more chances to talk to them in a relaxed, stress-free setting, because Emilio makes it happen in the coffee-break areas at the fair and at the lunches and dinners in an impressive atrium.
If you are an investor, much the same applies: you’ll have time to hear the entrepreneurs’ pitches, first on stage in the competition, and then chat with them at their stand or over a coffee, a beer or a glass of wine at the many meeting points.
Those of us who are Key Players, such as incubators and accelerators and large corporations’ open innovation programmes, have 3 days to make ourselves known, connect with new entrepreneurs, bring along and support our own, and close new collaboration agreements with other players in the ecosystem. You can even get in touch with regional government departments and senior public officials who support entrepreneurship.
Worth highlighting is its commitment in recent editions to rural entrepreneurship, with the Rural Innovation Area (REINA).
In my case, I discovered Startup Olé when I was launching the SEK Lab Acceleration programme of the Institución Educativa SEK. The event was key, because at the first one I went to they invited me onto a round table of accelerators and invited me to give a talk. The second time, they gave me a room to talk about Edtech. So for the 3rd and 4th times we went for being the Edtech Vertical Leader.
Another very well represented sector is universities. They have a large area of the fair set aside for them. Once again you’ll find all the ones that support entrepreneurship through incubation or training programmes. Many come along with the entrepreneurs they support.
The talks and round tables are put together with the best experts on each subject; a large part of them are held in English, and afterwards you have the advantage of being able to interact with the speakers.
Networking is the best thing about this event, as I’ve already let slip. It’s the main promise it makes you, and Emilio delivers on it: if you haven’t proactively met someone through the networking meetings, breaks, fair and talks, he’ll introduce you himself to whoever he thinks could be of help to you.
The atmosphere and the party. We’re in Salamanca, a university city with hundreds of bars… But let’s start with the atmosphere at Startup Olé! It’s magical: the event and the setting where it’s held, plus the spirit and attitude of its team, put you in the mood for an event where good vibes reign and we all go along keen to make quality professional contacts.
And afterwards we don’t stop working. When the event’s agenda wraps up with the dinner, cocktail party and concert, and night falls, many of the attendees head off into the streets of Salamanca to keep chatting with a beer or a drink in hand, and even to dance a little.
For all these reasons, no event equals or beats Startup Olé!
Thank you, Emilio
THE RESULT:
When you get back to the office after 3 intense days:
- You’ll pull a thick wad of business cards out of your rucksack
- A pile of brochures from the startups and companies you’ve talked to
- You’ll have around 50 connection requests on LinkedIn
- A long list of to-dos in your diary or CRM to set up new meetings
- Easily half a dozen collaboration agreements to get going
- and above all, you’ll have a smile that will last for days because of how much fun you had working.
So I’m calling on you all to come to the next editions, and at the closing ceremony let’s all shout together:
STARTUP…….. OLEEEEEE!
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