The project aims to establish a hybrid center that will increase entrepreneurship and innovation capacities for students at universities, academics at universities, and early-stage ventures from the entrepreneurial ecosystem. The center will promote integration into the entrepreneurial ecosystem by providing business model development, investor meetings, company establishment, and investment opportunities. Scalable business ideas will be brought together with VC firms and supported in obtaining investment.
The main purpose of the project is to develop the entrepreneurship and innovation capacities of students at universities, academics at universities and startups in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. It is aimed to encourage entrepreneurship at universities, commercialize business ideas and ensure a stronger integration into the innovation ecosystem. It is aimed to provide the participants with the necessary financial support for scalable business ideas, especially through collaborations with venture capital (VC) firms. This center established within the scope of the project will be an important platform for the growth of innovative business ideas.
Expected Outputs
Participant Profile: Within the scope of the project, 50 academicians, 150 students and 25 early-stage start-ups will participate in entrepreneurship and innovation programs. These groups will be supported in business development, innovation, commercialization and investment processes.
New Companies and Start-ups: At least 15 new start-ups are targeted to be established at the end of the project. These start-ups will have technology and innovation-focused business ideas and will be supported for commercialization.
Investment Recruitment: It is anticipated that at least 10 start-ups among the participants will make agreements with national and international investors and receive investments exceeding 1 million Euros in total. These investments will help the business ideas scale and open up to international markets.
Innovation Capacity Increase: Students and academicians within the university will significantly increase their innovation capacity by participating in entrepreneurship training, mentoring and business model development programs. At the end of the project, it is expected that at least 70% of the participants will actively participate in the business model development and entrepreneurship processes.
Prototype and Product Development: At least 20 business ideas will move on to the prototype development stage. These prototypes will be presented as market-verified products and will be developed in a way that will attract the attention of investors.
Mentorship and Network Development: During the project, one-on-one mentoring services will be provided to each participant and participants will have the opportunity to meet with local and international investor networks. In addition, more than 200 entrepreneurs, mentors and investors are planned to participate in the networking events to be organized within the scope of the project.
Women s Entrepreneurship and Inclusion: The project will offer special mentoring programs to support women entrepreneurs in particular. It is aimed that 30% of the participants will be women entrepreneurs. Priority will be given to technology-focused business ideas of women entrepreneurs, and gender balance will be achieved in innovation and entrepreneurship.
Expected Results:
Strengthening the Entrepreneurship Ecosystem: An important ecosystem will be created in universities for the emergence and commercialization of innovative business ideas. Entrepreneurs will receive financial support by establishing a strong bond with investors.
Increase in Start-up and Business Development Activities: As a result of the project, interest and participation in entrepreneurship activities at universities will increase, thus students and academics will be more integrated into the entrepreneurship ecosystem.
Expansion to National and International Market
Advantages and innovation
Comprehensive Support: The project provides support at every stage of the entrepreneurship process. Participants gain momentum in their entrepreneurship journey by receiving guidance in important stages such as business model development, mentoring, investor meetings and prototyping.
Academic and Business World Integration: Academics and researchers can integrate into the business world by commercializing projects. In this way, academic knowledge will be transformed into social benefit and innovative solutions will be developed.
Connection with International Investors: Collaborations with national and international VC (venture capital) firms provide participants with access to global investment networks. In this way, it will be easier for local initiatives to open up to global markets and receive international investment.
Mentoring and Networking: One-on-one support provided by experienced mentors accelerates the development of business ideas and provides access to a wide business network. In this way, entrepreneurs are ensured to achieve sustainable success.
Innovation
Fast Commercialization with VC Collaborations: Collaborations with VC firms ensure the rapid commercialization of innovative business ideas. Entrepreneurs can find financing at an early stage and create sustainable business models.
Customized Entrepreneurship Ecosystem: This entrepreneurship ecosystem, specially designed for universities, aims to create a long-term innovation culture. Collaborations with technology transfer offices and incubation centers provide a structure that constantly encourages entrepreneurship.
This project will make strong contributions to the entrepreneurship ecosystem and accelerate the emergence of sustainable business ideas in universities.
Technical Specification or Expertise Sought
The project seeks partners with experience in creating entrepreneurship programs, providing mentoring, and organizing start-up accelerator programs. Being an expert in business development issues such as business model development, financial planning, and market analysis is an important competency for the project. In addition, experts who can cooperate with venture capital (VC) firms and direct investment acquisition processes and stakeholders experienced in technology transfer are sought. In particular, organizations with knowledge in developing innovation projects with universities, commercializing academic research, and bringing innovative business ideas to the market are preferred.
Expertise in digital infrastructure and platform management is a necessary skill to provide online training and mentoring services. It is important to provide software and hardware infrastructures that can provide technical support for prototype development and product validation processes for entrepreneurs. In addition, organizations with effective project management experience in large-scale projects, experience working on international projects, and familiarity with EU projects are needed. Strategic planning and collaboration skills in the entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem also play a critical role in the success of the project.

Framework program
Horizon Europe
Call title and identifier
EIT HEI
Submission and evaluation scheme
Anticipated project budget
Coordinator required
No
Deadline for EoI
30/04/2025
Deadline of the call
30/05/2025