Start-Cup Academy Completes Research Phase and Develops the Foundation for a New European Startup Support Model
The Erasmus+ project Start-Cup Academy has successfully completed Work Package 2 (WP2) - Start Cup Model and Mechanism, a major milestone that laid the foundation for the development of the project’s innovative entrepreneurship training framework.
The purpose of WP2 was to better understand how higher education institutions, incubators, startup ecosystems, and support organisations across Europe currently foster entrepreneurship and support aspiring startup founders. To achieve this, project partners collaborated to develop a common research methodology and conduct comprehensive national and European-level analyses.
Through this work, the consortium examined:
- Existing startup support mechanisms;
- Entrepreneurship education practices;
- Skills gaps and training needs of future startup founders;
- Collaboration models between universities, businesses, incubators, and innovation stakeholders;
- Best practices that can be transferred and replicated across Europe.
As part of WP2, partners produced:
- 6 national country analyses;
- 1 European-level analysis;
- 6 national literature reviews;
- 1 European literature review;
- An Executive Summary available in six project languages.
The research brought together expertise from universities, startup support organisations, business development professionals, and policy experts representing Latvia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Spain, Italy, Belgium, and Ukraine. This collaborative approach ensured that the resulting findings reflect diverse entrepreneurial ecosystems and educational realities across Europe.
The outcomes of WP2 have provided valuable insights into the challenges faced by aspiring entrepreneurs, identified opportunities for improving entrepreneurship education, and highlighted effective approaches for supporting startup creation and growth. These findings directly informed the development of the Start-Cup Academy Model and Mechanism, which serves as the conceptual basis for the project's training curriculum, tools, and future policy recommendations.
By building a strong evidence base, Start-Cup Academy aims to help higher education institutions strengthen their role in nurturing entrepreneurial talent and supporting the next generation of innovative startups across Europe.
The project now continues with the implementation of its training curriculum, educational resources, pilot activities, and policy recommendations designed to create a more supportive environment for student entrepreneurship and startup development.
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