Free laboratory opened in Ecuador for entrepreneurs to create or develop their business idea

A space for entrepreneurs to learn how to create a business was inaugurated this Wednesday, April 20, by the SEK International University (UISEK), through the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Laboratory, also known as Innovalab.

It is located on Mariana de Jesús and Italia streets, on the Felipe Segovia Olmos campus of UISEK, in Quito. The free learning site has spaces for co-working, networkingideation and prototyping for the creation of new businesses and collaborative works that articulate the academy with the company, industry and society.

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According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) report, prepared by the Espol Business School (Espae), there are two motivations for entrepreneurship: by necessity and by opportunity.

Most Entrepreneurs is represented by people between 45 and 54 years old, followed by those between 35 and 44 years old. Only 8% are under 25 years old.

In addition, a large percentage fails to sustain itself over time and close their doors after 2 or 5 years of creation.

Silvia Noroña, coordinator of Innovalab, points out that “the needs of today’s world require empathetic individuals, creative, innovative and resilient that promote the so-called impact economyThis is where the laboratory plays a strategic role as it is a transversal area that seeks to generate innovative projects by articulating actors from different sectors of society”.

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Entrepreneurs, students and the community in general can access the following programs:

1. Training program in entrepreneurship and innovation:

• Workshops.
• Formal courses.
• Programs of networking.
• Contests, tournaments and hackathons of innovation.

2. Acceleration program for entrepreneurship, intrapreneurship and startup:

• Training and mentoring.
• incubator startup.

3. Business advisory and consultancy program on innovation:

• Development of innovative organizations applying agile methodologies.

4. Development and innovation program of the national cooperative system:

• Research.
• Development of human talent.
• Organizational development.
• Promotion of the cooperative system.

Meanwhile, in Ecuador there are formally more than 781 businesses, according to the National Registry of Entrepreneurship (RNE). The virtual platform has been operational since July 27, 2020, after the Law on Entrepreneurship and Innovation came into force. (I)