Following the summer break, we are resuming the HEInnovate webinar series with a panel discussion that will explore different practices focusing on the promotion of student entrepreneurship. The new series gets underway by discussing how to enhance the impact of student entrepreneurship, explored through the following questions:

• What role can students play in our university to foster entrepreneurship? What are the good examples and main challenges of promoting student entrepreneurship?
• How can we take the next steps and foster student start up creation linked to the wider ecosystem instead of maintaining the perception that student entrepreneurship is a form of educational activities?

The webinar will take place on Thursday, the 23rd September 2021 at 5pm CEST.

 

The panel discussion will be moderated by Steve Stevens, Manager of the DO!, Student entrepreneurship programme at the University of Ghent and engage four contributors, who will share their experiences on the topic:

• Aleksi Päkkilä, Head of International Relations at Aaltoes. Aaltoes is one of Europe's most prominent entrepreneurship societies. It has played a strong role in the development of the startup ecosystem in Finland during the past 12 years and its alumni have founded successful growth companies such as Smartly and Wolt. Aaltoes' focus is to provide entrepreneurial learning experiences, show entrepreneurship as a viable career option and support young founders on their ventures.
• Milena Stoycheva, the CEO of JA Bulgaria and The Edge: R&BD, and Visiting Professor with the EIT Digital Master School in I&E (Innovation and Entrepreneurship). Milena is an entrepreneur and educator. She is passionate about the importance of education and the opportunity for young people to develop their talents and discover their future as entrepreneurs. In the last five years, she has been delivering courses in innovation, business development and digital transformation for some of the EIT Digital master and doctoral school programmes in Europe. She likes to pursue and develop new ventures and feels confident that there is a place for crazy dreamers and “fire” starters in our society.
• Jeroen Der Wit, the CEO and co-founder of Teamleader, a Belgian scale-up that offers work management software. By helping entrepreneurs and their teams sell, bill and organise work in one place, Teamleader removes the daily hassle of running a business. This way, entrepreneurs can focus on what really matters: their business. Jeroen is a passionate entrepreneur himself, driven by an iron will and the desire to really help other businesses. The first version of Teamleader was released in June 2012 and that very same software is currently well on its way to conquer the European SME market.
• Wouter Von Morgen, from the Student Board of YES!Delft Students , the student organisation of the YES!Delft tech-incubator. YES!Delft Students stimulates and support students of TU Delft and the surrounding area to expand their horizon in the dynamic field of entrepreneurship. YES!Delft Students organise different activities, facilitate educational programmes and offer guidance to take student startups to the next level.