Entrepreneurial Spark

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Entrepreneurial Spark is the world's largest free business accelerator offering business support to start-up companies. Founded in Glasgow, Scotland, Entrepreneurial Spark is funded by private capital, contributions from public sector organisations, and corporate sponsorship.

A startup or start up is a company initiated by individual founders or entrepreneurs to search for a repeatable and scalable business model. Founders design startups to effectively develop and validate a scalable business model. Hence, the concepts of startups and entrepreneurship are similar. However, entrepreneurship refers all new businesses, including self-employment and businesses that never intend to grow big or become registered, while startups refer to new businesses that intend to grow beyond the solo founder, have employees, and intend to grow large. Start ups face high uncertainty and do have high rates of failure, but the minority that go on to be successful companies have the potential to become large and influential. Some startups become unicorns, i.e. privately held startup companies valued at over US$1 billion.

Glasgow City and council area in Scotland

Glasgow is the most populous city in Scotland, and the third most populous city in the United Kingdom, as of the 2017 estimated city population of 621,020. Historically part of Lanarkshire, the city now forms the Glasgow City council area, one of the 32 council areas of Scotland; the local authority is Glasgow City Council. Glasgow is situated on the River Clyde in the country's West Central Lowlands. It is the fifth most visited city in the UK.

Scotland Country in Northwest Europe, part of the United Kingdom

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It covers the northern third of the island of Great Britain, with a border with England to the southeast, and is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, the North Sea to the northeast, the Irish Sea to the south, and more than 790 islands, including the Northern Isles and the Hebrides.

Contents

Founded in January 2012, it has accelerators originally known as 'Hatcheries' based in Scotland, in Glasgow, Ayrshire and Edinburgh; [1] in England in Birmingham, Bristol, Brighton, Leeds, Manchester, Milton Keynes and Newcastle and in Belfast, in Northern Ireland. An accelerator will open in London in 2017.

Ayrshire Historic county in Scotland

Ayrshire is a historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine and it borders the counties of Renfrewshire and Lanarkshire to the north-east, Dumfriesshire to the south-east, and Kirkcudbrightshire and Wigtownshire to the south. Like many other counties of Scotland it currently has no administrative function, instead being sub-divided into the council areas of North Ayrshire, South Ayrshire and East Ayrshire. It has a population of approximately 366,800.

Edinburgh Capital city in Scotland

Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian, it is located in Lothian on the Firth of Forth's southern shore.

Entrepreneurs were originally known as 'Chiclets' and could initially stay for up to six months, receiving support and advice from mentors and enablers. [2] [3] Entrepreneurial Spark works closely with nearby universities including Glasgow Caledonian University. [4] In 2014 Entrepreneurial Spark doubled their space and facilities to provide continued support to growing businesses and their teams. [5]

Glasgow Caledonian University university

Glasgow Caledonian University is a public university in Glasgow, Scotland. It was formed in 1993 by the merger of The Queen's College, Glasgow and Glasgow Polytechnic.

History

Entrepreneurial Spark was founded to support business start-ups in (and from) Scotland, through the development of entrepreneurial mindsets and behaviours. It was founded by Saltire Foundation fellow Jim Duffy and co-founder Brian McGuire, [6] who featured the set up in the BBC Two Scotland Documentary 'The Entrepreneurs'. [7] Businesses currently receiving support from Entrepreneurial Spark include Planitmoney Mo's Cookie Dough, Alphabet Babies, Flexiworkforce and Raptor Equipment [8] among others.

Funding

Entrepreneurial Spark is a not-for-profit social enterprise supported by business leaders including Lord William Haughey, Sir Tom Hunter, [9] and Ann Gloag OBE, [10] local councils including Glasgow City Council, East Ayrshire Council, and South Ayrshire Council as well as gaining backing from politicians including Alex Salmond [11] and Ed Miliband. The scheme has also secured a three-year sponsorship package with The Royal Bank of Scotland, including funds to send aspiring entrepreneurs to Babson College in the USA. [12]

William Haughey, Baron Haughey, OBE is a Scottish businessman, philanthropist and chairman of City Facilities Management Holdings Ltd.

Sir Thomas Blane Hunter is a Scottish businessman, entrepreneur, and philanthropist.

Babson College private business school in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States

Babson College is a private business school in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Established in 1919, its central focus is on entrepreneurship education for which it is highly regarded. It was founded by Roger W. Babson as an all-male business institute but is now coeducational.

Entrepreneurial Spark worked with the Scottish Government to develop the £1 Million EDGE fund for entrepreneurs in Scotland. [13] [14]

The Scottish Government is the executive in Scotland for areas of public policy which are not reserved. The government was established in 1999 as the Scottish Executive under the Scotland Act 1998, which created a devolved administration for Scotland in line with the result of the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution. Following increasing use of the name "government" in place of "executive" during the first decade of the 21st century, its name was formally changed in law to Scottish Government by the Scotland Act 2012.

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The Scottish National Party is a Scottish nationalist, social-democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence within the European Union. It is the second-largest political party by membership in the United Kingdom, behind the Labour Party and ahead of the Conservative Party; it is the third-largest by overall representation in the House of Commons, behind the Conservative Party and the Labour Party; and it is the largest political party in Scotland, where it has the most seats in the Scottish Parliament and 35 out of the 59 Scottish seats in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The current Scottish National Party leader, Nicola Sturgeon, has served as First Minister of Scotland since November 2014.

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John Swinney Deputy First Minister of Scotland

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References

  1. ↑ "Entrepreneurial Spark scheme opens in Edinburgh". BBC News. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  2. ↑ "We meet the bright sparks of Glasgow business". Evening Times. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  3. ↑ "How our brightest young sparks are benefiting from Glasgow-based business accelerator". Evening Times. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  4. ↑ "Entrepreneur visits GCU to light students' business spark". Glasgow Caledonian University. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  5. ↑ "Entrepreneurial Spark to expand new business support services". Business Insider. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
  6. ↑ "Luckiest Man in Scotland". Evening Times. 25 July 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  7. ↑ "One is the lonliest number". BBC. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  8. ↑ "The Hatcheries". Entrepreneurial Spark. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  9. ↑ "Sir Tom Hunter unveils second phase of plan to support entrepreneurs". The Herald. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  10. ↑ "Entrepreneurial Spark scheme opens in Edinburgh". BBC. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  11. ↑ "First Minister Alex Salmond's address to SNP Conference". SNP. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  12. ↑ "US offer for start-ups". The Scotsman. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  13. ↑ "New £1 million Scottish entrepreneurs fund launched" . Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  14. ↑ "'Dragons' Den' plan to give firms public cash" . Retrieved 3 November 2012.
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