The Spanish Association of Science and Technology Parks (APTE) and the National Innovation Company (ENISA) have signed a new agreement to develop the third edition of the APTENISA business ideation and acceleration programme, which will promote the identification of 75 new business ideas and the acceleration of 30 start-ups.
The APTENISA programme focuses on facilitating the creation of new technology-based companies and reducing the obstacles they face during their growth, thus supporting their development to a size that makes them more competitive, in clear line with the objectives of the Spanish Government’s Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, the Law on Business Creation and Growth, the Law on the Promotion of the Emerging Business Ecosystem and the Spain Up Nation Strategy.
Throughout 2024, APTENISA will support entrepreneurship from the initial idea to the acceleration phase, business model validation and incorporation, through a common methodology based on the Candy Innovation Model and Lean Launch Pad methodologies, to be developed by the seven science and technology parks participating in this new edition, located in five autonomous communities:
- MÁLAGA TECHPARK (Málaga)
- PARQUE CIENTÍFICO DE MADRID (Madrid)
- LA SALLE TECHNOVA BARCELONA (Barcelona)
- PARCBIT (Palma de Mallorca)
- PARQUE CIENTÍFICO DE ALICANTE (Alicante)
- PARQUE CIENTÍFICO Y TECNOLÓGICO CARTUJA (Sevilla)
- PARQUE CIENTÍFICO DE LA UNIVERSIDAD MIGUEL HERNÁNDEZ DE ELCHE (Alicante)
APTENISA also takes into account the territorial, connectivity and gender perspective gaps, committing to promoting initiatives that encourage digitisation or the implementation of technologies in different sectors, as well as female entrepreneurship.
This collaboration between ENISA and APTE began in 2022 with the launch of the APTENISA pilot programme, which has been consolidated over recent editions and has generated more than 200 new business ideas and accelerated 59 start-ups.
The National Innovation Company highly values this collaboration, as pointed out by Borja Cabezón, CEO of this public company: “The APTENISA programme, now in its third edition, is proving to be a good tool for generating new business ideas and promoting start-ups. The work being done by APTE and Spain’s Technology Parks, together with ENISA, is making possible the alliances needed to promote and strengthen entrepreneurship in our country, particularly in the field of technology.”
Felipe Romera, president of APTE, added: ‘I would like to express my satisfaction with a programme that is enabling our association to structure the national entrepreneurship ecosystem around Spanish science and technology parks and support the development of new start-ups, which are essential for improving the level of innovation and competitiveness in our country.’
With the call for proposals opening on 20 May, the business ideas received will participate in the APTENISA START incubation phase, which will run from 17 June to 12 July.
All information about the programme can be found on the website: https://www.apte.org/aptenisa