With an expected 10 million people participating in Global Entrepreneurship Week in 200 countries Nov. 8-14, hosts, event partners and participants are celebrating the entrepreneurial spirit and strengthening the entrepreneurial ecosystem in their communities. Many European countries started the week with an official message or by launching a new initiative. Here are a few highlights from the first few days of this year’s Global Entrepreneurship Week in Europe.
Ireland
Minister of State for Small Business Damien English launched Global Entrepreneurship Week 2021 in Ireland with a video message.
As the official GEW host organization for Ireland, Meath Enterprise co-ordinated a number of events nationally. Meath Enterprise CEO and managing director of GEN Ireland Gary O’Meara worked closely with both local and global partners and start-up ecosystem leaders to promote, support and celebrate entrepreneurship in Ireland.
Meath Enterprise officially launched a new coworking/enterprise hub in Dunshaughlin, a new state-of -the-art Digital Media Lab & video broadcasting facility in Navan, and a new commercial kitchen/food R&D lab and sensory testing facility in the Boyne Valley Food Hub.
The Digital Media Lab has a full program in place this week with events supporting and promoting entrepreneurship, such as the Student Enterprise Challenge. “We're very excited to welcome the budding entrepreneurs from secondary schools in #Meath to #KellsTech for the #StudentEnterpriseChallenge. Some great entrepreneurial talent and confidence is on display. It is such a pleasure to experience (in person) the enthusiasm and passion of these aspiring young entrepreneurs. Good luck to all,” said O’Meara. The challenge took place in partnership with eCOMM Merchant Solutions & #JMFoods.
Kosovo
President of Kosovo, Mrs. Vjosa Osmani addressed the audience at the #GEW2021 Kosovo opening. Chargé d'Affaires Nicholas J. Giacobbe, Jr. at the U.S. Embassy in Prishtina, Chargé d'Affaires Nasrin Pourghazian at the Embassy of Sweden in Prishtina, Neil Taylor (EBRD Head of Office in Kosovo) and Arian Zeka, the Executive Director of American Chamber of Commerce in Kosovo also delivered opening remarks.
GEW Kosovo has a record-breaking number of activities this year with 30 partners and 75 events across the country.
Romania
Junior Achievement (JA) Romania, the official GEW host organization for Romania celebrated Global Entrepreneurship Week by launching the BizzFactory ™ incubator for high school and college students in collaboration with Fedex, Accenture, EY, City, HP, NN, Romanian American Foundation.
The incubator provides young entrepreneurs with free access to webinars and hybrid learning resources. Teams of two to five members, between the ages of 15 and 30, can participate in the incubator. During the second phase of the incubator, the best business plans will be selected in order to prepare for the Company of the Year 2022 national finals.
United Kingdom
This year, many GEW UK events are focused on themes of climate, ecosystems, education, founder wellbeing, inclusion and policy. GEW UK launched on Monday with the virtual attendance of Dragon's Den investor Piers Linney and a focus on inclusion.
GEN UK, the GEW host organization in the UK, also partnered with GEW Denmark to host a live Startup Planet event in Glasgow titled 'Innovating to Net Zero'. The event featured entrepreneurs from across the region who shared their journeys on how they are working to reverse climate change. The discussion was facilitated to exploit the convergence between Global Entrepreneurship Week and COP26.
Startup Planet is seeking green and blue entrepreneurs and startups to submit their solutions and join a global conversation on solving climate challenges. Learn more here.