UPDATE No. 124For members first December 2016In this Update: page

European Enterprise Promotion Awards 2Amsterdam: Pilot Startup Program for Humanities 4

Rolling Round-Table for Startups on German Train Tracks 8Southern Sweden calls Startups to apply for Fast Track 6

Coworking Europe Awards for Community Action and Coworking Design 11Germany’s Founders Scene: More new Companies with Migration Background 8

7th SPICE G&G: Knowledge and Skills for Startups – Value for the Community 9ELPHI – the new Game about the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg premiers at SPICE G&G 10

Entrepreneurial Hotspots: this time reports on BerlinNew on SPICA World Map: Australia, Estonia, Germany, Indonesia, Romania, Singapore, South Korea,Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Tunisia, and USA. (see page 15)Reports from Australia, Belgium, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Indonesia, Japan, Morocco, Netherlands, Ni-geria, Poland, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisiaand USA

Just a short time until the New Year 2017 begins. But, before the Holiday Season is slowing down business activi-ties we want to thank members and friends of SPICE Group who during recent year with their activity helped de-veloping cooperation within our network. We just used the opportunity of the seventh SPICEG&G Workshop in Berlin (see page 7+8) to “celebrate” the 25th Anniversary of our net-work, to discuss actual entrepreneurship support activities and to enjoy some of the Christ-mas Markets in Berlin.We wish you a peaceful, enjoyable and relaxing Holiday Seasons:

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2017For the coming year 2017 we wish that your dreams and wishes come true in peace and good health,personal happiness and business success.With this newsletter – the last “SPICE Update for 2016 – we again provide information about incubation, accelerators, co-working, and other startup support initiatives around our warming planet. Let’s keep it as cool as possible.

Empower 10 Million Women worldwideJust four years after the start the first self-defense studiofor women in Jordan SheFighter, has reached more than

abuse. Now Lina hopes that her classes will lead to a cul-ture shift, not just in Jordan but around the world and

12,000 women across the Mid-dle East and North Africa.These women received trainingto have the confidence andskills to defend themselvesagainst violence or harassment.Lina Khalifeh, founder of She-Fighters

can refer to recognition from President Obama as “a lead-er of social change".The combination of classic martial arts techniques (likeTaekwondo, Kick-Boxing, Kung Fu and Boxing) withself-defense and self-empowerment strategies throughSheFighter is so successful that Lina Khalifeh now has sether truly ambitious goal: to empower 10 million womenworFighter, got her motivation to start this activity from a

friend who had been suffering physical and emotionalculture

worldwide. The plan is to reach that goal through pro-grams and networks, … continued on page 4…

Senegalese Tech Scene at Jambar Tech FestivalThe 1st edition of the Jambar Tech Festival, held De-cember 14-16, 2016 in Dakar, put the spotlights on theSenegalese

“Fail Conference”, thefirst “Business ReversePitch”.Tech scene of Senegal and offered three days of Tech,

Business and Fun, The Jambar Tech festival saw thewhole of the local ICT ecosystem gathered at the cityhall of Dakar and at the King Fahd Palace (for the 2nd

Pich” where private andpublic financiers pitched,and the TEKKI48 WA-ZIHack competition.

edition of the Jambar Tech Awards). The festival of-fered nine panels and meetups at JETIC, the secondedition

For more details see Jambar Tech Festival websiteContact: Regina Mbodj, email; SDO Profile CTIC Daklar

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For the tenth time the European Enterprise Promotion Awards have been presented end ofNovember 2016 at a ceremony in Bratislava, Slovakia,A report about the award, its organization and jury as well as details about the international win-ners in all categories (including the Runner Ups) and the national winners from 19 countries isavailable for download on website

Indonesian Universities interested in establishing TechnoparksThe Indonesian Government supports universities tolean from European experiences regarding businessincubation and science parks. 2012 – 2015, for exam-ple,

velopment” aimed at increasing the capacity for devel-oping the national innovation ecosystem of Indonesia.The experiences of Ideon Science Park in Lund played

ple, Indonesian trainees visited Germany to lean aboutbuilding innovation systems, including innovationmanagement, technology transfer, and business incuba-tion. An active network of Indonesian and Germanpartners continues this exchange.

an important role in this edu-cation, for example with SvenTore Holm, the first CEO ofIdeon, contributing actively.Founded in 1983 this science

This initiative now has been complimented by a pro-gram designed by Lund University for the IndonesianAgency for the Assessment and Application of Tech-nology (BPPT)”. 40 Indonesian students end of Octo-ber 2016 received their participation certificates in theeducation “Entrepreneurship & Science Park Devel-opment”

park since more than 30 years is successfully supportinginnovation and entrepreneurship and today is one of theleading science parks, home of renown research compa-nies and operating several incubators and accelerators.Contact: Ideon Team , email, Sven-Thore Holm, emailSDO Profile Ideon Science Park

The Winner takes it all: € 100,000 Prize in Start Me Up CompetitionThe second round of the startup competition “Start MeUp” now is open for applications. Organized byBILANZ in cooperation with Deutsche Bank AG,HanseMerkur, Daimler AG, ProSiebenSat1 Media SE

(flight ticket included) by Peter Thiel, co-founder ofPaypal, and financier of Facebook, Airbnb, and Palantir.Also public attention is secured: In the second phase ofthe competition, the magazine BILANZ and Bilanz.deandand Maschmeyer Group

this competition, aims “tomake better use of theintellectual and technicalpotential of the youngelite - for

and accompany the winner and report on the pro-gress.Selection criteria are the innovative value andwealth of the idea, the market potential, the financialconcept and consistency of the business plan, and proofof concept. Participation is open for individuals andteams based in Germany (majority of the business inelite - for more entrepreneurship, more intelligent

problem solving and a growth spurt to support” YoungIn 2015, the first “Start Me Up” competition, had 347applicants and the winner was"ArtiMinds Robotics",fromcourageous and talented

women and men readyto take risk and to enjoythe benefits high tech-nology

Karlsruhe, Germany with its robotprogramming suite.Application opened October 7,2016(see website).

nology and want to build up a growing company areinvited to compete for the prize money of € 100.000. Inaddition the winner receives coaching in San FranciscoPay

The deadline is March 31, 2017.More details on Start Me up websiteContact BLANZ email; ArtiMinds Robotic email

Three Women Entrepreneurs selected for Finals of WeHubs Ideas CompetitionWeHubs, the European network for women web entre-preneurs is preparing for the finals of its idea competi-tion. Three candidates were shortlisted candidates forthe final event to be held in Brussels on Nov 17, 2016:

kind of time schedule and routes Layal Jebran, archi-tect and designer, turned Social Entrepreneur, foundedher first successful startup ("Lyl Big Designs") duringuniversity years. The startup connected freelance de-signersDr. Ana Abril, founder and

CEO of Imprimaker isengineer and doctor in elec-tronics with an extensivework

designers to clients. She is co-founder and manager ofMoubarmij, an e-learning platform that provides pro-fessional programming tutorials in Arabic.These entrepreneurs will present at the final event andIdeawork experience of over 15 years in managing product

development projects. Imprimaker is an ecommerceplatform of smart and educational toys allows peopleto design their own smart toys.Elena Salsi, co-founder of UP2GO holds a degree inpharmacy and her experience has been gained fromR&D, production, and quality in big pharma. UP2GOis an app designed to manage in a smart way shortdistance trips within communities of people with same

Ideas Competition Award Ceremony. At this event alsoPolicy recommendations to empower women-led digi-tal businesses will be presented as well as best practicesfor Business Support Organizations (BSOs) on how topromote female entrepreneurship. The Award Ceremonywill honor the ultimate winner of the Ideas Competition.Free Registration for the event was possible until Nov15, 2016 though websiteContact: Laura Lecci, email; SDO Profile WeHubs

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Baton Rouge: Louisiana Business & Technology Center celebrates 28th AnniversaryThe Louisiana Business & Technology Center at theLSU

ing the 2016 Tenant of the Year: Healing Sole. Thecompany has developedLSU Innovation Park in Baton

Rouge, USA celebrated its Anni-versary and Celebration of Innova-tion at the L'Auberge ConferenceCenter in Baton Rouge. To cele-brate 28 years of successful workover 350

company has developed an orthopedic medical device -Plantar Fasciitis flip-flops that treat heel pain. Anotheraward winner was the 2016 Graduate Company of theYear: St. James Technologies, a research and devel-opment company currently focused on creating integrat-ed hardware and software solutions.

over 350 people joined the event including universityand community leaders, incubator companies andgraduate companies, student incubator companies andmembers of the 5 LSU Incubators in the system.This celebration was the perfect opportunity for award-ing the

SJT's capabilities include custom circuit design, embed-ded software development and electronics assembly andmanufacturing.Contact: Charles F. D’Agostino emailSDO Profile LSU Innovation Park

4th Anniversary in Cologne: STARPLATZ celebrated four Years of successful DevelopmentSTARTPLATZ Köln celebrated Nov 10, 2016. 4 yearsof successful work supporting startups and building thestartup ecosystem of the region at “STARTPLATZKöln

preneurs and ongoing events providing knowledge andexperience. Guests enjoyed the evening of celebrationthe STARPLATZ team had organized with deliciousfood fromKöln”; together with its sister co-

working space in Düsseldorf amarket leader in the Rhein-Mainarea. Congratulating to the fourthbirthday brought together manyplayers from this region, and gaveMatthias

food from the region provided by Nudelmafia and Bau-erntüte. Other ecosystem plavers (Web de Cologne,WSS redpoint, Sparkasse Köln/Bonn and Gaffel Kölsch)congratulated also by helping to make this event possi-ble. The celebration was great – but work goes on.STARTPLATZ is offering information and networking

Matthas Gräf, STARTPLATZ Founder and ManagingDirector the opportunity to thank everyone for the pastyears of collaboration and support. He also couldoutline upcoming activities in the fifth year of opera-tion with an expansion of space for startups and entre-preneurs and

with events almost every day covering topics from in-tercultural communication and FinTech to accountingand UX Design. More information on event website.Contact: Matthias Gräf emailSDO Profile: STARTPLATZ Köln

Startup Olé: Fostering the European Tech-Entrepreneurs’ EcosytemsMore than 600 participants (among them 100+ startupspresenting at the Startup Fair) from 61 countries atStartup Olé 2016 listened to 140 speakers – and they

the Innovation consulting + Legal counsellingBeonprice offering technology solutions for hotel Rev-enue Management won the Welcome Europass ticket

enjoyed the city of Salamanca, Spain.Part of the event was the Accelerator Assembly ses-sions with more than 50 accelerators discussing trendsof acceleration, including corporate involvement instartups. The “Accelerator Pitching” helping startups tounderstand the different ways accelerators use forsupporting

Whhotgames, a games company,won the Design voucherObuu optimizing stock logisticswon the Fast track to Connectorstartup dayStartup Olé aims at connectingstartupssupporting their clients. For more information see link

The winners of Startup Ole 2016 wereDavalor Salud offering “serious video games” toidentify and correct problems of the visual functionwon Fast Track to Global Entrepreneur ProgramCanard Drones providing calibration of NavAids byusing fully automated, unmanned UAVs (drones) won

startups and tech/ digital talent with corporates, inves-tors, accelerators, universities and media from all overEurope. The event also seeks to boost the Europeantech-entrepreneurial ecosystem and culture and helps toattract and enhance participation in large consortia. Formore about next year’s Startup Olé 2017 see website.Contact StartupOle team email

Start the Entrepreneurial New Year in the Global Gambling CapitalTech.Co and CES are inviting for a special StartupNight in Las Vegas. January 4 downtown Las Vegaswill

of startups, technology, and networking will featuresome of CES's best tech startups displaying this year’shotteswill experience a sneak

peek at some of the beststartups from CES be-fore they hit the showfloor,

hottest trends such as Artificial Intelligence, DigitalAssistants, Augmented Reality, Medical and SportsTech, Voice Recognition, Energy, Transportation, etc.Showcasing startups are also in the running for

floor. CES, the Consumer Electronic Association willhold its annual event CES®2017 in Las Vegas Jan 5 -7, 2017. This exhibition is not open to the generalpublic, but serves the needs of professionals.The night before CES®2017 opens the special evening

Tech.Co’s Startup of the Year Competition and the finaltop 100 startups will compete live at “Innovate andCelebrate” in October 2017.More information about CES®2017 on website - for theStartup Night (information and registration see website

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… continued from page 1… with the help from others. Formore information see SheFighter website and /or con-tact emailSheFighter is supported by Vital Voices, a global part-nership with the mission is to identify, invest in andbring visibility to extraordinary women around theworld by unleashing their leadership potential to trans-form lives and accelerate peace and prosperity in their

communities.Vital Voices Global Partnership is the preeminent non-governmental organization (NGO) that identifies, trainsand empowers emerging women leaders and social en-trepreneurs around the globe, enabling them to create abetter world for us all.For more information see website and to donate to sup-port more women like Lina Khalifeh use website

mHub Chicago received USD 500,000 i6 Challenge GrantIn September 2016 mHub Chicago started working on„beta mode“. The official launch with full services isplanned for early 2017. mHub is focused on physicalproduces development and startups that will manufac-ture

Grant from the United States Economic DevelopmentAdministration’s (EDA) Regional Innovation Strategies(RIS) program. The i6 Challenge started in 2010 as partof Obama’s innovation policy. In recent years the i6Challeture new products. mHUB is a

co-working community ofproduct designers and devel-opers, entrepreneurs, engi-neers and manufacturers, anetwork of manufacturingmentors,

Challenge awarded grants to different types of organiza-tions - from universities to seed funds. Awardees areselected by annual competitions with varied aims andconditions. In 2016 out of 215 applications besidesmHub 26 other organizations across the US received asimilar grant. Additionally, 8 seed financing organiza-tengementors, industry experts and investors, and a source

of intellectual and economic capital. mHUB is home toten shops and labs, including electronics, plastic fabri-cation, metals and rapid prototyping as well as a micro-factory for small production runs.Recently, mHub received a $500,000 i6 ChallengeGrant

ions were awarded. For mHub Chicago the i6Challlenge Grant will aid in building out the mHUBfacility, supporting vital education programs and assistin securing advanced prototyping equipment necessaryfor driving innovation in the Chicagoland area.Contact: H. Allen, email SDO Profile mHub Chicago

ACE Venture Lab – Pilot Startup Program for HumanitiesFor students or alumni in the field of Humanities ACEVenture Lab in Amsterdam Science Park offers a pilotprogram (for the Academic year 2016-2017) with train-ing, mentorship and access to networks. Selected ap-plicants

working with highly achieving tech and science basedstartups for over three years.The pilot program consists of a two-day Explore Pro-gram (in Dec 2016) “to get a taste of what entrepreneur-shipplicants also can get workplace in the historic center of

Amsterdam. ACE Venture Lab is an initiative by theAmsterdam Center for Entrepreneurship workingto stimulate entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial be-hav

ship entails” and a bootcampin Jan/Feb 2017. Applicantsshould be master or PhD stu-dents, researchers, senioracademicshavior of students and perform research on successful

entrepreneurship. Part of ACE is the Startup Village inAmsterdam Science Park.Venture Lab Humanities aims to help potential en-trepreneurs with a background in Humanities having aninnovative business idea to start a company. Practicaltools as well as ongoing advice and support are provid-ed based on the extensive experience and network ofcoaches and mentors ACE Venture Lab gained from

or creative professionals having an innovative and scal-able idea, be willing to set up their business in the Am-sterdam region and an ambition to scale up internation-ally. At the end of the pilot program experiences will beevaluated to draw conclusions for possible future activi-ties in this sector. More information is available on theACE websiteContact: Erik Boer emailSDO Profile ACE Venture Lab and Startup Village

ISAP World Conference 2017 will be held in IstanbulThe IASP World conference 2017 will be held in Is-tanbul, Turkey, September 16 – 29, 2017 under theheadline “Science parks and natural innovation ecosys-tems: Articulating future strategies”. The program will

internationalization, or ways you promote connectionsamong residents and stakeholders.Rethinking space: new habitats of innovation – Fab-Labs, design centres, co-working spaces, acceleratorsand living labsoffer a variety of plenary and parallel sessions as well

as more innovative formats to encourage a more dy-namic knowledge exchange. The format of the sessionswill be determined after reviewing proposed papers.The main theme blocks will be:

The Future - speculate about the future ofthe STP and AOI sector.Partners of IASP for organizing this confer-ence are three Technoparks: Teknopark Is-tanbul, ODTU Teknokent, and ITU ARITeknokentInnovative funding schemes –crowdfunding, new

Angel Investment networks, Venture Capital, and moreService mechanisms – new tools to improve services,

Teknokent.Full details are available on website.Contact: Ebba Lund email SDO profile IASP

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Startup FinTech Wave reaches AustraliaFinTech Australia, in partnership with LaunchVic, heldits inaugural summit, Collab / Collide 2016 in Mel-bourne on November 3+4, 2016, bringing the Austral-ian

try through presentations, discussion panels and work-shops that showcase the rich and varied experience ofexceptional local and international FinTech industryleaderian FinTech ecosys-

tem together to net-work and connect.Australia’s nation-al FinTech Summit

leaders. The Summit provided plenty of opportunitiesfor attendees to network, and discuss solutions to im-plement and promote innovative FinTech practices.The Summit will bring the whole FinTech Ecosystemtogether - Startups, Corporates, Government and Regu-latorswas curated with and for the Australian FinTech com-

munityCollab / Collide 2016 aimed to be the knowledge-exchange platform for the Australian FinTech ecosys-tem. The event explored the fine line between collabo-ration and competition in the FinTech indus-try, through

lators - through a 2 day Summit plus the launch of anational awards program, both of which are currated andco-created with the Australian FinTech community.Tickets are available through websiteSDO Profile: LaunchVIC and FinTech AustraliaContact Vanessa Ronan-Pearce, email

Competition in 10 Cities around the World with Final Pitch in TokyoNTT DATA is inviting to apply for a “Global Pitch”that will take place in February 2017 in ten cities: Lon-don

expanded as well as two weeks hotel accommodations.NTT DATA is a globally active System Integrator

don, Madrid, Barcelona, Toronto, Sao Paulo, SiliconValley, Tokyo, Beijing, Singapore and Tel Aviv. Thewinners at each city will be invited to Tokyo (incl.flight

(market leader in Japan) and aplatinum sponsor of “InnovationWeekend” that already heldglobal globalflight and hotel accommodation) for the Finale Event

on March 15, 2017 to compete for the grand champion.At the Grand Final in Tokyo will not only the 10 – 12winner pitches will be presented, attendees also willget information from keynote speeches.The winner at the Finale Event, will receive a three-month in-kind contribution worth USD30,000 and tworound trips to the place where the business should beexpanded

global pitch rounds in recent years (see SPICE Updatearticle).Startups interested in expanding business with NTTDATA, are invited to apply through website. Peopleinterested in more information can contact the nearestcity from the list provided.For more information about this pitching round seeContact: NTT DATA office in Japan, email

More Co-working Space in SingaporeMore Co-working Space in SingaporeThe Working Capitol (TWC) since more than a year isoffering co-working facilities on 3,066 sqm. The suc-cess

outdoor pool, boutique gym and duplex penthouse facil-ities to also attract settled businesses.

success of TWC Keong Saik is thebasis for another location evenbigger: TWC Robinson will offer5,110 sqm space on 11 floorsspanning

In an article of July 2016 Forbes listed TWC on rank 7inthe list of “The 11 Best Co-Working Spaces in Asia”.Although such rankings often compare what hardly canbe compared (like co-working on the beach with down-townin Singapore’s Central Business District (CBD).

Possibly not typical for co-working spaces TWC ex-tends its offer also to businesses with up to 200 em-ployees. Another specialty is the luxury of the facilitiesreaching from outdoor, balcony and rooftop spaces to

town business district offices) it can be seen as anachievement to get on such a list after little more thanone year of operation.Contact: TWC Team emailSDO Profiles: Keon Saik and Robinson

Knowledge for Practitioners – BVIZ Work Group Day in KasselBVIZ, the German association of business and innova-tion centers has several themed work groups for

ditional “Spring Conference” of the association. For thenext year now the date has been published.

members that regularly provide opportunities for prac-titioners ners to meet and exchange actual informationand good practices. These workgroups are specializedon topics Parks,like “Green Technology Startups”, “Bio-Technology“Center Management”, “Creative Industry Startups”, or“International Incubation” and organize meetings sev-eral times during each year.Once a year these workgroups all together meet for oneday to provide opportunities for “cross-fertilization”.In 2015 this concept successfully replaced the tradi-tional “Spring

The “BVIZ Work Group Day 2017 ” will he hosted inthe Science Park Kassel on April 3, 2017.More information will be made available on the associa-tion’s websiteContact: Andrea Glaser email; SDO Profile BVIZSDO Profile Science Park KasselContact: Gerold Kreuter email

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National University Startups Conference to be held in WashingtonThe National Council of Entrepreneurial Tech Transferorganizes the University Startups Conference andDemo Day, a networking and best practices conferencein Washington, DC on April 18-20, 2017. The eventwill

University, corporate, and government panels fea-turing new models for supporting startups

· Showcasing the Best University Startups of 2017 atthe University Startups Demo Day

be focused on bringingtogether universities anduniversity startups, For-tune 500 and Global 1000corporations, VCs andangel

· Congressional Office visits on Capitol HillConference Registration will open soon. Already open isthe possibility to apply for the University StartupsDemo Day. Startups from universities all over the Unit-ed States are invited to submit and be considered topresentangel investors, and federal government agencies - all

committed to creating and supporting startups for jobcreation and economic development. The conferenceaims to highlight the role of university Startup Officersas the main driver in creating and supporting startupsin the university.

present, meet, and network with Global 1000 and For-tune 500 corporations, angels, VCs, and SBIR programmanagers at the Demo Day. Applicants should be affili-ated with a US university and be legally incorporated.Contact for more information and questions: emailMore information about the conference see website

Colorful Containers - Science-Based Startups have a new Home in AmsterdamNo Grand Opening yet (this will follow in early 2017)but open for business is a colorful container village inAmsterdam Science Park: Startup Village Amster-dam. Created jointly by Amsterdam Science Park and

community spaces and plans to have admitted around 25startups. Coaching and mentoring for the clients is pro-vided by the incubator ACE Venture Lab, while Am-sterdam Science Park provides facilities and network.

incubator ACE Venture lab together with UvA Holdingthis new has started work by allowing the first clientcompanies to move in and on Nov 2, 2017 the village

These partnersalso provideaccess to abusinessdeclared to be officially open. Before the Grand Open-

ing will be celebrated in spring 2017 Startup Villagewill expand further by adding several labs as well as

business network, ranging from fellow-entrepreneurs tomultinationals. Contact emailSDO Profile Startup Village and ACE Venture Lab

ICEIRD 2017: Coproducing Knowledge, Innovation & GrowthThe 10th International Conference for Entrepre-neurship, Innovation and Regional Development(ICEIRD 2017) will be held Aug 31 – Sep 1, 2017 inthe

to the growth potential of countries.Over the past 10 years, ICEIRD has become one of theleading entrepreneurship, innovation and regional de-velopmentthe Makedonia Palace Hotel

Thessaloniki, Greece under thetheme “University-IndustryLinks: Coproducing Know-ledge, Innovation & Growth”

velopment conferences in Europe, attracting academicsand practitioners from around the world. ICEIRD overthe past decade has focused on the importance of uni-versities, industry and government, and how innovationled growth can be promoted linking research, co-productionwith the aim to promote the dialogue and knowledge

exchange through the participation of academics,commercialization practitioners, policymakers, entre-preneurs, innovators, and businesses (companies) inorder to enhance the impact of university-industry links

production and commercialization through university-industry cooperation.Contact: ICEIRD 2017 email and Prof. Panayiotis H.Ketikidis, emailConference details and registration on website

Southern Sweden calls Startups to apply for Fast TrackFast Track Malmö is offering what accelerators usuallyprovide: mentoring, investment and support to enter

specialized various technologies.Fast Track offers a convertible note of $30,000 that may

international markets. However, this program com-bines the competencies of four organizations: Minc, acity-owned startup hub; ALMI, an investment fundworking at national scale; Malmö Startups, the entre-preneurship portal; and the economic developmentagencyagency.

be converted to equity at the next financ-ing round is issued to all startups in eachbatch. A selection of startups from eachbatch will get up to $50,000 to accelerateeven more. The program also helps withlegalagency Invest in Skåne. And the program offers to

work in a dynamic environment with the economicpotential of the neighboring Malmö and Copenhagenand the innovation hotspot Lund nearby. The regionalso has a lively startup with incubators/ acceleratorsspeci

legal documents. Selected startups also can take ad-vantage of the facilities of Minc currently hosting over300 entrepreneurs. More the call, see websiteContact: Fast Track Team emailSDO Profile: Fast Track

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Swiss Venture Competition on two TracksSince 1998 the Swiss >>venture>> competition hassupported startups - first bi-annually and since 2015every year. The competition is an initiative of the ETHZurich, McKinsey & Company Switzerland, KnechtHolding, the innovation promotion agency CTI, andÉcole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL).

ration of their business plans. Support also is providedthrough various events. Comprehensive informationmaterial is available the competition website. TheBusiness Idea track provides a professional realitycheck. Applicants need to submit an idea descriptionon two to six pages addressing a potential investor and

>>venture>>is calling itself“the leadingSwiss

covering customer benefit, market, and implementation(business model and team).The Business Plan track begins with an actionable

Swiss-wide start-up competition” and supports youngentrepreneurs in founding a company. Applicants (indi-vidual or team) may enter the competition either on thebusiness idea or the business plan track. Selected partic-ipants receive a start-up consulting package powered byMcKinsey, as well as total prize money of CHF 40,000for the winners of the business idea competition andCHF 120,000 for the winning business plans.Participants receive feedback from the team of highlyqualified jurors; entrepreneurs evaluating the businessaspects and investors evaluating the financial attrac-tiveness and coaches support competition participantsin the development of their business idea or the prepa-ration

business plan. This track is to help with a systematicalchallenge of the business idea to discover flaws earlyand fix them efficiently. It will help developing a doc-ument to serve as a central means of communicationwith investors and strategic partners.At the >>venture >> Investor Day in ETH Zurich onJune 19, 2017 the 25 finalists of the business plancompetition get the opportunity to present their pro-posals. The five winners will receive the cash prizeswithout having to give shares in return.Application deadline: April 12, 2017For more details and application visit websiteContact: Venture Office email

Starts January 3: Online Courses for a Business Incubation Management CertificateThe next online course for the InBIA Business Incuba-tion Management Certificate begins on January 3, 2015with the course “Establishing Successful Entrepre-neurship Program”. This is the first course in the BIM

impact programs and services. The course focuses oncompany selection and retention, development anddeployment of relevant services and programs, andhow to establish effective resource and mentor net-works.program and provides foundational concepts and meth-

odologies for establishing and maintaining a successfulentrepreneurship program in a variety of markets. With-in the course, participants will learn about trendingindustry models for developing a strong, market-driven

works.The other two courses of the programwill follow in February (“Finance andOperations for Sustainable Entre-preneurship Programs”) and March(”Designvalue proposition, mission and goals. The course has a

special focus on identifying the entrepreneurial ecosys-tem and the components that drive a sustainable market.Participants will also learn about company applicationand selection processes and how to align organizationalmission statements and community interests.The second course “Guiding Companies: LeveragingResources and Strategy”, will start January 23, 2017explaining how to implement industry best practices toensure an entrepreneurship program is providing high-

(”Design and Management of Facilities that ServeEntrepreneurs”).The program also is continued to be offered in thepersonal face-to-face version; nest time at the 31stInBIA International Conference on Business Incu-bation, WA on March 25 – 26, 2017.More details are available on website; registrationscan be made onlineContact: InBIA Education emailSDO Profile: InBIA

EBN Open EntrepreneurshipThe 2017 edition of EBN’s annual policy event willbe held January 25, 2017 in Brussels. Bringing to-gether policy makers based in Brussels with practi-tioner

presentations of 3-4 successful entrepreneurs stemmingfrom the areas of inclusivity, innovation and interna-tionalization. Furthermore a roundtable of 4-5 experts

tioner members of EBN under the headline “OpenEntrepreneurship: Inclusive | Innovative | Inter-national", this event will offer a short series ofpresentations and discussions around topics of coreinterst

that will consider thespecial support differ-ent types of entrepre-neurs need, and howtheinterest to the ecosystem. Also the partnership of

EBN and JPMorgan Chase Foundation will bepresented. The aim of this collaboration is to supportgrowth of the economy, by making entrepreneursmore innovative, inclusive and international.Besides a keynote introduction, the event will offer

EBN ecosystem delivers this support. Completing theevent will be a cocktail reception with opportunities tonetwork with speakers and participants.Contact: EBN Info email info@ebn.euMore information and registration on EBN websiteSDO Profile: EBN

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Rolling Round-Table for Startups on German Train TracksDecember 14, 2016 was the first day people interestedin talking about starting a business could meet at arolling roundtable in a new train connecting Stuttgartand Berlin each day in both directions. Stuttgart is de-veloping

partment. Train passengers interested in discussingentrepreneurship can visit this compartment to findlike-minded people and for the full distance Stuttgart –Berlin they will have about six hours to talk. From

veloping its start-upscene with a fintechfocus; Berlin is the Ger-man startup hub. Butinteresting startup scenesalso are active at otherplaces along the line.

2017 / 2018 entrepreneurial cities like Munich, Colo-logne and Düsseldorf are planned to be connected.The train offers more innovative features, like themecompartments for languages, literature or playinggames with the possibility to see in the reservationsystem what is offered and an email contact for sug-gestingcities along the line. For example, Heidelberg with the

Technology Park Heidelberg with a bio- and medtechfocus and other activities supporting entrepreneurship;Kassel, with the active Science Park Kassel, a reginalhub of entrepreneurship, and Hannover with is Hano-ver Science and Technology Park specialized in pro-duction tion and optical technologies. Also at otherstops like Frankfurt/Main, Darmstadt, and Wolfsburgstartup support initiatives are building entrepreneurshipecosystems.Connecting these cities the new Locomore train shouldexperience much interest in the Startups Theme Com-partment

gesting new topics. Snack services at all seats providefood & drinks and the train operates with “green” elec-tricity only. Passengers also can benefit from usingbusiness compartments with more space and freesnacks & drinks.The start of the new company was made possiblethrough crowdfunding and investors still can partici-pate by providing loans with an interest between 3,45and 8,3 per cent depending on the size of the loan andthe decision if the return should be provided in cash ortravel budget. More details on the Locomotion websiteContact: Locomore email / Website Locomore

Germany’s Founders Scene: More new Companies with Migration BackgroundThe German Federal Ministry for Economy invited fora seminar “International Founders Scene: Exploringthe Potential” was held on Dec 1, 2016.

Maik Leonhardt, Area Manager Start-ups, IHK BerlinBerlin (Chamber of Commerce and Industry) informedabout experiences from the "Startup Class for fugitives.”InPresentations and discus-

sions put light on thepotential of people withforeign roots to starttheir own business, actu-al

In these classes participants with foreign roots receiveinformation with practice relevance about the possibili-ties to start their own business. Integration of successfulentrepreneurs does not only help regarding languages,but also to build lasting networks.

al developments, success factors as well as obstacles.Results of a study and recommendations for action forthe international founding scene were presented by Dr.René Leicht, Research Director at the Institute forMedium-Sized Research, University of Mannheim.The study provides important insights like the fact thatin Germany already since about a decade the portion ofcompanies started by entrepreneurs with a migrationbackground is raising to meanwhile almost half of thenew firms. In parallel the number Germans startingnew firms is decreasing while those with migrationbackground found more companies.

Uwe Beckmeier, State Secretary of the Federal Ministryfor Economy underlines the importance of internationalstartups for the economy.A panel dialogue with representatives of the internationalfounder scene provided information about the entrepre-neurial reality in Germany. Participants were KachunTo(Mycs GmbH, Berlin), Nadia Qani (AHP OutpatientHome Care, Frankfurt), Jacob van Zonneveld (PlugSurf-ing, Berlin), Bartosz Kosmecki (Scopis GmbH, Berlin),and Nadine Förster (IQ-Fachstelle Migrantenökonomie,Mainz, Germany).Contact Dr. R. Leicht, email; Maik Leonhardt email

Deutsche Börse supports Startups with Venture Network and FinTech HubThe German Stock Exchange “Deutsche Börse” isfamiliar with the needs and requirements of start-upsand investors. On this basis in summer 2015 it has setup an initiative to

Network is set to solve the challenges of entrepreneurialgrowth.The FinTech Hub promotes the Fintech community in

The Venture Network to promote the long-term fi-nancing of startups. Parts of this initiative are eventsand training programs, for example, three modulesthat give founders

Frankfurt andthe Rhine /Main area. The

providing input and new perspectives on ManagingGrowth, Financing Growth and Capital Market Read-iness.Lack of financial resources often prevents expansionof startups and finding a suitable investor is one ofthe biggest challenges for start-ups. The VentureNetwork is set

hub does not only provide room to work, but also targetedadvice and networking. The Deutsche Börse Venture Net-work team provides expert advice and targeted contactswith experienced finance /market experts and investors.Contact: FinTechHub Team emailWebsite: Venture Network

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7th SPICE G&G Workshop: Knowledge and Skills for Startups – Value for the CommunityThe Seventh SPICE G&G Workshop, hosted byVDE/VDI Innovation + Technik GmbH and held inBerlin December 9+10, 2016 brought together networkmembers and friends to discuss actual developments inentrepreneurship support. Following the concept of thisseries of events the number of participants is limited for

concept for a new business and get it started. Based onthe principles of “learning by doing”, teamwork, andmultisisciplinarity the teams went through a process oftraining, team formation and team building, developedthe business model together and received mentoringthrough “virtual acceleration”, a 12-weeks phase with

ensuring intense directand personal discussions.The focus this year wasput on the question howto provide startup entre-preneurs with the neces-sary knowledge andskills –

each of the team mem-bers working from her/his respective homebase. The result of tworounds of this programwas 85 teams complet-ing the process and 23

through training, net-working, and learning-by-doing. Short State-ments introduced todifferent aspects of thegeneral topic and laid afoundation for the fol-lowing

“surviving” startups.These inspiring introductions to round-table discus-sions provided so many topics and views to discussthat even the generously calculated discussion timewas not sufficient.The fourth section of the workshop dealt with the sup-port offers provided by co-working spaces, incubators,andlowing round-table discussions.

Opening the Workshop the host Uwe Seidel providedinsights into decades of experience in the field of en-treprnerus

and accelerators. The question how the types of entre-preneurship and startup support initiatives can be dif-ferentiated seems to be more or less clear in theory –

trepreneurship support and innovation. The activities ofVDE/VDI Innovation + Technik – nationally as wellas around the world - cover a wide spectrum fromsystematic training programs to evaluating and bench-marking of innovation ecosystems. Berlin - the Euro-pean Capital for Entrepreneurs and Paradise of SupportActivities!? Uwe Seidel relativized these popular de-scriptions

although the practition-ers around the table notalways had the sameview on every detail –in practice there are noclear borderlines. Thenames given to theexistingscriptions. Although there are a wide range of activities

to support start-ups, the early stage entrepreneurs arestill facing great challenges. Especially the links be-tween the industry and the new ideals are expandable.In a worldwide comparison of start-up activities, Ger-many takes a good but improvable place. No reason for

existing co-working, incubation, or acceleration organ-izations often do not provide correct or sufficient ori-entation for potential users. Not to speak about ‘hubs’or ‘labs’ that are used as labels for very different con-tent. The discussion concluded with these result that itmay not be worth to spend too much time for “

being satisfied!The short introduction ofPeter Nagy, KONETTTeam Budapest, de-scribed the theory andpractice of 'good busi-ness', meaning business

defining” these types – real life will not care aboutsuch definitions. But it could be worth spending timeand efforts to make the concrete services understanda-ble and accessible to future entrepreneurs and startups,no matter if such services are provided by co-workingspaces, incubators, accelerators, hubs, or labs – orwhatever creative label is given to an organization.

that goes beyond its primary meaning and adds value to 25th Anniversary of the SPICE Group Networkthe people. Based on this theory, created by MihalyCsikszentmihalyi, Peter suggested a training module of‘blended learning’ - contact training plus serious gamesimulation aimed at managers. Innovation centers andbusiness incubators can use it as a presentation to thecommunity. Presentations are available on request

This G&G Workshop alsoprovided an opportunityfor “celebrating” the 25thAnniversary of the SPICEGroup network. Part ofthis celebration was thenewMaciej Nowak, InQbator

Poznan summarized experi-ences made in an internationalco-creation program with theaim to build startups that areinternational from the begin-ning.

Premiere of ELPHI. Thisnew game brings real lifeinto a game - experiencesmade with building thenew landmark concert hall“Elb-Philharmonie” inHamburgning. The program helped groups of 4 – 5 would-be

entrepreneurs from different countries to develop aconcept

Hamburg with construction cost ten times higher thaninitially calculated (see ELPHI insert on next page).

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… continued from previous page … Honoring the foundingSPICE Members attending the workshop was another

The second day of the G&G 2016The Saturday program was organized under headline

part of the celebration.The special “25 SPICEYears Medal” wasawarded to Barbara Har-ley (USA) and JanisStabulnieks (Latvia) withthanks for their lastingsupport

“From Foreign Ministry to Country Farm” andoffered a variety of impressions – combined with op-portunities for talking in small groups as well as foodand drinks suitable for the Christmas time.An unexpected experience was the Christmas Marketin the Foreign Ministry. Here, visitors can buy pre-sents employees of the Ministry have received ormemberssupport of our global network.

The medals were presented bySPICE Group president HeinzFiedler; the third foundingmember attending the work-shop.

All participants received ananniversary scarf as lastingsouvenir in addition to thespecial G&G 2016 cup partic-ipants receive since the sec-ond G&G Workshop in 2010.

Members of an association for supporting projects indeveloping countries have donated – an unusual collec-tion of things from all around the planet.The next stop at a small Christmas market around theHedwigs Cathedral offered an opportunity for visitingthis oldest catholic church of Berlin.

Additionally, but for the ladiesonly, a special present fromLatvia sweetened the after-noon: Chocolates with fruitycream fillings brought byJanis Stabulnieks.

Gendarmenmarkt: thisfamous Christmas Marketalways is a pleasure to visit– even before it is reallydark.A former knight estate andthe later Prussian domainAnother highlight of the first

G&G Day was the lunch –this time with a special soup:A truly home-made Ukraini-an Borschtsch served by thechef, Larisa Brovarska.

and then Prussian domain with ahistory of more than 800 yearswas the final stop of the tour:“Domäne Dahlem”. Here youfind Berlin’s oldest residentialbuilding – today the core of aliving living open-air museum for agri-

cultural and nutritional culturewith an ecological focus. And it isthe place where a cozy ChristmasMarket offers organic delicaciesand a historic carousel.

For volunteers only and following ancient traditions thesoup was offered with a tiny shot of Ukrainian mineralwater from the unique SPICE Paprica Pot that first timewas used at the SPICE Summer Workshop in Budapest.

The dinner at the end of this day offered traditionalChristmas cuisine (like baked goose or duck) in theenvironment of the historic restaurant “Alter Krug”,just opposite “Domäne Dahlem”.

The Game Premier: ELPHIThe new game ELPHI at theSPICE G&G 2016 first timewas played in an Englishversion prepared for this occa-sion. With this game the co-authors Peter Lemcke andJoachim Francke broughtactual “real-life” experienceinto a game.

into a game: The story of building the new landmark ofHamburg, the concert hall “Elb-Philharmonie” offerssufficient material for an exciting game with manypossibilities for discussion and comparison with ownexperiences. Participants take the role of the buildingowner, construction company, architect or the publiclearning about their perspectives of such a project.More on website; Contact email

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Coworking Europe Awards for Community Action and Coworking DesignThe Coworking Europe conference held in BrusselsNov 26 – 28, 2016 for the first time, organized aninternational Awards Contest in two categories: TheBest Coworking and the Best Coworking Design Award.Applications from co-working spaces across the world.

find, for example, the “Refugee Fundraiser – Quiz Night”by Smart Office in Serbia, that was created tohelp welcome refugees. Also on the list is selling cottonbags at monthly events with the message ”Soy Wayuu”in Colombia to support the Wayuu, the largest indigenous

Possibly more interesting than the actual winners ishaving a look at the list of applications. CoworkingEurope published short descriptions of applicationsselected for teh

community in Colombia,threatened by environ-mental contamination,political.Selected for the public voting during the conference.

21 actions are listed for the Community ActionAward including applications from Algeria, Belgium,Brazil, Colombia, Germany, India, Morocco, Nether-lands, Nigeria, Romania, Serbia, Russia, Spain, Swit-zerland, Turkey, and UK.The 31 applications for the Coworking Design Awardin addition to above mentioned countries include Austria,Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy, France, Portugal, Singaporeand USA.Looking at the community actions proposed for the award you

corruption, and abandonment by government officials.From Algeria TAWJIH (Mentoring in Arabic) was nomi-nated, the first initiative connect university students withprofessionals in different forms and to add mentoringand altruism to the youth culture. In Morocco, initiated by7AY a comic about environmental threats was co-createdin Arabic by volunteers to improve understanding forenvironmental issues. The project created a strong-er community and was leading to additional projects onthe topic.Contact: Jean-Yves Huwart, email

SCALE11 - Where Startups meet GrownupsFor the third time CEBIT in Hanover (March 20-24,2017) offers emerging start-ups from all over the worldaccess to decision-makers from the established econo-my.

right place to present business ideas and inspire estab-lished companies and investors - in the exhibition area,as part of numerous networking events during the dayormy. Large and small,

established companiesare investigating possi-bilities of cooperationwith new and innovative

or relaxed in the evening, at speed-dating with decision-makers or as part of a personal appointment at the In-vestors Club.In 2016, SCALE11 welcomed 350 exhibiting startupsfrom 40 nations. For better overview, the exhibitionareabusinesses. At SCALE11 both worlds come together

and combine their strengths. SCALE11 is more thanjust exhibition - it's networking, exchange, know-howtransfer, business modeling & development, pitch stageand much more. CeBIT SCALE11 in Hall 11 is just theright place to present

area is organized in 17 Community Areas – from Artifi-cial Intelligence through Digital Health, Internet ofThings, Media & AdTech to Virtual Reality.Contact: No email, only via contact for on websiteRegistration website

Smorgasbord - Food Startup Incubator on TourSmorgasbord Feast will be organized in major cities ofSouth Africa Coming from March 25 to November 17,2017. Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban, Bloemfon-tein and Pretoria are on the agenda. The aim Smorgas-bord is building and sustaining the food and beveragesect

to help introducing new products into the market.Smorgasbord is active in research (food & beveragetrend analysis and delivery within a local, continentaland global perspective), design (curating food & bever-age dining experiences in spaces & places), and strate-gysector in the country. Through these the food startup of

the year will be chosen supported a team of judges.gy (food & beveragecorporates, and en-trepreneurs,Prize money of R150,000 (ca. €10,000) makes partici-

pation attractive.Further parts of this initiative are Food Salons and aconference focusing on producers, street food, growers,crafters as well as the food and beverage industries. TheFood Salons will allow food sector entrepreneurs topitch their products to industry professionals and brands

trepreneurs, with plans that tie into the core vision ofSmorgasbord)The company also invests in and creates market oppor-tunities for early stage food businesses across the food& beverage sector.Contact Smorgasbord Team, emailMore information on website

The Future of Co-Working in HungaryThe co-working space Loffice in Budapest on January25 and 26, 2017 will host the conference “Coworking

ness models for co-working. International speakersand the coworking managers (incl. H13, Szindbád,KAPin Hungary –Challenges and Possibil-

ities” to put light into questions im-portant for the future of this sector. This

KAPTÁR, Deskmag, Loffice, and Makerspace.hu)will share their experiences, give practical tips, anddiscuss experiences and trends

will include the role of community models , the re-sources needed, as well as actual trends and future busi-ness

More information on websiteContact: Anna Eszter Zászkaliczky, email

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Business Incubation in ECAThis section provides information about incubation programs from the ECA region(Eastern Europe and Central Asia). ECAbit is the regional networks of business incuba-tors and technology parks, set up with infoDev support. Information: www.ecabit.org/contact Olga Lapteva oilapteva.tmb@gmail.com

Netcamp, open for Tech/Startup Partners from GermanyNetcamp, Foundation of Internet Industry Devel-opment with headquarters in Szczecin, has devel-oped to be the most important tech/startup commu-nity in North-West Poland and is open for coopera-tion with

eneurs in north-western Poland with the vision is to build„Silicon Valley” inside people’s mind. Netcamp meet-ings have been organized since 2007. A special focus ofNetcamp is put on supporting startup industry develop-menttion with international

partners. Due to thegeographical situations– from Szczecin it isjust about

ment as well as educating and integrating regional ITindustry. 2011 Netcamp has been awarded by the PolishMinistry try of Economy and was representing Poland infinals of European Enterprise Award.

just a two hours’ drive or train ride to Berlin – coop-eration with German partners is actively invited.Especially interesting are startup/internet companiesfrom Berlin ready to become a speaker at a Netcampmeetup, that looking to connect with lo-cal companies from ICT industry or support youremployer branding/HR activities, or are organizinginteresting tech/startup event in Berlin. For suchevents Netcamp is ready to support by “makingsome buzz through Netcamp’s network in Poland”.Netcamp is an organization supporting tech entrepr-

Netcamp is supporting startups by organizing Polish-German Startup Weekends and Nethack (city hacka-thon), is helping to spread inspiring ideas as a mainpartner of TEDxSzczecin, and is a partner of manytech/startup events in Europe.The entrepreneurship scene in Szczecin just has experi-enced another Netcamp impulse: In Szczecin the StartupWeekend “Smart City“held Nov 4 – 6, 2016.SDO Profile NetcampContact: Maciej Jankowski emailSDO Profiles: Business Incubator / TP Pomerania

500 Children and Young People at CoderDojo in TimisoaraTimişoara, Romania on November 19,2016 experienced the biggest pro-gramming literacy event ever held in asingle location in Romania.

mania, and 13 CoderDojo implementations in theTimişoara metropolitan area.In addition to regular CoderDojo working sessions,workshops on various technology areas (Scratch webtechThe Mega CoderDojo saw more than 500 children

and young people, aged between 7-17 years togetherwith about 100 mentors to celebrate what they likemost: being creative and coding.This Mega DoderDojo was organized by the Associ-ation of Banat IT, CheckOut, Youth Capital in Ro-mania

technologies (HTML + CSS, JavaScript), C ++, C #,Java, Python, Ruby, Photoshop, Game Development,Robotics) the event provided learning opportunities.Blitz competitions and presentations of mentors willcomplete the program.Further details about the event on website

Winners of the CES Awards 2016The “no-pitch, no-conference startup festival” inLjubljana, the Capital of Slovenia, on December 12016 the winners of the Central European StartupAwards were presented. More than 800 nominationsfrom 10 countries (Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, CzechRepublic,

Just one more country, the Czech Republic, could takehome more than one award: Best Early Stage Startup:GREYCORTEX (A.I., data mining and machine learningin improving IT security) and the Investor of the Year isAndrej Kiška, an investor and startup blogger.

Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slo-vakia and Slovenia) had to be evaluated to find thewinners in 12 different categories. With 150 nomi-nations the category “Best Early Stage” found thestrongest resonance - an indication for the fast de-velopment of early stage startups in Central Europe.Startups from Poland went home with special suc-cess.

The reaming six awards wentto Invoice Xchange, Sloveniaas Best FinTech Startup;Imagga, Bulgaria for the BestAI/Chatbot Solution; Awaken-ing of Heroes, Serbia as BestIndie Game Developer;Nostromocess: 4 out of 12 awards during the Grand Finale

went to companies from this country: The Best So-cial Impact Startup: Brainly (collaborative learningwebsite); Best IoT Startup: Kontakt.io (hardware tobuild beacon solutions); Best Acceleration/ Incuba-tion Program: Huge Thing (for startups with scalableideas) and People’s Choice: Everytap, Poland (appto find the best places to go out).

Nostromo.io, Hungary for the Best User Experience;Urška Sršen, Croatia was awarded as Most InfluentialWoman and sektor5 in Vienna, Austria received theAward as Best Coworking Space.In the Global Grand Finals 2017 all winners of 2016CES Awards will compete with winners of the otherregions.For more winners and details see website

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SPICE Update No 102 for the first time we reported on thedifferent aspects of the entrepreneurship support system of aspecific place: Berlin.In this issue of our newsletter we take another look at thiscity – and every” hotspot page” adds to the picture

very different char-acter and have avariety of aims. Thepublic and theprivate sector, bothare active – a dy-

Entrepreneurial Hotspots

BERLINMany new initiatives aimed at supporting entrepreneurship We invite our read-

ersSPICA Directory lists 159 profiles

ship and growth of startup companies. These initiatives are of ders to comment and advice on information to publish.

Roof-top Offices for EntrepreneursThe Free University of Berlin is supporting startupsentrepreneurs through the PROFUND program. Part ofthis activity are offices and working facilities (withinternet access, meeting rooms as well as copiers andscanners) that can be used by students, graduates andemployees of the university free of charge for one yearto set up a company. PROFUND provides advisory andsupport services to the startups and the location alsooffers the opportunity to work closely with scientificinstitu

Malteser Straße 74-100: In the green southwest of thecity the campus Lankwitz campus of Free UniversityBerlin since January 2008, startups teams have donetheir business development in Haus L, where ProfundInnovation has 25 rooms on the sixth floor. A cafeteriaand a café are nearby. A large conference room isavailable, a sofa corner and a table tennis table invitefor informal exchange.Arnimallee - physics roof: Five offices are availableoninstitutes of the university.The university startup service

offers trainings and workshops, maintains cooperationwith network partners to provide access to advice andmentoring, organizes business plan and startup competi-tions, and actively supports the startup community, forexample by inviting to monthly “Business & Beer”meetings in the PROFUND Villa. In the “Entrepreneur-ial University Network” Profund works together withCharité and actively supports “Denkfabrik”, a nation-wide university network of that aims to anchor entre-preneurship in universities.PROFUND can refer to a successful track record. Thewebsite

on the roof of the physicsbuilding. The terrace with anopen view over the campusliterally expands the horizon.From here, one has theshortest route to research:the faculties of physics,mathematics and computerscience at the Free Universi-ty Berlin are only one flooraway, and the department ofbiology, chemistry, andpharmacywebsite of this incubator lists a selection of the support-

ed startups since 2000 – during the last decade annuallymore than 10 startups a listed.The offices for PROFUND startups (in total 27 rooms)are offered in two locations:

pharmacy is also represented with many locations inthe neighborhood.For more details (in German) visit websiteContact: Ute Reetz, emailSDO Profile: PROFUND

Start Alliance Berlin brings the founders of the world to the Germany’s CapitalThe aim of “Start Alliance Berlin” (SAB), organized byBerlin Partner and sponsored by Airbnb is to help start-ups entering international markets. For the actual roundof the program Tel Aviv, New York City, Shanghai,Paris and Berlin have been selected to participate - allinnovative

Berlin Partner is bringing together all of the Hubs ofSAB in Berlin. For three weeks, start-ups from TelAviv, New York City, Shanghai and Paris are takingpart in the program to test their chances in the Europe-an market, to get to know the local scene as well astheinnovative hubs with thriv-

ing founder ecosystems.The program offers startupsfree space for up to sixweeks in a co-workingspace

the city and its people people. Free space in a Berlinco-working space (Rainmaking Loft, TechCode,GTEC and Ahoy!Berlin) serves as a starting point.Additionally the startups will have access to adviceand meeting.

space in the partner cities. The program will accelerateentry into new markets, increase scaling effects, adaptbusiness models to the international requirements, andhelp finding suitable partners.The program is launched with startups from importantinternational startup hubs visiting Berlin for three weeks

TechCode is one of the newest co-working spaces inBerlin. Headquartered in Beijing, China, TechCodeoperates several co-working spaces in China as well asin Germany (Berlin), Israel (Tel Aviv), South Korea(Seoul) and USA (Mountain View, California)Contact: Carl-Philipp Wackernagel email

CUBE started its actual globalcompetition in Berlin in earlyJune 2016 as global digitaltransformation

ning startup will receive € 1 million. The CUBEChallenge Finale will take place at the CUBE TechFair on May 10-12, 2017 in Berlin.

transformation ecosystem. It is aimed to bridge be-tween industry startups and sets the bar high: The win-ninig

Applications are possible onlineContact Cube Team email SDO Profile: CUBE

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HUB2016 in Berlin with 2,000+ Participants and three winning StartupsMore than 2,000 participants, 400 startups, and 180speakers attended the HUB 2016 Berlin conferenceorganized by Bitkom supported by companies such as

from all over Europe and focused on emerging fieldsof Digital Health, IoT and Mobility. From nine final-ists of the Investor’s Pitch three winners were se-lected:Deutsche Telekom and KPMG. The challenges of digit-

ization, innovative business ideas and demonstratingpossible applications of new technologies were focussesof the event. Key issues discussed included intelligentmobility, bio-informatics in medicine, and the latestareas of application for 3D printing methods as well as

lected:Medicus (Vienna,Austria / Dubai, UAE)won in the DigitalHealth category withtheir app displayingblood testrobots and artificial intelligence and the effects of new

technologies on labor. Presentations and panel discus-sions also covered fintech and blockchains and howdigital technologies revolutionize the financial industryand other sectors. The Market Place with more than 30companies presented new prototypes and exhibits oftheir applied research, including several robotic andvirtual reality solutions.The Innovators’ Pitch held by Get Started and sup-ported by Pfizer, SAP, Here and Visa Europe Collabselected three startups first time was open for applicants

test results easy to understand and to interpret medicalfindings in real time, assess risks, provide health tips.Skysense (Berlin, Germany / Trento, Italy Italy) won

the Internet of Things category: Skysense provides afully automated inspection service for drones.Synfioo (Potsdam, Germany) won the first place in theMobility category with their complete transport moni-toring to minimize the impact of disturbances such astraffic jams, strikes or blockades.Contact: HUB email gregor@hub.berlinMore information about HUB 2016 on website

SAP launches new Center for Start-ups in Berlin MitteFrom February 2017 up to ten IoT startups will beginworking in a new space in Berlin. Mid-December SAPopened "DataSpace" at Hackescher Markt – a newplayground

opment of new business models.DataSpace does not only offer work space, but also ameeting and communication center for those involved

playground for start-ups at a well-knownhistoric square inBerlin Mitte. Thestartups admitted toData

with digital economy. The new startup center on theground floor offers a Data Room, a "digital creativespace" set up to inspire visitors playfully to try outnew technologies. The Data Kitchen restaurant com-pletes the offer. It is operated by the well-known chefHeiData Space will get access to 40 workstations, software

and connections to SAP customers. Selection of thestart-ups will be based on their ability to solve specifictasks or at least contribute to a solution. With this initia-tive, part of SAP’s strategy to become a market leaderin Artificial Intelligence, the company intends to accel-erate digital transformation, innovation and the devel-opment

Heinz Gindullis from Berlin and accepting orders onlydigitally.The "Data Hub" on the first floor is the place wherethe new SAP IoT Accelerator program and its startupswill work.Contact: SAP DataSpace Team emailSDO Profile: DataSpace

NOAH - for the third Time in BerlinThe third time in Berlin already: The NOAH Berlinconference will be held at Tempodrom, June 22-23,

Over 2,000 Internet CEOs, executives tives and inves-tors used these conferences for gaining insights, and

2017 to connect leaders from “traditional champi-ons”with their “digital challengers”, such as Trivagoand Flixbus from Germany as well as Funding Circle(UK) and KIVI-Com (Czech Republic). In the section “

establishing new businessrelationships.The event likein 2015 is organized to-gether with

traditional champion attendees will find speakers fromthe “who is who” of industry.

Axel Springer. Now early bird ticket sales started.More information: websiteTo register an invitation isneeded that can be obtained through websiteUniversity Startups in Berlin and Potsdam general € 3 billion and provide 22,000 Jobs

One more time a study on the startups around universi-ties in the Berlin region has been published. At thepresentation of this study in the technical UniversityBerlin

lin and Potsdam is impressive: In 2015 the 653 sur-veyed startups had 22,000 employees. 605 startupsgave information about their turnover: a total of about

Berlin on December 19, 2016 the Governing Major ofBerlin, Michael Müller, underlines the positive impactof startups on the economy of the State and the im-portant role the universities are taking.

€ 3 billion in 2015. Tocompare: State basic fund-ing for state colleges is ca.€ 1.7 billion per year.

The study for the second time researches the topic mat-ter involving the regional universities. Informationprovided by 745 startups from nine universities in Ber-lin

For more details see website (in German) Contact:Karin Kricheldorff, emailSDO Profile TU Berlin - StarTUp Incubator

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Incubator Quality New on SPICA World MapSPICA Directory has introduced a minimum “quality stand-ard” for being listed on “SPICA World Map”. This standarddoes not evaluate the quality of an organization supportingentrepreneurship and startups, but only checks the com-pleteness information.Organizations are shown on SPICA World Map withmarks in different colors and shapes (for the various typesof organizations).SPICA World Map shows locations ofincubators, accelerators, co-working spaces, technoparks,associations, consulting firms as well as support and financeorganizations.

Sweden: The business accelerator Fast TrackMalmö has entered its second round. The call forapplications is open und end of 2016

SDO Profile: www.spica-directory.net/centers/?id=3993Australia; The FinTech sector ofAustralia since 2015 has its ownassociation with its the frist national Summit in Nov 2016SDO Profile: www.spica-directory.net/associations/?id=224

Sweden: The technology business incubator minc inMalmö at this time has 300 clients and is partner of theaccelerator program Fast Track Malmö.

SDO Profile: www.spica-directory.net/centers/?id=3943

SPICA World Mapwww.spica-directory.net/map

Singapore: The Working Capitol offersspacious co-working facilities with luxuryammneties at two locations.SDO Profile: www.spica-directory.net/centers/?id=3989

SPICA World Map now is the main entry point for users Germany: In Berlin SAP has openeda new center for supporting IoTof the directory. From that map access to the individual

incubator technopark/ / association profiles in SPICA Di-rectory is possible. Finding a specific profile also is possi-ble by using the “search” function in the main menu,

startups: DataSpace offers accelerator services as well asgeneral meeting facities and a restaurant.SDO Profile: www.spica-directory.net/centers/?id=3996

Developing SPICA:We continuously are working on an advanced version ofSPICA Directory. First changes you already can see. Thedirectory now also includes accelerators and co-workingspaces.as well as finance sector organizations, educationand training offers as well are research institutions. As aresult SPICA Directory will offer visualization of entre-preneurship ecosystems and direct access to organizationsoffering the tools, finance, and support needed for success-fully starting and developing new businesses.

SPICee – Entrepreneurship EcosystemsMuch work still is to be done. Therefore we are looking forvoluntary Curators who are interested in making their“home ecosystem” better known and at the same time helpwould.be-entrepreneurs and startups finding access to theneeded resources. Curators also should help with rating,testing, and developing the tools needed for making the newsystem efficient and user-friendly.We also look for software developers who voluntarily(nominal remunerations are possible) help with furtherdeveloping the system. In case you are interested to join and ready to invest sometime please, contact us at spicee@spica-directory.net

Is your organization not yet in SPICA Directory?You do not need to wait until the new tools are ready. Youcan add information about your offers and activities at any

Indonesia: Just one minute walk from EchoBeach, Dojo Bali offers co-working space with air-conditioned meetings rooms high- speed internetand a cafe on the beautiful island of Bali.SDO profile: www.spica-directory.net/centers/?id=3982

Thailand: The co-working space Pun-space Tha Phae Gate offers facilities at

two locations in Chiang MaiSDO Profile: www.spica-directory.net/centers/?id=3985Romania: TechHub Bucharest is a uniqueenvironment with international networkwhere tech startups can start up faster.SDO Profile: www.spica-directory.net/centers/?id=3975

South Korea: TechCode iscommitted to breaking down

geographic barriers of international cooperation.SDO Profile: www.spica-directory.net/centers/?id=3969USA: Design Spaces is a MountainView based, stylish co-working officethat values innovation and start up growth in the Bay AreaSDO Profile: www.spica-directory.net/centers/?id=3981

Estonia: SPING Capital is looking atscalable technology-based businesses

in their seed stage.SDO Profile: www.spica-directory.net/centers/?id=3980Switzerland: The Basel Incubatoris a private-public sector initiative to

time. After you have registered in SPICA Directory it iseasy to add a new profile of your organization– just usethe “Insert new Profile” tab in the main menu.We invite you to try and test the and help us to improveSPICA Directory

support young entrepreneurs to form a start-up.SDO Profile: www.spica-directory.net/centers/?id=3978

Tunisia: Passenger Lab is the first co-working space in Sousse (creative crafts).

SDP Profile: www.spica-directory.net/centers/?id=3964

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Innovation & Entrepreneurship in AfricaThis page provides information about incubation activities and programs from AFRICA. Readers of SPICEUpdate are invited to send articles for information. AIN (African Incubator Network) is not active anymore.This is why we do not provide a contact for further information. (Graphic: VECTORSTOCK)

Convening the Brightest Minds in the African Tech EcosystemThe second Africa Tech Summit 2016 was held inLagos, Nigeria on December 6 + 7, 2016. Organizedby MEST, a training program, seed fund and incuba-tor for African entrepreneurs. The ATS first time tookplace

porate Venture Capitalism. The event also gave the floorto demos by MEST's top startups.The Africa Tech Summit 2016 continued the success ofATS 2015 and has become the meeting place for thewho’splace in 2015 in

Accra, Ghana withgreat success. The 2016 Summitwas looking indepth at tech land-scapes across re-gions,

who’s who of the African tech world; corporate execu-tives from multi-nationals, venture capitalists, angelinvestors, financial services, media and telco operators.The flexible agenda and creative format of the summitencouraged engaged conversations via panel and round-table discussions designed to inspire attendees to con-nect, share ideas and build strong relationships.

gions, building the infrastructure to support Africa'sambitions developments in agri-tech, leaders in Fin-tech, investing in African Tech Tech as well as Cor-porat

More on website Contact ATS Team emailSDO Profile MESTPhotos: AfricaTechSummit album

South Africa: Business Angels in South Africa establish National AssociationABAN, the African Business Angel Network workssince 2014. Now South Africa got its own network of

the number of active Business Angels by raisingawareness of Angel investing activity, building ca-pacityinvestors in early stage businesses: SABAN, South

African Business Angel Network, was launched onNov 10, 2016 in Cape Town – after an earlier launch inJohannesburg in August this year. The association is anon-profit, professional association to promote theSouth African early stage investor community.The number of Business Angels is estimated to be

pacaty building, and seeding AngelGroups in major economic hubs. Net-working, lobbying for regulatory im-provements, accreditation, and recogniz-ing Angel achievements are other objec-tives of the association.SABAN cooperates with other associa-tions,somewhere between 20 and 50 - until now data regard-

ing business angel activity in the country is limited.Therefore, through research SABAN aims to improvethe information available on this sector and to increasethe

tions, for example, ABAN, the European EBAN aswell as the World Business Angel Investment Forum.Contact: Christopher Campbell, emailSDO Profile: SABAN

Senegal: New Impulse for West African Startups with High-Growth PotentialJambar Tech Lab is a business acceleration program tohelp West African tech start-ups commercialize andscale innovative digital products that will connect 40local high-growth startups with the knowledge, capi-tal, and access to markets they need to grow.The program is part of a new regional effort to im-prove

and networks needed to scale high-potential ventures.CTIC Dakar has been selected for running JambarTech Lab because of its track record. Since its estab-lishment the incubator has trained more than 1,300entrepreneurs and supported over 64 companies thathave a cumulative revenue turnover of $5 million and34prove competitiveness, attract investment, and create

jobs through digital technologies that was launchedofficially on Nov 3, 2016 by World Bank Group andCTIC Dakar (see article in SPICE Update No 122).

34% average annualrevenue growth.In coming months, theJambar Tech Lab will

The six-months Jambar Tech Lab intends to help clos-ing the gap regarding skills and resources startups arelacking to accelerate their businesses development.The aims to improve the capacity of local firms toidentify market opportunities, develop and test prod-ucts and services, access business mentors and appro-priate financing. The curriculum will cover key topicssuch as investment readiness and investor engage-ment, diaspora networks, and internationalization ofdigital enterprises, and will seek to create the capacity

be joined by new regional acceleration programs ineastern and southern Africa. In early 2017, the WorldBank Group will also launch the Pan-African Acceler-ation Program, and select 20 star performers to receiveadditional coaching, mentorship, and exposure toglobal investors and funds. More on Jambar Tech LabwebsiteContacts: in Washington: Elizabeth Howton, emailand in Dakar, Senegal: Regina Mbodj, emailSDO Profile CTIC Dakar

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South Africa Serious About GamesSouth Africa invites a competition to develop seriousgames, games that engage communities in reimaginingtheir spaces for economic prosperity. On 16 Novem-ber, 2016 the Launch Event took place at BandwidthBarn

the Western Cape. The competition invites to create agame that allows poor communities to think innova-tively and reimagine their neighborhoods for econom-ic growth. It is challenging all current or aspiringgameBarn Woodstock

Exchange, CapeTown.The Challenge is led

developers, digital creatives and designers to use auser-centered design approach to conceptualize agame that addresses the above challenge. The winningteam will receive R1 000 000 (ca.€ 67,000) to developtheby the Cape Innovation and Technology Initiative

(CiTi) in collaboration with Interactive EntertainmentSouth Africa (IESA), 67Games, the Cape Craft andDesign Institute (CCDI), and supported by the West-ern Cape Government’s Department of EconomicDevelopment and Tourism.Apartheid urban planning has led to a highly divid-ed society and huge socio-economic challenges across

the game in 2017.“Serious About Games” will be hosting a series ofworkshops and gaming popup events over the nextfew months, to equip teams with knowledge on seri-ous games, relevant business acumen and allow themto engage with their audience.Contact: Claire Jowell, Project Manager, emailMore information on Twitter and Facebook

West Africa: Tekki48 IoT WAZIHackWAZIUP is bringing together 12 partners from sub-Saharan Africa and Europe to build an open sourceplatform and create IoT terminals adapted to the local

The 3 winning project teams will be rewarded andaccompanied in a virtual incubator dedicated to IoTand managed by iSpace (Ghana-based co-workingspacecontext. The project is financed by the European Union

with the aim to bring solutions to problems encoun-tered in rural and urban areas through the use of con-nected objects. The priority (but not exclusive) areasare agriculture, livestock monitoring, fish breeding,logistics, health, and access to water.

space and member of theWAZIUP consortium).Additionally they willreceive an IoT WAZIUPkit and get the opportunityto pitch their solution to

The concept of WAZIHack is simple, 10 pre-selectedteams will work 48 hours projects to bring their idea toa prototype or from a prototype to an improved ver-sion.

200 tech-professionals during the Jambar Tech Awardson December 16, 2016.Contact: Carine Vavasseur, emailSDO Profile: CTIC Dakar 1 and iSpace

Oil Industry supports Agri-business EntrepreneurshipAccra has a new Business Incubator. The KosmosInnovation Center launched in March 2016 started towork with choosing an area of focus that is importantfor Ghana’s economy. The largest sector is agriculture,

and end of September the two winners were an-nounced, each one receiving an investment of $50kand, in addition, advisory and mentoring through KICas well as the MEST Incubator.

ture, reason forselecting thissector for thefirst competi-tion of KIC:The deadline ofthe actual“Agritech

TroTro Tractor Ltd, developing a platform that usesmobile phones and GPS units to connect farmers totractor operators within their vicinity, enabling them torequest, schedule, and pre-pay tractor services.Ghalani, creating farm management software thathelps agricultural aggregators, who often have to man-age

“Agritech Innovation Challenge” was Nov 11, 2016.This competition is in line with the strategy of KIC “tofocus on the nexus between information and commu-nications technology (ICT) and agriculture.”The business incubator is backed by Kosmos Energy,“a pathfinding oil and gas exploration and productioncompany focused on frontier and emerging areas alongthe Atlantic Margin.” It is a remarkable step that acompany from this business sector is actively gettinginvolved with entrepreneurship and innovation supportin the agri-sector. In August 2016 KIC the final pitchsession was held to select the first two companies forthe KIC investment program. Initially about 100 appli-cants participated in this competition

manage relationships with thousands of small-holderfarmersThrough the competition KIC aims to encourage andsupport the development of market-based innovativesolutions for agriculture. Other sectors of economy areplanned to follow to address other development chal-lenges.To get results that drive change, the KIC uses a three-part approach: Collaboration, Incubation, and Acceler-ation.Contact: Ruth Adashie, emailSDO Profile Kosmos Innovation CenterContact: Kelechi Udoagwu emailSDO Profile MEST Incubator

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Tunisia: Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Tunis evaluatedThe Berlin enpact e.V with support from the GermanWesterwelle Foundation has evaluated the Entrepre-neurship Ecosystem of Tunis and started a co-workingspace in in the city: Startup Haus. The evaluation ispresented as pilot project of the“Startup Meter” –more is to come.

These results of the evaluation do not surprise – simi-lar statements could be made for many places inNorthern African and Middle Eastern countries. Thefindings are in line with experiences of SPICE Group.After more cities in the region have been evaluatedusing the same methodology comparisons will tell thelessons to learn. A major merit of the enpact initiativeis to draw attention to the lesser known Entrepreneur-ship Ecosystems and not to fall into the trap of “globalratings” that are of limited value for concrete action.Combining such studies with measures for easing

For Tunis the evaluation comes to the conclusion thatthe city “has been developing into a competitive en-trepreneurial hub in the MENA ”with the major ad-vantage of its proximity to Europe, the MENA regionand Africa”. Looking into the details of this evaluationit is not surprising that access to finance still is limitedand is an obstacle for the development of startups.Also the regulatory and legal framework needs im-provement. Also the entrepreneurship culture is evalu-ated as weak – in the light of the history of the countryeasy to understand. On the positive side availability ofwell-trained and skilled workforce is mentioned whilethe cooperation between the various initiatives tosupport entrepreneurship and startups needs to beimproved. Regarding access to market the study con-cluded that “Tunis-based entrepreneurial ventureshave manifold possibilities to expand, considering theimportant geostrategic location of the Tunisian Capi-tal.” For more details see website

access to support, advice, and finance for the startupentrepreneurs would make such initiatives even morevaluable.By complementing existing research and filling gapsthe Startup Meter intends to focus on ”the local levelthrough a holistic approach and an indicator-basedframework” to analyze local entrepreneurship ecosys-tems with the aim to enable more effective and specif-ically targeted policies, incentives and developmentaid programs with the goal to help creating jobs andestablishing a more sustainable economy. In additionto this approach inclusion of direct benefits for the“players” in a given ecosystem could improve effec-tivity of the work.SDO Profile enpact; contact: M. Treutwein emailElisabeth Schmit emailSDO Profile Startup Haus; contact: emailSDO profile Westerwelle Foundation; contact: Chris-toph Rohde email Alexander Vogel email

Marrakech: Mobile Technologies for Sustainable DevelopmentAt the COP22 of Marrakech, Maroc Numeric Clusteron Nov 14, 2016 organized a new edition of MobileMonday under the theme “Mobile Technologies forSustainable Development”. The event was part of the

professionals to better manage their waste in usededible oils. This multifunctional tool makes it possibleto monitor the evolution of the collections, to accessthe reporting and to evaluate the environmental impact

"TECH22" program that accompanied the UnitedNations conference on Climate Change. MM provideda unique opportunity to meet and discuss the latesttrends regarding "Green Tech" in the IoT world.4 innovative start-ups pitched at this Mobile Monday:EVERIMPACT (Denmark) helps cities to track their

of the professionals interms of reducing CO2emissions.EasyShair by Quicktechis a mobile application forthe intelligent manage-mentgreenhouse gas emissions in real time thanks to a

unique technology combining sensors, satellite trans-missions and big data platforms.Agridata (Morocco) offers solutions to group, pro-cess, analyze and evaluate the technical and economicdata of agricultural producers in order to make optimaldecisions in real time.Eko-Geste is a platform allowing food and hospitality

ment of business cards. It is an eco-friendly applica-tion with a CO2 calculator that measures in real time,its impact on the environment in terms of greenhousegas emissions, and the number of trees saved.The audience selected Quicktech’s EasyShair to winthe startup favorite trophy.Contact: Bassam AlaouiI emailSDO Profiles Maroc Numeric Cluster and e-Madina

Business Incubation in MENAThis page provides information about incubation activities from MENA (Middle East andNorth Africa). MENAinc is the regional infoDev supported network of business incubatorsand technology parks. More information: http://www.menainc.org

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Entrepreneurship Support – important Element of “Saudi 2030”In 2015, the Saudi Arabian Government initiated areview of the Saudi government ecosystem with theaim to streamline government and make it more ac-countable. Key issues of national security and unem-ployment were addressed as well as the national vision

Performance Indicators placed against them for out-comes over the next five years.The “National Incubator and Accelerator Pro-gram” of KAST was one of the first approved tech-nology incubator initiatives.

“Saudi 2030” of becom-ing a knowledge-basedeconomy and diversifyingthe economy.Part of the strategy wasthe creation of the Coun-cil

An independent impact study in 2014, updated in2016, shows that BADIR has contributed SAR600million (US$160 million) to the economy and thecreated of over 1,800 jobs. Now the program willexpand to build a national network of 13 technologyincubators, as Nawaf Al Sahhaf, the BADIR Program

cil for Economic Development Affairs (CEDA) underthe Chairmanship of Deputy Crown Prince Moham-med bin Salman. The Saudi National TransformationProject (SNTP) 2020 will implement Saudi 2030 anddrive the acceleration of economic growth under chal-lenging conditions, such as the decline in oil prices,and difficult geopolitical realities and conflicts in theregion. It is estimated that the SNTP 2020 has thepotential to double the country’s Gross DomesticProduct (GDP) and create six million jobs by 2030.The aims of the SNTP 2020 are to diversify the econ-omy, reduce dependency on oil, create more jobs forSaudis, support future projects, and achieve maximumefficiency.In early 2016 proposals of 26 ministries and govern-ment agencies were reviewed and over 500 initiativesapproved and funded for implementation with KeyPerfor

CEO informed: “We will continue with our mainfocus on the ICT, Biotechnology, Manufacturing andAdvanced Materials industry sectors in mixed tech-nology incubators. We are also establishing two na-tional acceleration programs which will focus on en-trepreneurs, innovators, researchers and inventors withtechnology ideas they wish to commercialize.” BA-DIR will continue to provide support services along-side the incubation and accelerator programs and willbe looking to integrate other models of support such asmaker and co-working spaces.Contact: Waleed Alsaleh, emailThe BADIR Technology Incubators are BADIRProgram for Technology Incubators are: BADIR ICTIncubator, BADIR Technology Incubator, BADIR forAdvanced Manufacturing, BADIR BiotechnologyIncubator, and BADIR Incubator Taif

Sfax Business Exhibition and Conference held with great ResonanceThe seventh Salon de l'Entreprise in Sfax, Tunisia,held Nov 23 – 24, 2016 one more time was the placeto exchange, learn and widen networking links for alltopics related with business development.

like "Towards Economic Recovery", “New mecha-nisms for enterprise development and financing”,“The Circles of Africa" (organized in partnership withthe Tunisian Business Council TABC), as well as afranchise201 exhibitors and 10,000 partic-

ipants took advantage of thisopportunity to meet with entre-preneurs, investors, businessmen,

franchise Seminar in partnership with the TunisianAcademy of Franchising and a seminar on “WomenEntrepreneurship “ (organized in partnership with theAfDB African Development Bank.

industrialists, traders, service providers, craftsmen,farmers, entrepreneurs, associations, media, govern-ment representatives, organizations, administrations,banks, financial institutions and representatives ofcivil society. During the two days of Salon de l'Entre-prise 5 large seminars were offered covering topicslike

Additionally more than 60 mini-conferences led byspecialists and experts addressed all the themes ofcreation, development, recovery, business financing,franchising and mentoring.Contact: Ikram Makni emailSDO Profile Sfax Business Development Center

Saudi Arabia: Arabnet RiyadhArabNet Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s leading forum fo-cused on digital business in the Kingdom and Gulfcountries was held Dec 12-14, 2016 in Riyadh.This year’s event focused on highlighting the opportu-nities

scaling and startups. The forum also featured theStartup battle, Ideathon, and Battle of Games.ArabNet is the hub for digital professionals and en-trepreneurs to connect and learn. Activities include an

nities arising after the Vision 2030 plan, and the rapid-ly-evolving digital economy in Saudi Arabia. Theforum hosted main tracks: Smart Economy, Media,and Entrepreneurship: SMEs in Saudi are responsi-ble

annual summitin Beirut, theArabNet Road-show whichheldble for 50% of jobs created and 20% of non-oil GDP,

The Entrepreneurship Track focused on entrepre-neurship enablers in the region: venture capitalists,LPs, private equity, corporate venture capital andscaling

offered free training workshops for over 1,500 entre-preneurs, and the Developer Program, the StartupDatabase Program, and the ArabNet website.Contact: Arbanet Team, email; Arabnet website

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Important upcoming Events http://www.spice-group.de/events/If the conference hosts are members of SPICE Group the respective logo is shown at the event. As the full listof events is taking too much space in the newsletter only a brief overview can be provided. We recommendvisiting the “Events” section on the SPICE Group website. This page also offers the feature to put your ownevent on the list. Just click on “Add new information“ and you will be guided through the simple process.

Jan 10 – Feb 17, 2017 in Ahmedabad. India: 6-WeeksBusiness Incubation TrainingA 6-week international training on "Promoting Inno-vation and Entrepreneurship through Incubation" willbe held during at the EDII Campus. This program is

will provide participants withknowledge and skills necessaryfor developing an effective busi-

organized by Asia Pacific Incubation Network (APIN)in association with Entrepreneurship DevelopmentInstitute of India (EDII), Ahmedabad. The programwill

ness incubator.More details available online. Deadline for applicationsDecember, 27, 2016. Contact: Dr. Pankaj Bharti, email

Jan 25 – 26, 2017 in Budapest, Hungary: Coworking in HungaryThe co-working space Loffice will host a two-dayconference in Budapest “Coworking in Hungary –Challenges and Possibilities” to put light into ques-tions

in the country. Five co-working spac-es from Budapest will present theirexperiences.

tions regarding the actual situation, good practices,resource, and the development trends for co-workingin the country.

More information on websiteContact: Anna Eszter Zászkaliczky , email

Mar 26 – 29, 2017 in Seattle, Washington: iNBIA International Conference 2017The iNBIAconference2017 will

The 2017 conference will be packed with interactiveprofessional development courses, insights from indus-try thought leaders and innovative tools for your entre-

bring together more than 600 attendees from aroundthe world every year. This conference is a key eventin the global entrepreneurial ecosystem. It will allowparticipants to dive into one of the world's most exit-ing entrepreneurship ecosystems: Seattle.

preneurial program. The pre-conference workshopswill be held March 25 and 26, 2017 and include theInternational Business Incubation (BIG) Summit.More information see conference websiteContact email

Apr 3, 2017 in Kassel, Germany: BVIZ Work Group Day 2017The work groups of BVIZ, Germanassociation of business and innovationcenters, cover topics like “Green Tech-nology”, “Bio-Technology Parks, “Cen-ter

opportunities for “cross-fertilization”. The “BVIZWork Group Day” will he hosted in the Science ParkKassel on April 3, 2017.More information will be made available on the associ-ationter Management”, “Creative Industry Startups”, or

“International Incubation”. Once a year theseworkgroups all together meet for one day to provideopp

association’s website SDO Profile BVIZ Contact:Andrea Glaser email SDO Profile host: Science ParkKassel, Contact: Gerold Kreuter email info@fidt.de

Apr 13, 2017 in Berlin, Germany: EU-Startups Conference 2017The 4th edition of the annual EU-Startups Conference,the flagship event of EU Startups will be held in Ber-lin. A selection of Europe’s hottest startups will beshowcased

ference that expects around 400 at-tendees. A big pitch competitionwith15 early-stage startups will awardtheshowcased. The location sponsor HTW, University of

Applied Sciences provides its Audimax for the con-ference

Winner with a prize worth €8.000+.Tickets at website More details on website

Apr 26 – 27, 2017 in Salamanca, Spain: Startup Olé 2017Startup Olé aims at connecting startups andtech/digital talent with corporates, investors, accelera-tors, universities

system and culture and helps toattract and enhance participation in

tor and media from all over Europe. The event alsoseeks to boost the European tech-entrepreneurial eco-

large consortia and startup support projects at Europeanlevel. For more details see Startup Olé 2017 website

May 10 – 12, 2017 in Berlin, Germany: CUBE Challenge Final and Tech FairCUBE was launched in Berlin in early June 2016 as aglobal digital transformation ecosystem. The winnerof the global CUBE Challenge will take home one

Berlin. Startups and expertsinterested in joining the CUBEecosystem can apply online

millon Euro. The CUBE Challenge Finale will takeplace at the CUBE Tech Fair on May 10-12, 2017 inBNerlin

Contact Cube Team email info@cube-global.comMore details on CUBE website

Jul 5 – 7, 2017 in Enghien-les Bains, France: EBN Annual CongressThe Annual Congress of EBN, European Business andInnovation Center Network will be held July 5 – 7 inEnghien-les Bains

Enghien-les Bains under the title “OPENEcosystems for Innovation”

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June, 2017 in Bangkok, Thailand: Echelon Summit 2017The Echelon Asia Summit in Singapore in June 2017is expected to attract around 1,000 attendees from allover Asia representing Financial & Government Insti-

This annual TOP100 Program by e27, forexample, the Echelon Vietnam 2016 - a two-day tech and business conference qualify-

tutions. The selection of startups to present at thisevent already is under way. Organized by e27 “Re-gional Qualifiers” across 14 APAC cities are held tofind the region region’s most promising startups.

fying startups will receive the chance to exhibit andpitch to win the e27 Golden Ticket and the MicrosoftBizSpark Prize. More details on conference websiteContact: email contact@e27.co

Jun 22-23, 2017 in Berlin, Germany: Third NOAH Berlin ConferenceThe third NOAH Berlin conference will be held atTempodrom, Berlin to connect leaders from “tradi-tional champions” with their “digital challengers”,

lic). In the section “traditional champi-on attendees will find speakers fromthe “who is who” of industry.

such as Trivago and Flixbus from Germany as well asFunding Circle (UK) and KIVI-Com (Czech Repub-lic)

More information on websiteRequest an invitation on website

Aug 31, 2017 in Thessaloniki, Greece: ICEIRD 2017The ICEIRD 2017: Coproducing Knowledge, Inno-vation & Growth” will be held with the aim to pro-mote the dialogue and knowledge exchange through

companies in order to enhance the impactof university-industry links to the growthpotential of countries.

participation of academics, commercialization practi-tioners, policymakers, entrepreneurs, innovators, andcom

Contact: ICEIRD 2017 email. For more conferencedetails and registration visit website

Sep 26-29, 2017 in Istanbul, Turkey: IASP World Conference 2017The IASP World conference 2017 will be held underthe headline “Science parks and natural innovationecosystems: Articulating future strategies”. Main

IASP partners in organizing this conferenceare three Technoparks: Teknopark Istanbul,ODTU Teknokent, and ITU ARI Teknokent

theme blocks will be: Innovative funding schemes,Service mechanisms, and Rethinking space.

Full details are available on websiteContact: Ebba Lund email lund@iasp.ws

37th SPICE BÄR DinnerOn pages 9 and 10 of this Update we reported on theSeventh annual SPICE G&G Workshop 2016.The get-together for workshop participants already intown the night before the G&G the 37th SPICE BÄRDinner was celebrated in the restaurant Lusiada. Since

However, Decemberin Berlin is not thetime for sitting out-doors and so theG&G group wentinside1980 this restaurant serves

Portuguese cuisine – insummertime even with theoption to choose an outdoortable and watch people pass-ing

inside to convene at thereserved round table.Good food, no matter ifchicken, fish, mussels orribs and – more im-portantly – good coming by on Kurfürsten-damm (on the lesser known and

less fancy Western end of this famous street).portantly – good company made this pre-G&G eveningan enjoyable experience and great workshop start.

And finally...This issue of SPICE Update concludes the year 2017 - an eventful year that brought many developments giving reason forconcerns regarding the path our societies are moving on. The rise of nationalistic ideas with the comeback of slogans be-lieved to be for history books only (in the chapters about darker parts of history) and the return of protectionists ideologiescertainly are not suitable to lead into a better future of mankind. How can countries or nations – no matter if small of big –in times with global challenges, global impact, global communications, and global potentials fall into the trap of “thinkingnational”? Possibly the complicity of issues in a globalized world causes the desire to find “simple answers”? But weshould have learned that simple answers do not necessarily lead to desirable results. Many years of economic liberalization,while limiting “entrepreneurship” to only one goal, maximizing monetary gains, have led to the "global financial crisis".But there is hope. The good old idea of the "entrepreneur", who also has the social environment in its target horizon, mightexperience a comeback. There are signs ...We wish you a relaxing and enjoyable time during the last days of the year 2016 and an optimistic start into 2017

Heinz Fiedler & Larisa BrovarskaSPICE Update is the newsletter of SPICE Group. It is published 4 - 6 times per year and regularly is delivered free of charge to members ofthe network as well as selected partners. Articles for publication are invited and will be published under the name of the author. Althoughwe do our best for making sure that published information is correct we cannot accept responsibility for errors that may occur nor for web-site links provided. Editor: Heinz Fiedler, SPICE Group, Niedstr. 40, 12159 Berlin, Germany, Email update@spice-group.net