The meeting started with a short presentation round and what were done so far: Year 1 is gone, with a focus on Access to funding completed with a meeting in Spain, where each partner explained their efforts and good practices about accelerator and mentoring programs.
The core of the meeting was an open debate: There is a need for increased focus on mentoring in Northern Denmark? Where do they work nordjyske mentoring, and where there may be room for improvement? Are there aspects from Spain interesting to test in?
Mentoring in Northern Jutland is available in several variants. FX is Growth guide in NewBizz a kind of mentor by 20 hours. Similarly, the AAU and UCN mentoring. If you want to continue with the angle, it should certainly be a mentor separate meeting where they have schemes that get together and get co-ordinated so that enterprises will be guided to the first mentor and then moving on in e.g. New bizz and other programs. Exciting impressions from Spain, specifically it with larger amounts and higher co-financing. (it's perhaps something must be taken into account here – funding schemes come in part from the Regional Goverment) Funding vs financing.
What are we doing in North Jutland versus what we experienced in Spain?
There should be differences between funding and financing.
o Financing is provided as support
o Funding to be paid back
There is generally a lot of focus on funding in partnership (public subsidies)
The work with investors is different, because they're looking at the project/entrepreneur in a different way. Therefore, it is much harder to find relevant projects to investors, and not much money they lent out.
There is a slightly different approach to funding in DK. ' Man would rather self '.
Presentation of good practice from VHN:
o 4 weeks of sparring in relation to the size and timing of the need for capital
o Preparation of detailed budget
o Training in pitch in front of investors, banks, etc.
o Great good effects with VHN.
o The private investors often only go in if they can lift the company with their skills on the side. Thus are capital and mentoring component combined in one in DK.
Invest in Aalborg are experiencing multiple times to be contacted by private investors, who are looking for good projects. When there are inquiries so let's look at them as they come.
SEA: frequently there must be a critical mass of good projects, that it is possible to draw investors.
VHN: Many investors arises out of the formal network, which exists because the projects are not interesting enough. Presentation of meetings and themes for 2018 v/Jane Ribergaard Holm
o Now we go into year 2 – focus on internationalisation
o Meeting in Turin in March – agenda on the road
o We are hosts in the autumn, in which LSG will be involved. The next meeting will deal with a record of the meeting in Italy and a planning of partner meeting in Aalborg in the autumn.
o In addition, there is an internal meeting in Hungary in June, how to prepare staff exchange in 2019.
