VC Magazin: On 14th March 2014 is the Accelerate EU-event is held in Berlin. What’s on the program and how does the event differ from others?
Andrea: Our event is fundamentally different from all others: it is new, fresh, and independent. We are simply young entrepreneurship enthusiasts who are willing to invest into the idea that a better and deeper discussion about EU entrepreneurship will be beneficial to all Europeans. This makes the difference.
Thomas: The program will bring together experts from across Europe who share their experiences of working with start-ups. Also, we will have institutional actors from the EU join the debate. Together we want to assess the status quo of entrepreneurship in Europe and stimulate a debate on how to improve it. Our vision is to strengthen the European perspective and to motivate entrepreneurship actors to collaborate across borders and to address policy issues on a European level.
VC Magazin: What are the plans for the future of esi?
Andrea: The final goal of esi is to propose a set of new fresh ideas about how to make Europe an easy place for start-ups. We want EU to listen to start-uppers and understand their key challenges, and solve them. How to get there? First, we hope our event will be a success. We plan to bring together many players of the EU start-up ecosystem, get their views, and create a number of ideas. Second, we plan to write a report, containing our analysis, our discussion, and a set of proposals. We will publish and circulate this report throughout Europe. Then we will figure out the next steps.
About the interviewpartners (l. to r.):
Agata Jaskot is a graduate of Journalism and International Relations (Collegium Civitas) and Interdisciplinary European Studies (College of Europe). Her current interests revolve around three key topics: renewable energies, innovation, and entrepreneurship promotion on a European level. Andrea Contigiani studied in Italy, Ireland, Belgium, and USA. Today a PhD Student at The Wharton School. Fascinated by Innovation. Passionate about Europe. Fabrizio Dell’Aqua is a prospective Bocconi University graduate, he has been involved in numerous innovative projects, and is the founder of two technology start-ups. He’s always interested in testing out new ideas, whether scientific or business, in real life. Thomas Kösters is an entrepreneurship professional with the Technische Universität München, Thomas is working with start-ups on a daily basis. To understand their challenges and to motivate aspiring founders to speak out on politics is his goal at esi.
