The application for participating in the EduTECH Emprèn educational entrepreneurship programme is now open

A programme to strengthen the business. An opportunity to learn and grow. A space to reflect. A gateway to the UOC entrepreneurship ecosystem. The words of people who have participated in the EduTECH Emprèn pre-acceleration programme organized by the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) perfectly describe what this training and mentoring space consists of, and more than 200 people have signed up since it was launched in 2017. Applications for the 2024 edition can be submitted now.

EduTECH Emprèn is designed for entrepreneurs with a business idea that could change how people learn. It aims to support innovative projects in the initial phases of their development and give them momentum to make them a reality. It is a free programme and is open to anyone, whether or not they are members of the UOC community, but places are limited. Those wishing to take part in the 2024 edition have until 15 September to submit their application.

A tool for improving business models

Inclutic Academy is an online academy that provides training programmes specializing in accessibility, seeking to assist people with disabilities and older people with educational and social inclusion processes and employment opportunities. Created by the Colombian company Diseño Universal Tecnoayudas, Inclutic Academy provides tools and knowledge that enable all sectors of society to understand, value and promote inclusion and accessibility in their working, educational and social environments. Inclutic Academy was one of the companies that took part in EduTECH Emprèn 2023.

"Our participation in the programme helped us identify and reinforce the areas of the business that needed it, and to make the transition from a minimally viable product to a solution ready to go to market. It was a great opportunity which inspired queries, new ideas and answers to old questions," explained Gustavo Alberto Hincapié, holder of a Master's Degree in Accessible Technologies from the UOC and one of the people responsible for Inclutic. "As experts in various entrepreneurship support processes, we can testify that it's a programme with considerable depth and practicality. The structure of its content gave us a guide for improving our business model."

The EduTECH Emprèn programme consists of two phases, one involving training and the other with personalized mentoring. Both are delivered online through the Hubbik online incubator. The programme is divided into 100 hours spread over 10 weeks of work, which begin on 1 October and end on 5 December. During this period, training capsules on business aspects are combined with sessions on innovation and technology, delivered by specialists in e-learning. Depending on how the participating projects progress, the programme also includes the possibility of access to personalized mentoring.

"Participating in EduTECH Emprèn helped us refine our value proposal, and made us think about some aspects that we hadn't considered thoroughly. It was an opportunity to enter the UOC ecosystem, which opened the doors for us to participate in SpinUOC and gave us a lot of exposure, participating in the pitch competition in the Government of Catalonia's Primer programme, and above all, having a stand at 4YFN," said Noé Casas, the leader of the Langtern project, which also took part in the EduTECH Emprèn programme last year.

Langtern is a platform that allows teachers to produce their own teaching materials easily thanks to its content search and artificial intelligence engines. It provides a database of online material, such as videos or news, which can be filtered by keywords and level of difficulty. The AI engine allows users to create exercises automatically from the materials themselves, and students can do the exercises on the mobile app or the website.

"The organization of EduTECH Emprèn is excellent," added Noé Casas. "The Hubbik team gets participants involved and shares a great deal of opportunities both inside and outside the UOC ecosystem. The individual mentoring was also very useful for us when identifying the next steps to take. Since we participated in the EduTECH Emprèn programme, we've matured our product and we're in conversations with several educational institutions with a view to its possible adoption."

How can you participate in EduTECH Emprèn 2024?

The EduTECH Emprèn pre-acceleration programme is aimed at any project in the online learning or e-learning sector which wants to develop a prototype or a service, define its business model and take its first steps as a company or entrepreneurial initiative. The programme will feature the participation of nearly 20 experts in entrepreneurship, from both the UOC and elsewhere.

Following five successful editions with more than 200 registered participants, for the sixth edition of EduTECH Emprèn the application process is now open until 15 September. Once participation has been confirmed, the programme will take place in online sessions between 1 October and 5 December.

"Because it's a programme with excellent and intense content, you need to be highly focused and keep up in order to make the most out of both the programme and its excellent mentors," concluded Gustavo Alberto Hincapié. "I'd advise future participants to reflect on the sometimes uncomfortable questions that they are asked during the programme and to take advantage of the opportunities that arise to present their product and thereby gain exposure," added Noé Casas.

EduTECH Emprèn is an initiative from the UOC undertaken through Hubbik, a platform dedicated to promoting entrepreneurship, open innovation, support for the transfer of research results and collaboration among the entire UOC community. It is supported by the Government of Catalonia's Ministry of Business and Labour and co-financed by the European Social Fund.

UOC R&I

The UOC's research and innovation (R&I) is helping overcome pressing challenges faced by global societies in the 21st century by studying interactions between technology and human & social sciences with a specific focus on the network society, e-learning and e-health.

Over 500 researchers and more than 50 research groups work in the UOC's seven faculties, its eLearning Research programme and its two research centres: the Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3) and the eHealth Center (eHC).

The university also develops online learning innovations at its eLearning Innovation Center (eLinC), as well as UOC community entrepreneurship and knowledge transfer via the Hubbik platform.

Open knowledge and the goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development serve as strategic pillars for the UOC's teaching, research and innovation. More information: research.uoc.edu.

The EduTECH Emprèn program contributes to achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number 4, ensuring inclusive, equitable and quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all.

Programme funded by the Catalan Ministry of Business and Work and co-financed by the European Social Fund Plus.