Startup Activity Specialist

Responsibilities

1. Activity Planning and Execution
   • Collaborate with the Startup Centre and Incubator TUKE team to develop and implement a wide range of activities, events, workshops, and programs to support the growth and development of startups.
   • Research, identify, and recommend new activity ideas that align with the needs and interests of startup entrepreneurs.
2. Program support
   • Assist in the planning, coordination, and delivery of acceleration programme, such as mentoring sessions, networking events, and pitch competitions.
   • Provide guidance and support to start up participants throughout their engagement with the Startup Centre and Incubator TUKE’s programs.
   • Collaborate with external partners, mentors, and experts to facilitate knowledge sharing and learning opportunities for startups.
3. Community engagement
   • Foster a vibrant and inclusive community within Startup Centre and Incubator TUKE by actively engaging with startup, academic and industry professionals.
   • Promote networking and collaboration among startups, connecting them with relevant resources.

Requirements

• Experience in organizing and facilitating events, workshops, or programs, preferably in a startup or entrepreneurial setting.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills to engage with diverse stakeholders, including startup founders, mentors, investors, and industry professionals.
• A proactive and creative mindset, with the ability to generate new ideas and solve problems.
• Proficiency in using digital tools for event management, communication, and marketing purposes.

Traineeship Conditions

Form: physical stay

Week allocation: 20 hours in 5 working days (Mon – Fri)

Language: English

Duration: 2 months

Preferred timing: spring 2024

Funding: Cost for travel, accommodation and boarding will be covered by Erasmus+ mobility programme.

Other benefits: Offering accommodation in the Dormitories of Technical University of Košice (standard student charge applies).

Provider’s profile

University Science Park TECHNICOM at the Technical University of Košice has the ambition to become a central hub for building a regional innovation ecosystem in the Easter Slovakia. It was opened in 2017 and established to act as an internationally recognized technology research and technology transfer centre for innovative applications with the support of knowledge technologies. Further, through its pre-incubation services, it significantly contributes to business acceleration in creation (incubation) of new spin-off or startup companies built on knowledge base acquired from R&D.

Main mission of USP TECHNICOM is to combine science with industry practice, to protect and raise the profile of innovative ideas, to build networking and ecosystem and to enhance creativity. USP TECHNICOM supports scientific and innovative projects by providing consultancy and advisory services in project proposal process and organizes events (information seminars, workshops, conferences, business meetings of science parks representatives and professionals from scientific centres).

USP TECHNICOM as an innovation ecosystem and “win to win” collaboration between academic and public research organisations and business provides following services:

• One Stop Shop: expected and required support for innovation and technology transfer of R&D knowledge and products (including support for intellectual property rights and development and implementation of regional/national/international project in the thematic scope of the Technical University of Košice);
• Business acceleration of Hi-Tech companies through startup and spin-off initiatives;
• Consultancy, expertise, technology intermediation and engineering services in the corresponding scientific and technological fields of industrial and social practice.
• Relevant education and training activities.

One of the USP TECHNICOM’s key components for accelerating entrepreneurship are the Startup Center and Incubator TUKE. They were formed in 2014 – 2016, being the very first of its kind in the region. As a result, related startup support activities were initiated at the university. The purpose is to significantly help students, teachers, researchers and innovative people to develop their potential in various areas and activities.

The Startup Center, as a pre-incubation structure, is a part of the Entrepreneurship Acceleration Unit of USP TECHNICOM, with regional competences. The main goal is to launch a process that will help participants to develop their ideas and turn them into innovative and commercially utilizable products or services. Participation in the Startup Center brings startup benefits like specialist advice on the implementation of the project objective, assistance in utilising the R&D infrastructure of TUKE, office, boardroom space and connectivity to work on project objective (idea) free of charge, for the maximum period of six months. The essence of the acceleration is a system of active (targeted) selective preparation of entrepreneurs (note that startup is not legal entity). After the successful “acceleration”, entrepreneurs are enabled to enter Incubator TUKE for one year, once it has become a legal entity.

The Incubator TUKE is another key component in the business accelerator ecosystem, technology transfer and innovations at USP TECHNICOM. It is formed as part of the USP TECHNICOM concept. Its purpose is to provide an incubation environment to ensure the acceleration process for the formation and development of small and medium-sized hi-tech startup and spin-off companies. This is to be achieved particularly following the outputs of the relevant research and innovation activities realized within the TUKE that alternatively went through the preincubation process at Startup Center.

Startup Center and Incubator TUKE offer:

• Expert advice, coaching and mentoring focused on development of business models and plans, creating and evaluation of financial plans and marketing plans;
• Evaluation of developed business models for assessing the success and sustainability of business plans;
• Opening an access to expert and specialized laboratories and other TUKE facilities for the implementation of project objectives;
• Assistance with the acquisition of partners from the commercial sector, search for business plan development and potential investors and doing negotiations with them;
• Services designed to establish new startup and spin-off companies, favourable conditions for the physical location and company operation for a startup on the premises of USP TECHNICOM.

Startup Center and Incubator TUKE combine high-quality infrastructure and mentorship. Mentors have vast experience gained in the Slovak academic and busines sectors, but they are also able to fully develop potential of ideas and transform the outcomes into economic practice, by means of projects financed from European funds and European commercial environments.

The Acceleration Program for Startups represents an integrated system of activities that help to develop the innovation plans of startups. In line with the activities of the Startup Center and the Incubator TUKE, the Acceleration Program provides a single continuity that ensures and provides services in the areas of innovation, technology transfer and business to participating startups.

The Startup Center seeks new and innovative projects through the startups competition called “Do you have an idea?” which is organized every 6 months. Until now, over 150 innovative projects have passed the competition and have been admitted to Startup Center. Overall, more than 60 prospective startups participated in Startup Center and Incubator TUKE have successfully entered the market.

These startups have regularly participated in major startup events across the Europe. First and the foremost, several of startups from the Startup center managed to get their business funded by the investors and launch several successful innovative products and technology solutions. At the present time, there are 17 startups located in the Startup center, and 14 startup companies in the Incubator TUKE.

The Startup Center and Incubator TUKE have gained a good reputation through organization of activities that support startups and various acceleration programs, they thus became an important element of the technology transfer ecosystem at TUKE.