Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Quick Scan

Generate insights in strengths of your local entrepreneurial ecosystem, as well as how your innovation programme/accelerator could strengthen the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem (EE).  The EE is a complex web of stakeholders, resources and collaboration that forms, interacts and evolves over prolonged periods of time, with individual stakeholders and initiatives all making their distinct contribution to the overall ecosystem. The Entrepreneurial Ecosystem framework (EE), developed as part of the HUB-IN Framework, sets out a range of ingredients (the orange elements in figure here below) and arrangements (the purple elements in figure here below) that help to foster and maintain innovation and entrepreneurship in Historic Urban Areas.

Mapping your offers and contributions to your Entrepreneurial Ecosystem & Revisiting the HUB-IN Framework and your Stakeholder map can provide insights around your work and who is active / passive / unknown in each of the ecosystem ingredients – Who do you have a strong relationship with? Who are you starting to build relationships with? Where are further relationships useful? In which of the twelve Entrepreneurial Ecosystem (EE) ingredients are relationships thriving / challenging?  

Understand who is on the ground and may help facilitate your HUA, and what your offers and contributions may be. For, e.g  YESBOX – Gamlestadens Fabriker, this is the following:

• Heritage – e.g. re-use of heritage building; continuing legacy of entrepreneurship (YESBOX, an entrepreneurial district and incubator hub for entrepreneurs and one of the initiatives operating from Gamlestadens Fabriker. It is a collaborative project, in light of the city-wide initiative ‘The entrepreneurial Gothenburg’, run by a network of organisations all involved in entrepreneurship, business development and innovation. 

• Physical (and digital) infrastructure – e.g. YESBOX: Physical location: ‘dream factory for entrepreneurs and innovators’ incorporates facilities for digital meetings as well , 

• Marketplace  demand 

• Support organisations – e.g. YESBOX: Run by a network of 16 organisations involved in business development, entrepreneurship and innovation; One-stop-shop for guidance, advice and training for entrepreneurs and innovators 

• Human resources / natural & technical resources – e.g. YESBOX: Enables upskilling of local entrepreneurs

• Knowledge – e.g. YESBOX: Enables knowledge bundling and exchange

• Leadership 

• Finance 

• Formal institutions & Urban culture & Entrepreneurial culture – e.g. YESBOX: Part of city-wide initiative ‘The Entrepreneurial Gothenburg’; Contributes to citv-wide ambition to become “an international role model through its entrepreneurial attitude and atmosphere

• Networks – e.g YESBOX: Events and training offers networking opportunities for (to-be) entrepreneurs

This will be useful for:  

• Supports you to identifies key strengths in the entrepreneurial ecosystem for your HUA as well as what your HUA may offer to that entrepreneurial ecosystem

• Identifies how stakeholders interact with the HUA 

• Identifies openness of ecosystem to be involved in HUB-IN Actions 

• Understands how initiatives are shaped and utilised in the context of heritage-led regeneration:  • a public approach • an entrepreneurial approach  • a community approach – Note: Each of these three approaches has a distinct manner in which elements – both ingredients and cultural and institutional arrangements – of the entrepreneurial ecosystem are activated. Entrepreneurial Ecosystems in Historic Urban Areas (EE) D2.7. 

• First, we recommend to follow the HUB-IN module on entrepreneurial ecosystems, part of HUB-IN academy 

• Second, we advise to discuss with a small group (3-5 participants) the following – assuming that all participants have a good idea of what the proposed activity/accelerator/innovation programme will entail  

• What opportunities does our heritage-led entrepreneurial ecosystem offer for our acceleration / innovation programme?  

• What does our accelerator programme contribute to our heritage-led entrepreneurial ecosystem? Using post-its you can indicate both and use colours to make distinctions between making use of vs feeding the ecosystem, while indicating with text how this takes place (see ppt submitted for example).  
• Finally, define what you need to make the initiative/accelerator a success 

See link in EE slides in the download, the pdf can be found in the Nicosia meeting map, along with other docs (some also added here) 

• Consult your stakeholder mapping and HUB-IN Framework

• Ensure you are involving diverse and an appropriate spectrum of stakeholders. 

• Consider creating more than one Entrepreneurial Ecosystem map – essential: Pre HUB-IN project launch & post HUB-IN Project implementation 

• Remember that communities and stakeholders’ time is precious; use it wisely and strategically. 
• Consult HUB-IN & ethics , understanding and being more aware of how ethics is relevant for work with and within cities & seeing more closely and carefully triggers and develops a sensitivity to issues otherwise ignored.

Related content:

• HUB-IN Framework: Ingredients of a ‘HUB-IN Place’ (The Long Read), HUB-IN project – Hubs of Innovation and Entrepreneurship for the transformation of Historic Urban Areas 

• Entrepreneurial Ecosystems in Historic Urban Areas (D2.7) 

• HUB-IN Framework: An overview of our shared context, vision and values towards ‘HUB-IN Places’, HUB-IN project – Hubs of Innovation and Entrepreneurship for the transformation of Historic Urban Areas.

• HUB-IN Clusters of Innovation (The Long Read), part of the HUB-IN Framework: An overview of our shared context, vision and values towards ‘HUB-IN Places’, HUB-IN project – Hubs of Innovation and Entrepreneurship for the transformation of Historic Urban Areas.

• HUB-IN Stakeholder map 1 & 2

• Communicating the HUB