Startium

Find out why the 2023 European Entrepreneurial University of the Year 🏆 uses Startium OS to manage and deliver their entrepreneurship support services. When launching Strathclyde Inspire, the entrepreneurship team at the University of Strathclyde were looking for a solution that could help with data management and reporting while also helping to streamline access to their support services. They describe the moment they received a demo of Startium as their 'Eureka Moment' 🙌 Read the full case study & watch videos from the Strathclyde Inspire team here: https://lnkd.in/e-Gc8GSR

Next week we're bringing together representatives from our UK University Partners for our annual 2 day Customer Summit 🌟 This year hosted by Startium Partner, the University of Warwick. At Startium our product development focus is totally driven by our customers. We create several opportunities a year to listen and engage with our partners, so that we can make sure we continue to exceed expectations and innovate for future needs. We believe this is one of the many reasons why we've never lost a customer. Since we launched in 2021, 100% of our software customers have renewed each year. It also helps that we're all aligned by the same driving force; to provide the right support at the right time to innovators, game-changers and entrepreneurs.

This week, we officially kicked off our eConX training roadshow, bringing together Business Advisors from across Northern Ireland! 🚀💻 From Mallusk to Bushmills and Omagh, it’s been an incredible journey so far, connecting with so many of you as we gear up for our next stop in Banbridge!📍 We’re all hands on deck, diving into how this new platform will revolutionise the way we support local entrepreneurs when the project launches. This exciting new initiative is being developed in collaboration with our technology partners, Startium. 🫱🏼🫲🏽 Stay tuned for more updates! 👀✨ Omagh Enterprise Mallusk Enterprise Park Enterprise Causeway

Do you know who is in the know? 🔎 You might think so, but no one has all the answers. That's why, being able to connect members of your community to the most suitable support and resources in their local ecosystem is crucially important. The Startium Ecosystem CRM makes it quick and easy to: 🤝 facilitate warm introductions to other resource providers, 🔀 track interactions with ecosystem organisations and; 🔗 build meaningful relationships with key contacts and supporters. Which enables business support providers and technical assistance programmes to provide the right support at the right time. More info: https://lnkd.in/euwHts5F

We had a blast at the International Enterprise Educators Conference 2024, hosted by Queen's University Belfast. As long-term partners of IEEC and Enterprise Educators UK, when we heard the conference was coming to our home city of Belfast, we wanted to make sure delegates got a proper Belfast welcome. We hosted a bus tour of some of Belfast’s buzzing entrepreneurial hotspots for 50 enterprise educators and entrepreneurial ecosystem builders, who were in town the day before IEEC. In between visits to Ormeau Labs, Innovation Factory - Belfast and Catalyst, guests learned about the rich history of Belfast, seen some of our most popular landmarks and enjoyed some Northern Irish bites along the way. The Fifteens and Veda bread went down a treat. Thanks to everyone who helped to bring this tour of Belfast’s entrepreneurial ecosystem to life for our international guests. Claire Halliday | Sophie Adair | Beth G. | Neil Allen | Cathy Keenan | Margie McKay | Joe Wilson | Meg Magill | Ally Armstrong | Claire Kelly | Naomi Browne | Rob Edwards | Lynn O'Byrne | Chris Shannon | Alastair Luke

Next week hundreds of Enterprise Educators will be making their way to Belfast for the 2024 International Enterprise Educators Conference. Hosted by Queen's University Belfast and Enterprise Educators UK We're looking forward to catching up with many of our university partners and friends of Startium throughout the week. To kick things off we're hosting a bus tour to showcase Belfast's Entrepreneurial Ecosystem to 60 conference guests with stops at Ormeau Labs, Innovation Factory - Belfast and Catalyst. We are also excited to be continuing our sponsorship of the National Enterprise Education Awards which will be taking place in Titanic Belfast on Thurs 5th. Most of all, we just can't wait to welcome this community to our home city of Belfast ❤️ For updates throughout the week follow us on X: @StartiumHQ

We are growing. Over the next few months we will be expanding into new European markets and launching new additions to our product suite. All driven by our mission to build products and provide services that make it easier, quicker and more affordable for anyone to start and grow a business. Stay tuned.

Case Study: Belfast City Council, Employability & Skills Team 📌 The Employability & Skills Team at Belfast City Council were coming to the end of a planning cycle and beginning to prepare for the next. Management wanted to provide an opportunity for the team to reflect on their work to date, extract learnings, celebrate achievements and identify opportunities for impact throughout the year ahead. Specifically, they wanted colleagues to work together to address a set of 'How might we...' statements which focused on maximising service impact. --- ⚡ Immediately, we knew that our 'Pause, Rewind, Fast Forward' framework would provide the right structure to deliver on this brief. Using our tried and tested 'Pause, Rewind, Fast Forward' activities we facilitated a full day, off-site, of reflection, celebration and ideation for the Employability & Skills Team. ➡ We utilised a range of retrospective exercises to reflect on the last year and extract key learnings that could be applied in the year ahead. ➡Together, groups explored their HMW statements and identified ways to enhance performance and impact related to the new operational plan. ➡Throughout the day, everyone voted for the colleague/s they believe demonstrate the Belfast City Council values in how they go about their work. ➡By the end of the day, the team had produced a long list of ideas and potential solutions that would help deliver the objectives for the year ahead. --- 📄 Within one week of the Away Day, the Startium team had curated the outworkings of the conversations, ideation sessions, reflection exercises and proposed solutions into a 15 page report. This report was shared with management and included activity summaries, recommendations and next steps that would help to implement the ideas and potential solutions generated by the team. We loved working with such a high energy team, full of enthusiasm and genuine passion for what they do 😍 ---- Startium offers a range of consultancy services for Economic Developers and Enterprise Support Organisations. Our decision sprints and strategy days consist of a series of carefully selected workshops or smaller activities and exercises and are a great way to problem-solve, innovate, learn, strengthen relationships and boost productivity. More info: https://lnkd.in/eABc6jc9

We're #hiring a Project Operations Manager to help us design and implement new systems and processes across our business, as we prepare for the launch of new products across the UK and expansion into new European markets. Closing date: Mon 22nd July at 12pm. Apply: Send your CV and a cover letter to chris.shannon@startium.co.uk

It’s that time of the year again 📈 For many of my connections in HE, July and August offer an opportunity to reflect on the last academic year and plan for the next. Increasingly, for many of our university partners at Startium, this involves the creation of an annual ‘Impact Report’. Some choose to showcase the number of cups of coffee ☕they served, many highlight engagement stats across initiatives and others go deep on HE-BCI metrics. One measure that I believe is missing from any evaluation or impact report I've read, is ‘sustainability’. Not the environmental kind, although that would be great too! The longevity kind. In other words: will the impact generated by the activities likely continue to be generated after existing funding has been withdrawn? 🤷♂️ Even if the obvious answer is NO! By including this in a report and not just a post evaluation, you seize the opportunity to make it clear to stakeholders; what resources, financial or otherwise, are needed to continue generating such impact in the years ahead. I believe this is relevant even if you’re reporting in year 1 of a 3-year funded project. It makes it very clear, that if the university/council/funder wants more of the impact already delivered, it will require further investment, and they need to start thinking now, about what’s next. If you know a team member on a temp contract is due to finish in 2025/26, which will impact your ability to deliver your service… That should be mentioned under sustainability in your 2024 impact report. Last year, through Startium I completed a consultancy project with a UK university to identify what they should and could report on when it comes to entrepreneurship. The table below was included in my report, which I adapted from the OECD - OCDE, Inclusive Business Creation report. I thought I’d share here, as I know many friends will be thinking about their impact reports or end of programme evaluations in the coming weeks. What do you think? Is including project sustainability as a measure sensible? Do you do this already? ✌