In the Ems-Dollart-region in the North of the Netherlands and North-West Germany, startups are contributing to the region’s economy. In principal, well-developed startup and entrepreneurship ecosystems are an important factor for prosperity. Such ecosystems consist of companies, regional policy institutions, universities and other private or public organisations. In a functioning entrepreneurship ecosystem, these players optimally interact with each other. In January 2019, the project “Startup Perspectives” (Bakker et al., 2019) explored the opportunities and possibilities that a cross-border startup scene would bring to the Ems-Dollart-region. Based on this research, the Startup Ems-Dollart-region project emerged. Within the Interreg V A scheme, the project is funded by Interreg/EDR and runs from June 1st 2019-June 30th 2022. The aim of the Startup Ems-Dollart-region project is to facilitate a cross-border startup ecosystem between the three provinces of Drenthe, Friesland and Groningen on the Dutch side and the WeserEms region in Germany. This will entail the formation of a (digital) network for the startup scene, tailored mentoring programs for young entrepreneurs and the development of entrepreneurship education programs with a cross-border focus. Overall, a sustainable and long-lasting entrepreneurship ecosystem shall facilitate cross-border activities among young entrepreneurs and startups.To gain an understanding of the current entrepreneurship environment in all the regions, a mapping of the relevant stakeholders took place at the beginning of the project. This report will summarize the key findings of this mapping exercise.
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This report contains an analysis of the AMP1’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. It aims to assess the external perceptions about the entrepreneurial ecosystem of the Metropolitan Area of Porto and the key variables to work on. We systematically analyse the perception of Porto as entrepreneurial ecosystem in the AMP itself, based social media analysis and on interviews with entrepreneurs and other stakeholders in the Porto ecosystem. As a reference case, we also conducted a survey and interviews in Amsterdam. This helps to compare the situation in AMP with that in Amsterdam. The analysis helped to understand the current strengths and weaknesses of the AMP’s ecosystem, seen from the eyes of insiders and outsiders. In particular, we focused on two key features: internationalisation and the role of the wider region.
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