Amsterdam, Brussels, Lisbon, Paris – November 18th 2013 –Euronext N.V., a wholly owned subsidiary of IntercontinentalExchange Group, Inc. (NYSE: ICE), is pleased to announce that it is celebrating Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) through several events held in its European locations. These initiatives, involving entrepreneurs and business leaders, are aimed at sharing ideas and discussing regional and international issues surrounding entrepreneurship.
Isabel Ucha, Director of Corporate Responsibility for Euronext said: “Entrepreneurship is a key driver of our economy. Wealth and a high majority of jobs are created by small businesses started by entrepreneurially minded individuals, many of whom go on to create big businesses. Euronext has embraced this campaign looking to support the economic engine of high-growth startups in their own countries and communities.” She added: “We believe that if we want to enable Europe to grow again on a sustainable path we need to strengthen the ‘start up culture’, the culture of innovation and of taking risks. As a leading financial center for capital raising we can provide growing companies with financing solutions that may be decisive in materializing their full potential.”
The kick off of GEW will happen in Euronext Brussels on 18th November with an Opening Bell hosted by the Pulse Foundation, a private foundation which supports and stimulates entrepreneurship in Belgium, and TiE Brussels an organization dedicated to fostering entrepreneurship through mentoring, networking and education.
On, 19th November, Euronext Paris will host a Closing Bell ceremony and a conference with EnterNext’s team, our subsidiary whose role is to facilitate access to capital markets for SMEs, helping them generate the funds they need to grow at regional, national and pan-European level. The conference will be centered around taking risk and innovation, from the initial idea to the creation of the business. The event will also bring together speakers from Entreprendre Pour Apprendre, Fondation Entreprise, France Angels, Genopole and HEC business school.
On 22 November, Euronext Amsterdam celebrates the Global Entrepreneurship Week together with ‘Get in the Ring’ finalists that will sound the opening gong. Get in the Ring is a competition, initiated by the Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship, for the most promising entrepreneurs from around the world.
Euronext Lisbonwill close these celebrations with a Closing Bell and a conference to present the developments of the Entrepreneurial Network, an initiative that has been supported by the Lisbon municipality, as well as the first survey on the “Entrepreneurial Ecosystem of Lisbon”. Luís Laginha de Sousa, CEO of Euronext Lisbon, representatives from the City Hall as well as the author of the study will be leading a discussion on how to strengthen the start up community. Three young entrepreneurs will also be invited to talk about their projects.
Now in its seventh year, Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) is currently celebrated in 140 countries and thousands of cities around the world.