Madrid European Entrepreneurial Region 2021-2022
The Community of Madrid obtains the seal "European Entrepreneurial Region"
The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) rewards the entrepreneurial vision of the Community of Madrid
The European Committee of
the Regions (CoR) awards this seal of excellence to regions that stand out for their entrepreneurial vision and for developing a smart growth strategy that takes into account the general challenges facing society.
On this occasion, the editions of 2021 and 2022 have been merged, focused on the theme "Entrepreneurship for a sustainable recovery". A specific objective of this call is to stimulate entrepreneurship and innovation in EU regions and cities as fundamental instruments to advance the EU sustainability and green economy program.
The regions awarded the EER 2021-2022 award have demonstrated a remarkable ability to create new opportunities and to reorient the course of their economic development. The CoR awards these territories as beacons of a sustainable European recovery. The development strategy of the Community of Madrid responds closely to the EU's policy guidelines on SMEs and mobilizes significant resources, taking into account, in particular, the interests of women entrepreneurs.
The Community of Madrid's recovery plan, integrated into a long-term multi-level development strategy, focuses mainly on collaborative elements aimed at building bridges between the public and private sectors. The creation of an entrepreneurship council will bring together a wide range of entrepreneurs, micro-enterprises and SMEs and will create synergies and network effects.
See here the video of Madrid's victory in the EER and video of the other winning regions.
The European Entrepreneurial Region Award (EER)
The European Entrepreneurial Region Award (EER) is a project that, every year, selects and rewards EU territories that present an outstanding and innovative business policy strategy, regardless of their size, wealth and skills. The territories that present the most credible, advanced and promising plan for the future are awarded the “European Entrepreneurial Region” (EER) label for the following year.
Instituted in cooperation with the European Commission, the EER label is endorsed by EU stakeholders such as SME United, Eurochambers, Social Economy Europe y EURADA.
The Jury for the EER Awards is made up of members of the Committee of the Regions (CoR), representatives of the EU institutions, social partners and regional associations.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021-2022 edition of the EER Awards spans two years. Faced with the current health and economic crisis, the jury decided to merge the 2020 and 2021 calls to give the regions the opportunity to reformulate their regional development strategies and adapt them to the new context.
Our candidacy
The recovery plan of the Community of Madrid, integrated into a long-term multi-level development strategy, focuses mainly on collaborative elements aimed at building bridges between the public and private sectors. The creation of an entrepreneurship council will bring together a wide range of entrepreneurs, micro-enterprises and SMEs and will create synergies and network effects.
The strategic lines that guide the candidacy are:
- Structure and harmonize regional and local public policies and have private initiatives aimed at supporting individual and collective entrepreneurship, with the aim of making them complementary, useful and accessible to the target audience.
- Design a Plan that integrates programs and resources for individual and collective entrepreneurship, with the aim of offering support for the exit from the post-pandemic crisis, improving competitiveness, enhancing resilience capacity and fostering the creation of new initiatives.
- Move towards an inclusive, diverse, ecological and digital Community of Madrid, innovative and sustainable in the field of individual and collective entrepreneurship.
- Promote the presence of individual and collective entrepreneurship in public policies and co-creation together with private initiative.
- Within the framework of the transition to a green and digital economy, with the goal of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
The proposal proposes various lines of action:
- Creation of the Entrepreneurship Council of the Community of Madrid.
- Promotion of Individual and Collective Entrepreneurship.
- Promotion of Entrepreneurship at School.
- Comprehensive assistance program for entrepreneurs.
- Support for the Social Economy.
- Support actions for the Self-Employed, SMEs and Social Economy Companies of the Region, for social and collective entrepreneurship.
- Support for the development of technology-based companies.
- Support for financing for the self-employed and SMEs.
- Support for territorial rebalancing.
- In search of a sustainable region.
Creation of the Entrepreneurship Council of the Community of Madrid
This initiative wants to bring together in a body the set of actors involved in the field of entrepreneurship in the Community of Madrid. Its objective is to unify criteria and establish strategies and lines of action that promote entrepreneurship in the Region. This action will allow progress, together with the most relevant actors, towards reducing the regulatory burden and improving market access, as proposed by the SME Strategy.
It wants to become the instrument for dialogue and stable participation between the Government of the Community of Madrid, central and local administration, the most representative trade union and business organizations, municipalities, universities and entities and companies committed to promoting and developing entrepreneurship. in the region. This Council will also facilitate the creation of international consortia for the execution of European projects.
Entrepreneurship Promotion Program
This action aims to promote both the entrepreneurial spirit and the contact between agents in the field of entrepreneurship, and show the commitment and support to entrepreneurship as a source of job creation and creation of business fabric.
It is a meeting attended by people interested in entrepreneurship, as well as agents of the entrepreneurial ecosystem, investors and entities related to it. Conferences, workshops and debates are given focused on the needs detected in the entrepreneurial process. It is also a good opportunity to network with all the participants. At the same time, different stands are exhibited in which the entrepreneurs show the products, services and solutions that they offer to the entrepreneurial collective.
Program for women entrepreneurs in the field of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, (STEM), which aims to promote the development of new entrepreneurial projects promoted by women in areas in which, until now, they are underrepresented.
Distributed in different weekly sessions, which includes prizes for the best projects.
The sequence of the program is the following "Presentation sessions / Workshops: Design your STEM business idea", "Training / mentoring actions in the time between sessions", "Project selection process", "Elevator Pitch presentation of the selected projects "and" "Awards ceremony".
Program to promote Entrepreneurship at School
This line aims to develop in the field of regulated education actions to promote entrepreneurship aimed at students, teachers and families.
It is a call for prizes for students and teachers of the Primary, Secondary, Baccalaureate and Vocational Training stages.
Contest aimed at students from 7 to 18 years old that promotes values such as creativity, autonomy, trust, tenacity and a sense of responsibility.
It includes different categories such as “An entrepreneurial story” "," The neighborhood entrepreneurs "or," See you as an entrepreneur. "It also has a category for teachers dedicated to the development of teaching units.
Training actions aimed at secondary, high school and professional training teachers; which include workshops aimed at the families, fathers and mothers of the students. The actions will focus on raising awareness and motivation towards entrepreneurship; and actions of motivation, awareness and training in entrepreneurship in training programs for employment.
Comprehensive care program for entrepreneurs
This line aims to develop actions that facilitate access to information, advice, training and financing so that every entrepreneur can develop their business project.
The objective of this Program is to turn the Community of Madrid into an international hub for entrepreneurship, including the digitization of companies as one of the strategic lines of development.
The objective is to launch up to four Entrepreneurship Hubs in the Region, in collaboration with different institutions and administrations, each of which will develop the "Hubbing" concept, which refers to the main support actions that will be developed in the centers. : co-working, networking, mentoring, training and support for financing.
It will include measures to facilitate access to public and private financing and incentives for the participation of private investors. The first of the centers, the e-Social Hub, was launched in January 2020. The next expected Hub will be the e-Global Hub, related to the field of internationalization, in collaboration with the Madrid Chamber of Commerce.
With the aim of bringing information and advice closer to the creation of companies, a network of Service and Advice Points for entrepreneurs distributed throughout the Region, in collaboration with the central administration. At these points you can carry out all the procedures for creating a company, in addition to obtaining advice, evaluation of business plans, search for products and suitable financing instruments and access to relevant experiences in entrepreneurship, through telephone support. and telematic and face-to-face.
The objectives of Training Plan They are to promote the entrepreneurial mentality, encourage more people to undertake through individual or collective projects, and develop mechanisms that facilitate the training of entrepreneurs.
It is a set of training actions structured in four blocks: "Individual and Collective Entrepreneurship. Business Creation", "Collective Entrepreneurship: The Social Economy", "Business Management and Commerce" and "Entrepreneurial Skills and Social Responsibility".
The Community of Madrid offers local entrepreneurs in the region distributed throughout the region to develop their business, under leasing and with very advantageous economic conditions, with surfaces that reach up to 1.200 m2. Entrepreneurs benefit from a grace period of six months, after which the fee will gradually adjust to the real price, adapting it over time to the consolidation of the business.
Support for the self-employed and SMEs in the region
The main objective of the Re Plan is to offer companies in difficulty advice and support that can help resolve difficult situations in companies, as well as help entrepreneurs to have a second chance.
It consists of three phases:
- Recruitment phase for SMEs and self-employed professionals whose businesses / companies are in difficulty.
- Diagnostic Phase. The Diagnostic Advisors will carry out a diagnosis of the situation of the company or business, reflected in a Diagnostic Report that will help companies to identify existing problems, and obtain a recommendation for their solution.
- Counseling / Specialized Training Phase. In the event that in the previous phase the need for more specialized advice, in the form of mentoring or training, is detected, participants will have access to a Network of Specialized Mentors.
Aid for the creation of new companies and for the incorporation of partners to already established companies.
press here to access information on current aid, including the COVID line of direct aid to the self-employed and companies.
The e-Company Program aims to offer training in the use of available technologies for the development and consolidation of companies and businesses in the Community of Madrid.
Training actions related to: "The use of social networks as a marketing element", "Potentialities and needs of electronic commerce", "Search engine optimization", "Free tools for entrepreneurs" and "How to create networks: Clients, Suppliers and Investors "" How to digitize your business ".
The objective of this program is to offer all the people who request aid to the self-employed the possibility of having two hours of tutoring with an advisor who applies the Canvas methodology to evaluate the proposed business idea.
Support program for technology-based companies (EBT)
This line aims to promote the creation and consolidation of Technology-Based Companies in the Community of Madrid, for which different actions will be carried out:
ESA BIC Comunidad de Madrid is the program of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Community of Madrid, coordinated by the Madri + d Foundation, which encourages business projects and start-ups that use space technologies or develop applications based on these technologies to create new products and services .
Compared to other European models, the ESA BIC Comunidad de Madrid integrates the university and technological institutions of the region with the aim of allowing entrepreneurs to integrate and collaborate with their scientific, technological and innovative environment. The science parks of public universities actively participate in the project.
Business Angels Network Madri + d is a specialized investor network that facilitates the search for financing for companies with a scientific and technological base in the Community of Madrid during their first years of life.
BAN Madri + d contributes to consolidating a more competitive business fabric, taking advantage of the experience of the Madri + d Foundation in the field of R&D management and in collaboration with university and scientific institutions in the region.
La Madri + d Mentor Network is an international benchmark in the field of mentoring for entrepreneurs, made up of renowned businessmen and professionals who pave the way for scientific-technological entrepreneurs, helping them to consolidate the success of their innovative initiatives.
It facilitates meetings between mentors and entrepreneurs, project presentations, seminars, network of contacts, etc., favoring the growth of the business fabric of the Community of Madrid.
This program is made up of a set of grants for technology-based and innovative companies:
- Grants for the development of young innovative technology-based companies (Start-up's) and high-intensity innovative SMEs, within the framework of the regional research and innovation strategy for smart specialization (RIS3), within the Community's ERDF operational program Madrid for the period 2014-2020.
- Subsidy to contribute to the improvement of public-private cooperation in R + D + i by supporting technological innovation projects with a driving effect developed by open innovation centers of the Community of Madrid.
- Subsidy to promote technological innovation and promote technology transfer to the productive sector included in the priorities of the RIS3 Strategy of the Community of Madrid through liaison entities for technological innovation co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund.
- Subsidy to promote the use of innovation and technology transfer in small and medium-sized enterprises in traditional sectors
Financial support program for the self-employed and SMEs
Avalmadrid is a reciprocal guarantee company owned by the Community of Madrid, the Madrid Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Madrid Business Confederation, among others.
Its main purpose is to provide financial support to entrepreneurs, freelancers and SMEs in the Community of Madrid. Its objectives are: on the one hand, to facilitate access to preferential financing both in terms of cost and term and, on the other, to provide guarantees and guarantees to Public Administrations and third parties, under much more advantageous conditions than those offered by traditional banks.
There are various lines aimed at providing liquidity, obtaining financing and granting guarantees to obtain loans, for entrepreneurial projects, to support internationalization, and specific lines for Social Economy companies, SMEs, freelancers and start-ups. technology-based-ups.
It has, among others, these lines of support for financing:
- Access to financing for the creation and maintenance of employment of self-employed entrepreneurs: growth, development and consolidation of business activity.
- Access to financing for new self-employed who come from unemployment.
- Access to financing for labor cooperatives and corporations.
Territorial rebalancing support program
This related program aims to develop actions that promote and disseminate entrepreneurship, individual and collective as an employment alternative among the young population residing in sparsely populated municipalities, far from the capital and with unemployment rates greater than or equal to 10% among the population aged 25 to 44 years.
The program includes awareness-raising actions, support for the development of the business plan, business creation seminars and individualized advisory interviews per project in municipalities with fewer than 25.000 inhabitants in the Region.
This program aims to: promote rural development and avoid relocation in rural areas of the Region, promote entrepreneurship formulas through the social economy and promote the use of public resources.
Actions will be carried out aimed at 150 entrepreneurs, consisting of training and advice, dissemination, creation of three reference offices for the development of business projects related to rural development and financing studies through European funds.
This line of aid has two basic objectives. On the one hand, to facilitate the establishment of the population in rural localities and improve the quality of life of the people who live in them, within the framework of the Strategy for the Promotion of Rural Municipalities in the Community of Madrid. And, on the other hand, promoting sustainable industrial development, within the framework of the Industrial Plan of the Community of Madrid, the Air Quality and Climate Change Plan, the Energy Plan of the Community of Madrid and the rest of the planning and policies developed by the regional government in these areas.
For this reason, it has been considered convenient to manage a program of aid through direct concession to promote some actions that directly affect the economic development of the region, specifically those of the municipalities included in the Strategy for the Promotion of Rural Municipalities of the Community of Madrid.
Program for a sustainable region
It is a management model in which the Community of Madrid includes measures to promote transparency, integrity and credibility in the process of issuing bonds linked to sustainability.
These measures refer to the use of funds, the process of evaluation and selection of environmental and social projects, the management of the funds and the reporting of impact indicators. This Model has been rated by the Sustainalytics agency as solid, reliable and in harmony with the "Green Bond Principles" and the "Sustainable Bond Principles" published by the International Capital Market Association (ICMA). In 2020, the bond issue has reached 1.250 billion euros.
The objective is to launch a plan to promote Social Responsibility in SMEs in the Community of Madrid.
The plan will include actions aimed at:
- Awareness and information on CSR.
- CSR training.
- Promotion of the use of corporate memory CSR.
- Sponsorship of social bonds for socially responsible business projects; and Microcredits for business projects launched or directed to people at risk of social exclusion.
The objective of these grants is to promote social responsibility through specific actions implemented in the field of self-employed workers and small and medium-sized enterprises, in addition to promoting effective work-life balance of workers, in balance with the organizational needs of the company, by making the working day and schedule more flexible.
El SCHEDULE It consists of two lines: Implementation of social responsibility in the self-employed and in SMEs; and Reconciliation of work, family and personal life.