Abstract:

The growing effort universities are taking to foster entrepreneurial attitude, skills and activity among students to increase nascent ventures before and right after graduating is well known. In the document “A Guiding Framework for Entrepreneurial Universities”, elaborated by the European Commission and the OECD, seven factors are proposed to consider the entrepreneurial level of universities, two of which are: the pathway offered to entrepreneurs and the measurement of the impact of entrepreneurial universities ( OECD , 2012) .

However, universities tend to consider their mission as finished once they have supported young entrepreneurs through these phases, according to the Global entrepreneurship Monitor schema, of Total Early – Stage of Entrepreneurial Activity: conception and firm birth. The rate of university graduates among technological venture entrepreneurs in Spain is 57, 4 % ( GEM 2018) and, according to the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE), in Spain the survival rate of innovative and technological entrepreneurship is merely 55,4%; these data lead us to think that after fostering an entrepreneurial mindset and pushing students toward business creation universities fail to accompany graduates in the most critical moment , namely, in the persistence ( consolidation) phase.

For a more sustainable support to innovation and technological ecosystems universities need other community shareholders which may contribute with expertise, networks and financial support. The University of Valladolid Science Park (PCUVa) together with the Instituto para la Competitividad Empresarial de Castilla y León (ICE) have joined forces to fill the above mentioned gap and aim at broadening innovative and technological entrepreneurial activity in the region by supporting university graduates in the critical phase of new venture consolidation. This cooperation has borne fruit; the survival rate of technological startups under the umbrella of this cooperation is of 90,9 %.

In this paper we will expose the starting point and the different measures undertaken by the PCUVa together with the ICE to maintain the enterprising spirit which tends to deflate when graduates run into trouble, and to furnish young entrepreneurs with the skills level necessary to surpass the critical three years and success as technological entrepreneurs .

Keywords:

Entrepreneurial University, Technological Entrepreneurship, Regional Cooperation.