IE Business School Startup Lab 2023: Igniting the Passion and Potential of Future Entrepreneurs

IE Business School’s Startup Lab (SUL) launch event, held last week, unveiled a new edition aimed at developing an entrepreneurial mentality within students and connecting them with their peers to chase their startup dreams.

“The startup lab not only contributes to IE’s mission by fostering entrepreneurship, but it's the key component to make this vision a reality, by encouraging students to think differently while enabling their entrepreneurial mindset.” Camila Gonzalez, Startup Lab Director.

Compared to previous SUL openings, this year’s launch offered different uses cases of how the entrepreneurial mindset can be nurtured during their time in the lab. 

Each alumni speaker, including Jaime Bálgoma, Priscila Silva, and Uliana Torkunova, shared their unique entrepreneurial journey and demonstrated how they unlocked their potential during their time in the SUL. Henri Mennens, entrepreneur and IE mentor, closed the event as he provided students with tools to effectively navigate the SUL activities. 

The primary purpose of the launch event was to provide students with a clear roadmap for the lab and its newly designed components. Additionally, the event brought together the SUL ecosystem and created a networking opportunity for students to connect and explore new possibilities for their startups.

Within a 5-week timeframe the courses of the lab help the students not only foster an entrepreneurial mindset but also create a pre-seed level startup.

The SUL incubates the most startups every year that then go to the Venture Lab with a fully developed pitch deck, minimum viable product (MVP) and a validated problem.

To provide the students with practical experience, the SUL network offers various activities such as round tables, pitch slams, and “Ask me anything” sessions. The mentoring sessions and expert hours offer the students tools and resources to polish their startups ideas. Additionally, mentoring sessions are provided with valuable tools and resources to refine their startup ideas.

“I had a vision of the event, then designed and executed it along with my team, Camilla Bonati, Davide Sarigu, and Alba Sanchez.”
Camila Gonzalez

“I had a vision of the event, then designed and executed it along with my team, Camilla Bonati, Davide Sarigu, and Alba Sanchez. I’d also like to thank the incredible IMBA alumni speakers & Henri Mennens for participating in the SUL launch event. We’re excited to get moving because the SUL will teach students how to compete with themselves to be the next best you by working hard and going the extra mile to fulfil their dreams. It will also teach the students how to navigate an incredible ecosystem, by offering the creators opportunities, it´s on them if they dare to take them.” - Camila Gonzalez.

Looking to bring your idea to life? 

Send an email to cgonzalezp@faculty.ie.edu and Camilla.bonati@ie.edu