The use and impact of AI in the entrepreneurial ecosystem take center stage at IE University's Venture Lab

IE University's Venture Lab has introduced dedicated training on the use and impact of AI within the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Through this training, IE University students develop practical skills and strategic fluency to integrate AI into their startup-building process, using advanced tools to accelerate research, validation, and prototyping. More than 700 Bachelor's and Master's students from 160 countries participate in Venture Lab this year. The University’s startup accelerator has supported more than 2,500 business projects to date.

In this latest edition, 150 teams of entrepreneurs will work over the coming months to develop their business ideas and design startups, guided by mentors and faculty from IE University. The Venture Lab aims to foster an entrepreneurial mindset among students and alumni while strengthening their professional profile in a technology-driven world. Participants also develop key skills such as strategic vision, innovation, negotiation, and leadership in a global context.

The accelerator program will end on March 18, during the IE Venture Day Madrid 2026, one of Europe's most important Demo Days, where the finalist teams will present their projects to a panel of experts, entrepreneurs, and local and international investors at IE Tower, the institution’s sustainable technology campus in Madrid.

"In a world where startup accelerators work with an average of 10 to 20 startups simultaneously, our Venture Lab is unique in terms of its international scope. At IE University, we accelerate more than 300 teams a year, with the aim of supporting as many students as possible, developing their skills, and teaching them to think like entrepreneurs," says Paris de l'Etraz, Managing Director of IE University's Venture Lab.

"Artificial intelligence and disruptive technologies have changed the rules of the game. IE University's Venture Lab is an opportunity for our students to take advantage of the new paradigm of startup creation and acceleration," explains María Hernández, Director of the IE Entrepreneurship & Innovation Center. "We work with students who want to become entrepreneurs and with students who want to develop an entrepreneurial mindset for the business world: innovative vision, resilience, adaptability, growth mindset, action," she adds.

Entrepreneurship is one of the fundamental pillars of IE University and is embedded throughout the academic experience. All students can develop ventures and receive training in entrepreneurship throughout their programs, regardless of their area of specialization. As a result, 30% of IE University graduates become entrepreneurs at some point in their professional careers.

The institution’s focus to equip students with an mindset entrepreneurial is also a cornerstone of the recent academic collaboration between IE University and Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Within this agreement, both institutions will work jointly to develop an entrepreneurship course designed by IE University experts to enrich A Level students’ academic experience and to foster their entrepreneurial skills. This course has the potential to impact on more than 450,000 AS & A Level students studying in over 3,500 schools across 136 countries.

IE University is recognized in international rankings for its academic excellence and the impact of its entrepreneurship training. In this vein, IE Business School ranks third in Poets & Quants’ World's Best MBA Programs for Entrepreneurship Ranking 2026 and third in Europe in the MBA category of the PitchBook University Ranking 2025, which analyzes PitchBook data on global venture capital investment, as well as the profiles of nearly 167,000 entrepreneurs.