Madrid City Council, in support of entrepreneurship
The Council offers numerous resources, including an advisory service, business incubators and coworking centres.
The Deputy Head of Entrepreneurship and SMEs at the Directorate General for Trade and Entrepreneurship, Estrella Martín, told the Leaders about the initiatives put in place by Madrid City Council to support entrepreneurship and innovation in the Spanish capital.
“Madrid City Council supports people who have an idea and want to start a business venture. To this end, the Council provides an advisory service to walk them through the procedures involved in seeking funding, registering their business, and so on.”
Ms Martín said that the Council provides entrepreneurs with spaces such as coworking centres and offices for SMEs and incubators where entrepreneurs can get help to draft their business plan.
“They can stay at the incubator for free for up to six months, which is the estimated time required to draft a business plan. Once they have done this, they have the chance to access shared coworking spaces for free for a certain period of time, or they can also choose to lease independent private spaces.”
During that time, entrepreneurs “have access to training and they are entitled to using the auditorium, the meeting rooms and other facilities.”
This initiative of Madrid City Council, which began in 2007, was thought “very interesting” by the Leaders, who enquired about aspects such as funding and the admission process. The most highly represented industries in the programme include the textiles sector, ICT, consultancies and agencies, interior design, and video-game design. According to the Leaders, India has “significant experience” in those sectors and it might be worth exploring the possibility of “Indian and Spanish entrepreneurs holding exchanges.”
