News

The NIU of Andorra Telecom, the business incubator/accelerator located in La Massana, has organised the first meeting of entrepreneurs and investors, which will take place on 20 November. The conference, a private forum which has been called NIU Demo Day, offers start-ups the chance to present their projects to an auditorium made up of financial entities, Business Angels and venture capital companies.

NIU Demo Day will be held throughout the morning at the Art Hotel. The organisation has restricted the number of projects to be presented to eight, in a very flexible format and with limited time. The entrepreneurs taking part can belong to the NIU or be external. Accordingly, there will be an assessment of which start-ups are mature enough to be presented at the conference, based on a preselection of 10 to 12 projects.

Following the presentations, a space will be prepared for the entrepreneurs to provide the investors that are interested in their projects with additional information.

The forum has been presented to the media by Antoni Ambatlle, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Andorra Telecom and Miquel Gouarré, the manager of the NIU. Ambatlle highlighted the fact that access to funding is a very important part of any entrepreneurship promotion programme. "There are many start-ups that die early on because they haven't had the chance to present their ideas and projects to an investor network. No matter how good an idea or project is, the work of the promoters is not enough when they have to allocate resources to the business model, production, marketing or sales. Without the right funding, it's impossible for an entrepreneur to move forward," he emphasised.

Ambatlle also drew attention to the fact that the NIU has been very well received by entrepreneurs. It currently has a total of seven integrated projects. "What we must do now is work to make it possible for the companies set up in the NIU, or others, to obtain funding so that they can move forward."

For his part, the manager of the NIU underlined the fact that these types of forums are more common in nearby countries as a system for putting two essential parts of entrepreneurship in contact. Gouarré emphasised the will to gather together a minimum of 30 investors, made up of the Andorran Family Office, Venture Capital Business Angels and Andorran banks.

Antoni Ambatlle wanted to showcase the importance of the NIU business incubator/accelerator in the company's public responsibility policy. The Deputy Chief Executive Officer underlined the will to contribute to diversification and entrepreneurship or to favour innovation and technological development. "As a telecommunications operator, we have to play a key role in stimulating an ICT sector in Andorra," he commented.

The NIU, a unique space in Andorra, creates a collaborative ecosystem for the development of new companies, provided with the support of Andorra Telecom, mentors and partners, to ensure that the project is a success. The facilities have a total of 18 workplaces, three meeting rooms and common areas.