| Name of activity/title | Soft funding seminar – mentorship and support for students applying for non-equity funding |
| Domain/action | Domain 4: Enhancing the quality of innovation and entrepreneurial education Actions: – Training programs and mentoring schemes |
| Goal of activity/short summary | Seminar for students to receive help to apply for soft funding (i.e. non-equity investment from institutions such as Innovation Norway) with the help of knowledgeable mentors |
| Type of stakeholders involved | Students, entrepreneurship and innovation support structures, mentors |
| Description how conducted | It is organized once per year after Innovation Norway has announced its grant for student entrepreneurs. The students start preparing their application beforehand and receive questions they need to answer together with all the required material they need to prepare the application. On the seminar day, the students and experienced mentors use the day to discuss the business concept, market, budgeting, and forecasting and write the funding application. |
| Resources required (if relevant) | Facilities of the meeting, cost for lunch, network of entrepreneurs for mentorship |
| Lessons learned/success factors | Successful implementation requires the students to be prepared beforehand so that they do not show up empty-handed and can utilize the expertise of mentors. Important aspects are that the mentors and organizers include persons with experience in applying for these types of grants to give good feedback and expert advice. The mentors should also have experience or knowledge of the market in the areas the students want to start a business in. |
| Time period (if relevant) | Annual |
| Link (if relevant) | |
| Partner who submitted the practice | Norwegian University of Life Sciences |
| Key words | Innovation, entrepreneurship, startups, support structure, mentorship, funding |
Categories:idea bank