The Entrepreneurship department at IESE Business School, in collaboration with the Journal of Business Venturing, hosted the Hype and Entrepreneurship Academic Conference on 21 and 22 March 2024. The conference delved into an aspect often overlooked in entrepreneurship literature: hype. Often driven by excessive publicity, hype profoundly influences venture ideas, technologies, business models, and emerging industries. The conference highlighted the urgency of gaining a better understanding of how hype and entrepreneurship impact entrepreneurial ecosystems.
Hungry for more? Discover the research conducted by IESE professors Yuliya Snihur and Llewellyn D.W. Thomas on this topic.

From 16 to 18 April, IESE Business School will host its annual Startup Career Fair, connecting startups with top-tier MBA talent. With a diverse student body of 60+ nationalities, IESE offers startups access to a global pool of skills. This hybrid event will welcome companies at IESE's North Campus in Barcelona on 16 and 17 April or virtually on the 18th. Each company will get to do a 5 minute pitch for job and internship opportunities, and a networking session will follow. Online participants will take part in moderated calls and breakout rooms. IESE invites startups seeking MBA talent to join this dynamic platform for collaboration and growth. Don't miss the chance to connect with future business leaders!

Rahul Jain, MBA'10 and IESE 40under40, is the CEO and Co-Founder of Peach Payments, a Cape Town-based electronic payment solutions provider. With a laser focus on Africa, Jain and co-founder Andreas Demleitner, whom he met in South Africa during a summer internship as part of his IESE MBA, crafted a platform catering to diverse merchants and users – from the biggest business to the smallest side hustle. Their mission: to deliver seamless, secure payment services across mobile and web, integrating with top e-commerce platforms. Addressing Africa's varied payment methods, Peach Payments redefined digital payment solutions in the African continent. Curious for more? Read the full article on our blog.

The EIC Scaling Club has unveiled the selection of the first 48 European deep tech scaleups to join its curated community of standout companies, investors, corporate innovators, mentors, media firms and other industry stakeholders, ahead of the ‘Ignition Forum’ event to be held on 9-10 April in Belgium, where IESE will participate. Among the distinguished cohort are Boud4Blue and Multiverse Computing, founded by IESE alumni Cristina Aleixendri (EMBA 22, 40under40 2022) and Enrique Lizaso (MBA-90), respectively. Congratulations to all of them!

Bringing together investors, companies, and startups, South Summit Brazil took place in Porto Alegre, from 20 to 22 March 2024. IESE's Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center Executive Director, Josemaria Siota, participated in the discussion panel 'Thriving Together: Open Innovation Unleashed.' His discussion with corporate innovation expert Itai Green, moderated by South Summit LATAM Director Eduardo Lorea, explored how open innovation has become a crucial strategy for companies to maintain a competitive edge and enhance the ecosystem.
Watch this video where Siota shares his key takeaways from the panel, the opportunities behind the EU-funded EU-LAC Digital Accelerator, and IESE's research on the hidden growth opportunities in corporate venturing.

Calling all corporates and startups willing to build solid partnerships! Just a few weeks left until the deadline to submit applications for the Open Call for EU-LAC Partnerships. The Call is open to corporates and startups/SMEs willing to address digital transformation challenges through open innovation.
As the academic partner of this European project, at IESE we look forward to enabling collaborations from Europe to Latin America and the Caribbean between established corporations and innovative startups and scaleups to accelerate their digital transformation journey. 
Does your organization want to boost Digital Transformation through Open Innovation? Applications open until 30 April 2024.  

As activism around social issues rises, so does the growth of new industries inspired by social movements, which in turn carry great weight in guiding industries that have implications for social and environmental responsibility: think renewable energy, green building, standards-setting, and recycling. The study ‘Social movements and entrepreneurial activity: A study of the U.S. solar energy industry’, co-authored by Professor Desirée Pacheco, demonstrates how larger social movements stimulate entrepreneurial entry within an emerging industry. Discover how the authors leveraged a 14-year panel in the solar energy industry to demonstrate their findings.

In a world inundated with books on business strategy, Businessmap, the enterprise agility platform, sought insights from its LinkedIn community to curate a standout collection. Among the contenders, 'Business Model Innovation Strategy: Transformational Concepts and Tools for Entrepreneurial Leaders', co-authored by Professor Christoph Zott and Wharton School Professor Raffi Amit, claimed a spot among the top 10 books on Businessmap's 'Best Strategy List'. This action-oriented book and is filled with examples and illustrations from around the world. It provides leaders with a rigorous and detailed guide to the design and implementation of innovative, and scalable business models for their companies.