ENTREPRENEURS NEWS | IN BRIEF
A Dragon in Romania
The founding Dragons’ Den panellist Doug Richard has been drafted in by Romania’s Post-Privatisation Foundation (PPF) to deliver an intensive training course which aims to help Romanian entrepreneurs turn their ideas into fast-growth successful businesses. The program will train 250 Romanian entrepreneurs and thanks to the PPF, the School for Start-ups will be able to offer scholarships to cover 80 per cent of costs. Richard says: “Entrepreneurship is a skill that can be taught and must be learned.”
New crowdsourcing site launched
A new crowd-funding website called Crowdcube has been launched that makes it possible for the general public to buy shares in start-ups and growing businesses. Entrepreneurs can showcase their business and investment potential to thousands of micro-investors by uploading a “Dragons’ Den” style video pitch, images and supporting documents. People can support an idea, person or business by investing small amounts of money, starting at £10, in exchange for shares in the business.
Review of Small Business Act
The European Commission this week published a review of the Small Business Act, implemented between 2008 and 2010 with the aim of alleviating administrative burden, facilitating SMEs’ access to finance and supporting their access to new markets. Business and Enterprise Minister Mark Prisk said: “I fully endorse the idea of an EU forum for small business ministers and I look forward to meeting European business ministers to learn from one another’s experiences and examine how we can work together to unleash entrepreneurial talent and small business growth.