TecnoCampus Mataró-Maresme University combines teaching, research and entrepreneurship support and development in one campus area. Located in Mataró, about 30 kilometers from Barcelona, TecnoCampus is part of Pompeu Fabra University. TecnoCampus is designed to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in close cooperation with the local business community.
One of TecnoCampus’s key features is its strong emphasis on student entrepreneurship. Students start their own companies during their studies, and they can get support in developing their business ideas from the Business Incubator located on campus. The incubator offers offices and mentoring for startups.
Karelia University of Applied Sciences lecturers Olli Hatakka and Daniel Bågeberg visited TecnoCampus in autumn 2024. During the visit, they got acquainted with the operations of the TecnoCampus business incubator and planned various forms of cooperation.
Entrepreneurship is an integral part of TecnoCampus’ educational philosophy. Students can choose an entrepreneurship-focused orientation option during their studies, and they are encouraged to use the skills they have learned to establish and develop their own companies. This is in line with the latest scientific research, which shows that practical entrepreneurship education significantly contributes to students’ ability to create new companies and succeed in the labor market.
Technology Park and innovation ecosystem
The TecnoCampus campus also houses a technology park that works in cooperation with companies in the area and promotes the development of technology and the growth of startup companies. The Technology Park offers students and companies the opportunity to cooperate in the development of new technological innovations and business solutions.
TecnoCampus offers a unique learning environment where students can work closely with local companies. The campus is also home to several technology and startup companies that collaborate with students on various projects. Through these projects, students get practical experience in the business world and the opportunity to develop their skills directly for the needs of working life.
TecnoCampus offers a wide range of academic programs including business, healthcare and engineering studies. Students often form multidisciplinary and multidisciplinary teams, which promotes the creation of innovative solutions through the combination of expertise from different fields. In Karelia University of Applied Sciences’ Y-Academy, the teams are made up of multidisciplinary teams and this is a proven method both in terms of developing innovative ideas, but also especially from the perspective of learning. It is important that students from different fields of study learn the substance learned by students from other fields of study in different projects. In this sense too, the diversity of the teams and the diversity of the students is good. TecnoCampus is also actively involved in international projects and exchange agreements with other universities, which opens opportunities for international mobility and networking for students.
Future trends
TecnoCampus and Karelia University of Applied Sciences are committed to continuous growth and innovation. Cooperation between higher education institutions and the business world is one of the strengths of the campus, and in the future the goal is to further expand this cooperation, especially with international partners. The cooperation between Karelia University of Applied Sciences and TecnoCampus offers both parties the opportunity to share best practices in entrepreneurship education and promoting innovation. It would be important that the cooperation between students of different universities could be developed, for example, with remote assignments aimed at students between study courses at universities. On the other hand, cooperation between higher education institutions and cross-pollination among personnel would also be important in terms of developing operations and building new operating models. According to Parta and Hassi (2018), teams and different communities getting to know each other’s activities opens up new perspectives and improves the development of operations. Due to the development of operations, regular cross-pollination, consolidation and deepening of cooperation are of paramount importance in terms of the development of various operations.
According to Tecnocampus professor Jose Ignacio Monreal Galan (2024), the three largest industries of Tecnocampus student companies are IT (34.8%), B2B services (18.3%) and industry (15.6%). The rest are made up of the following industries: health and well-being (12.2%), textile industry (11.3%) and audiovisual industry (2.6%). Ana Gallardo works as an international affairs expert at Tecnocampus and according to Gallardo (2024), the sizes of student companies vary as follows: less than five employees (62), 5–30 employees (51), 31–50 employees (3) and more than 50 employees (3).
Tecnocampus “Valimo” and Karelia UAS Y-Academy
According to Gallardo (2024), TecnoCampus students get to the business incubator through a multi-step process. Entrepreneurship-focused teaching and project work encourage them to develop their own business ideas. Students can participate in IdeaPitch competitions, where they present their ideas and receive feedback. Successful ideas can apply to TecnoCampus’ Business Incubator, which offers offices, mentoring and funding opportunities. The incubator supports the growth of students’ startup companies by providing facilities, expert help and networking opportunities, and later they can transfer to the growth company incubator to expand their business. Jose Ignacio Monreal Galan (2024) states that TecnoCampus students do not need to complete a certain number of basic studies before entering the business incubator, but usually students apply to the incubator after they have acquired basic knowledge and skills in business and entrepreneurship. Students can develop their business ideas early on during their studies, and participating in IdeaPitch competitions and mentoring programs helps prepare them for the incubator.
In practice, students often already have some entrepreneurship-focused studies and project experience before they can advance to a business incubator, but there are no exact requirements. Admission to the incubator depends more on the degree of development of the business idea and the student’s readiness to put the idea into practice than on completed credits.
Karelia University of Applied Sciences’ entrepreneurship path offers similar activities and opportunities for developing entrepreneurship and business ideas. Students have the opportunity to participate at any stage of their studies, e.g. to the popular Draft Program entrepreneurship program and Business Joensuu’s Start Me Up business idea competition. In addition, Karelia University of Applied Sciences students have many different opportunities to study with courses related to entrepreneurship and business idea development. Also with various projects, e.g. Being an entrepreneur as a profession aims to increase the opportunity for students to start a business. On the other hand, the activity of Karelia University of Applied Sciences staff in sideline entrepreneurship has also been increasing year by year. Karelia’s entrepreneurship path provides students with many opportunities to increase their own business skills and develop business ideas. After a year and a half of basic studies, Karelia University of Applied Sciences students have the opportunity to apply to Y-Academy. At Y-Academy, students learn about business through team entrepreneurship and practical projects. Students form Teams and establish cooperatives through which they work on real business projects. Team learning and dialogue are applied at Y-Academy. Studies are strongly based on practical work.
Joensuu and Mataró – not so different
Joensuu and Mataró are very different regions in many respects, starting with climate and economy, ending with lifestyle and culture. In Joensuu, forest nature and a peaceful lifestyle are emphasized, while in Mataró, urban entrepreneurship and the Mediterranean lifestyle are emphasized. Mataró is located close to Barcelona, making it part of a tightly connected metropolitan area. There are approximately 5.5 million inhabitants in the area of the province of Barcelona, which enables potential consumers and needs for various companies and new business ideas to the size of the population of Finland in a fairly small geographical area. According to our observation, Matarón Tecnocampus is like the services of Joensuu’s educational institutions and development companies under the same roof. To our delight, we discovered that Joensuu has the same framework as Mataró, but implemented in a slightly different way. Luckily for us, the operators from Joensuu have excellent cooperation and the willpower to develop our province even better. Both cities offer unique strengths in their respective areas, and both cities’ strong education sector supports sustainable development and innovation.
Sources:
TecnoCampus Mataró-Maresme. About TecnoCampus. [Online] Available at: https://www.tecnocampus.cat/en/the-campus
Rae, D. (2014). Opportunity Centred Entrepreneurship Learning: The Key to Enterprise Education. Journal of Entrepreneurship Education, 7(2), 135–150.
Gibb, A. A. (2010). Developing Students as Entrepreneurs. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 17(2), 145-164.
Partanen, J., & Hassinen, J. (2018). Pinkkuposti. Available at: https://tiimivalmentaja.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/arviointipassi_2018.pdf
Gallardo, A. (2024). TecnoCampus and international activities. Interview on 6th September 2024.
Monreal Galán, J. I. (2024). Tecnocampus business incubators and business areas. Interview on 6th September 2024.
Cover photo: Adobe Stock
Authors:
Olli Hatakka, Lecturer, Karelia University of Applied Sciences
Daniel Bågeberg, Lecturer, Karelia University of Applied Sciences