About
Business and Technology University established the Center for Entrepreneurship in partnership with world’s leading Henley Center for Entrepreneurship. The center’s main goal is to make a sizable contribution to the development and internationalization of the Georgian entrepreneurship ecosystem. The center aims to do so by continuously conducting research in the field, initiating discussion among key actors in the ecosystem about the necessary improvements to legal frameworks, suggesting innovative solutions, projects etc. The establishment of the Center for Entrepreneurship is an important step in the development of Georgia's entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Business
and Technology University established the Center for
Entrepreneurship in partnership with world’s leading Henley Center
for Entrepreneurship. The center’s main goal is to make a sizable
contribution to the development and internationalization of the
Georgian entrepreneurship ecosystem. The center aims to do so by
continuously conducting research in the field, initiating
discussion among key actors in the ecosystem about the necessary
improvements to legal frameworks, suggesting innovative solutions,
projects etc. The establishment of the Center for Entrepreneurship
is an important step in the development of Georgia's
entrepreneurial ecosystem.
BTU is the first Georgian university to become the member of MIT’s innovative startup network
For the first time in the region, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and its Martin Trust Center granted membership to the Georgian Business and Technology University.
The Martin Trust Center’s mission is to advance knowledge and educate its beneficiaries in innovation-driven entrepreneurship in a manner that will best serve the world in the 21st century. The MIT and the Martin Trust Center alumni have created thousands of companies, millions of jobs and generate almost $2 trillion annual revenues which is greater than the GDP of the world's 10th largest economy. Becoming a member of the Trust Center of this scale is a huge step for Georgia’s startup ecosystem and creates numerous exciting opportunities for all stakeholders. Within the framework of this membership, local startups, MSMEs, investors or other organizations will have access to:
- The Martin Trust Center’s international network of entrepreneurs, researchers, innovators and academia
- Different events and conferences organized by the center
- Cutting edge research and literature
- Webinars and workshops with one of the Center’s Entrepreneurs in Residence
- Disciplined Entrepreneurship online module
As part of the membership, BTU will have access to MIT’s yearly accelerator DELTA V demo day in New York, Cambridge and Silicon Valley as well as to entrepreneurship symposiums and conferences that are held each year to summarize the center’s achievements and set future goals.
Partners of the
Center:
- MIT Martin Trust Center
- Israeli Silicon Wadi
Teaching Entrepreneurship at BTU
All students at Business and Technology University start their academic career by learning the fundamentals of entrepreneurship. Specific courses are designed in a way that encourages students to create their own startups, pitch them on yearly demo days and participate in the incubation process. The aim of these courses is to give students basic knowledge about entrepreneurship, teach them the tools for ideation, business model creation etc. to ensure that they’re fully informed about all the steps necessary to launch a successful startup.
The entrepreneurship course was created in partnership with Henley Business School. This allows students to have access to top class international resources.
Practical Business Project
For graduating students, BTU has introduced a
specially designed course - “Practical Business Project”. The
objective of this course is to transfer all the theoretical
knowledge students have received into practice, encouraging them to
acquire new practical skills. In the context of this project,
students choose an industry according to their interests and
prepare a real business plan for a company in the given industry.
Throughout the course, students will attend workshops in modules
such as: business model generation, marketing, research, financial
modeling, fundraising, pitch deck creation etc. Students will also
have access to mentors from BTU’s partner organizations.
Lecturers of our Entrepreneurship Courses:
- Tea Mkheidze
- Giorgi Khatiashvili
- Mako Kavtaradze
- Ketevan Ebanoidze
- Elene Zhvania
- Lia Gubashvili
- Tornike Jobava
- Zurab Pertaia
Activities and Services of Entrepreneurship Center
The BTU Center for Entrepreneurship offers free
programs to startups throughout Georgia. Startup bootcamps,
training, workshops, hackathons, regional research, access to
finance opportunities represent only a few of the center’s
activities. The center implements these programs for different
organizations as well. Our potential partners can contact us and
request detailed info about the possible services the center can
offer them. The service of organizing pre-accelerators, hackathons,
training series etc. is offered individually, depending on the
needs and priorities of the client/project. Ideation, business
model generation, drafting a business plan, how to obtain
financing, investors relations - these are some of the themes
covered in custom training series organized in collaboration with
partners.
Outline of a draft program version
Program duration: min. 3 days max. 3 weeks
Lectures: 3 sessions per week, 2 hours each.
Mentors: 2-3 mentors, depending on the program specifics
- Design thinking and ideation
- Startup action plan
- Market research and customer segmentation
- Customer analysis: in-depth interviews, customer persons, validation instruments
- Market entry strategies
- Marketing and advertising
- Financial roadmap and analytics
- Access to finance and investor relations
- Powerful pitching
- Demo Day
Additional activities: individual mentoring opportunities, invited speakers, workshops on specific subjects.
Cost of the service: negotiated individually with partners.
For additional information please contact us at: cfe@btu.edu.ge
Online Business Clinic
BTU Center for Entrepreneurship established the online business clinic in partnership with Henley Business School. The main purpose of the clinic is to support the Georgian Entrepreneurship ecosystem by offering different webinars and individual consultations to startups and aspiring entrepreneurs. All these activities and offerings are free for the beneficiaries of the clinic. Topics within the clinic include: how to write a business plan, strategic planning tools, digital transformation, marketing and communication, internationalization, access to finance, and others.
First two webinars opening the clinic are: “how to write a business plan” and “how to get government funding for my startup”. These series of webinars are dedicated to supporting those startups who are just starting out and want to prepare themselves better for applying for local grants or want to request funding from financial institutions.
Mentors of the business clinic include academic personnel of BTU as well as representatives of our partners, who are leaders in their fields and major players in the ecosystem.
In order to register for online business clinic activities, please visit the registration form or contact us at: cfe@btu.edu.ge
Student Entrepreneur Status
Student Entrepreneur Status is an initiative by BTU designed to encourage and enable students to launch startups in the Center for Entrepreneurship and take advantage of various benefits. The project will be held every coming year.
As a result of the first round of the project, three start-ups were chosen as winners of the status and will be able to receive rewards such as: coworking/office space, mentoring, financial and legal support, marketing support, scholarship, etc.
Disciplined Entrepreneurship: 24 Steps to a Successful Startup
World’s best seller Disciplined Entrepreneurship: 24 Steps to a Successful Startup, often regarded as one of the best books in entrepreneurship by startups, mentors and universities, will be published in Georgian.
The translation and publication of the book is part of
BTU’s and MIT’s ongoing partnership. MIT Global Startup Lab was
first entered the BTU premises in January 2020 and hosted the first
accelerator program. This was a huge step for the Georgian
Entrepreneurial Ecosystem. In the context of the this partnership,
the agreement was reached to translate the book by Bill Aulet - the
head of the MIT’s Center for Entrepreneurship.
Online Business Clinic
BTU Center for Entrepreneurship established the online business clinic in partnership with Henley Business School. The main purpose of the clinic is to support the Georgian Entrepreneurship ecosystem by offering different webinars and individual consultations to startups and aspiring entrepreneurs. All these activities and offerings are free for the beneficiaries of the clinic. Topics within the clinic include: how to write a business plan, strategic planning tools, digital transformation, marketing and communication, internationalization, access to finance and others.
First two webinars opening the clinic are: “how to write a business plan” and “how to get government funding for my startup”. These series of webinars are dedicated to supporting those startups who are just starting out and want to prepare themselves better for applying for local grants or want to request funding from financial institutions.
Mentors of the business clinic include academic personnel of BTU as well as representatives of our partners, who are leaders in their fields and major players in the ecosystem.
In order to register for online business clinic activities, please visit the registration form or contact us at: cfe@btu.edu.ge