The 'Talento Gran Canaria' network marks its 2nd anniversary reaching 1.000 members

The 'Talento Gran Canaria' network marks its 2ndanniversary this Summer celebrating the fact that it already has 1.000 members.

The network was started by the Corporation for the Economic Development of Gran Canaria (SPEGC) in the Summer of 2016 to bring together professionals from Gran Canaria who work across all continents, and for this purpose it created a professional group on LinkedIn which is the way they stay connected.

Two years after its creation, the network includes professionals who work mainly in Europe (89%) and to a lesser extent in America (8%), Asia (1.6%), Africa (1.1%) and Oceania (0.3%). Most have been abroad for over 5 years and, although many are not even thinking of returning, many others have considered the possibility of returning to their native island, provided they are able to have similar professional opportunities to those they currently have outside Gran Canaria. For this reason, the SPEGC is creating a support programme for those 'Talents' who wish to return to the island, in respect of which we will soon be announcing new developments.

Although these professionals work in numerous and very varied areas, the industries with the greatest representation on the network are services, information technology, education, strategies and operations consultancy, telecommunications, marketing and advertising. The vast majority of them hold degrees and masters, although many members also hold doctorates.

As well as the LinkedIn group, 'Talento Gran Canaria' also has a blog where it publishes news about the many initiatives and projects in which our 'Talents' are involved and also interesting stories about projects that are being developed in Gran Canaria.

To celebrate our first 1,000 members on the network we have made this video. We hope you like it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4NfuecVTBc&frags=pl%2Cwn


Gran Canaria will have the world's first High-Tech Marine Incubator boosted by the 1.6 million Euro backing of the Cabildo and Incyde

Gran Canaria will have the world's first High-Tech Marine Incubator and the only one aimed specifically at the blue economy, out of the 12 incubators for different areas in Europe. The director of the Incyde Foundation, Javier Collado, confirmed this to the president of the Gran Canaria Island Council, Antonio Morales, on signing the agreement that will make it possible to hold this infrastructure in 2020 that will position Gran Canaria "on the world map for blue biotechnology".

Raúl García Brink, who heads the Corporation for the Economic Development of Gran Canaria, SPEGC, explained that there will be an investment of 1.6 million Euros:in addition to almost 500,000 Euros from the Cabildo, Incyde (the Chamber Institute for the Creation and Development of Business) will provide 1.1 million Euros and its director congratulated the Cabildofor the quality of the project it presented which achieved the financing.

The High-Tech Marine Incubator, promoted by the Economic Development of Gran Canaria, will be located within the Experimental Area of Arinaga which will cover a surface area in excess of 70,000 m2and, benefiting from a 4.1 million Euro investment (including the 1.6 million for the Incubator), will have a capacity to house 20 businesses and create 60 direct jobs. The object is for the technology to be transferable to any business anywhere in the world. In addition, once those that set up business in the incubator become consolidated, they can move to a different space in the Area.

“This incubator does not belong to the Canary Islands, it belongs to Europe and is open to all of Europe", highlighted Mr Collado who, stressing the importance of the centre there will be in Gran Canaria, pointed out that Incyde represents over 80 Chambers of Commerce in Spain and helps SMEs with large projects funded by the EU.

The most advance technology, in Gran Canaria

Building this High-Tech Incubator will allow SMEs to access the most advanced technology developed the world over in the field of blue economy, "to incorporate it into their daily work, grow and create jobs", explained Javier Collado, as the idea is that high-tech "is not only for large businesses".

The president stressed that the Cabildois working to convert Gran Canaria into a world centre of reference in the blue technology sphere, and so an initiative was launched, Bioasis, (Blue Biotechnology and Aquaculture Platform) to which must be added the work carried out by research centres such as the Canary Islands Technology Institute or Ecoaqua, within the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, and that done by the Spanish Algae Bank located in Taliarte, Gran Canaria, as combining efforts is key in the work to achieve this objective.

 


ICEX-Invest in Spain opens the third edition of Rising Startup Spain

ICEX-Invest in Spain opens the period for applications to participate in the latest Rising Startup Spain, a programme aimed at entrepreneurs in Spain who have a minimum 10% foreign participation.

Through this programme, ICEX-Invest in Spain seeks to promote innovative projects developed by foreign nationals or non-resident Spanish nationals who are going to set up a business in Spain or have done so in the last year.

Rising Startup Spain is the first official programme designed to help attract international talent and innovative business models that will contribute to enriching the fabric of Spanish business while also positioning Spain as one of the main centres in Europe for technology and innovation.

In the third edition that has just been opened, the services offered by the programme are: speeding up the process for obtaining a visa, free work space in Madrid or Barcelona, personal advice tailored to the needs of the project, a €10,000 grant per business, visibility in specialised media to advertise the business in Spain, attendance at events held in Spain and meetings with Spanish multinationals.

The deadline for entrepreneurs who wish to enter their applications for this third edition is 4thAugust 2018.

Further information and registration.