Ottawa, ON (Thursday, December 6, 2012) – Early into the two-day Startup Nations Summit in Ottawa last week, a message became clear: A new entrepreneurial generation is emerging in a world of diminishing national boundaries.
Leaders from 9 international entrepreneurship campaigns gathered for the Summit on Nov 29 – 30 to share best practices, exchange knowledge, and develop collaborative approaches to advancing entrepreneurship locally, regionally, and globally. Hosted by Startup Canada, the Summit participants included representatives from entrepreneurship campaigns in Britain, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, Portugal, Spain, Lithuania and the United States.
“The world is a smaller place and the global entrepreneurship community is mobilizing in new collaborative and innovative ways – we saw that at the Summit when we had experts using Skype to join our panels from multiple locations overseas,” said Rivers Corbett, Chair of the 2012 Startup Nations Summit and an Advisor to Startup Canada. “In Canada, Startup Canada’s launch of its Startup Blueprints last week was perfect timing to show the world that our startup community is ready to step up to the plate to create change within our national ecosystem to put Canada on the map as a thriving startup nation.”
Keyonte speaker Jonathan Ortmans, President of Global Entrepreneurship Week and Senior Fellow at the Kauffman Foundation, commented on the need for increased support worldwide for entrepreneurs.
“GEW Global is proud of our partnership with Startup Canada and the other grassroots efforts around the world that strengthen public support for startups,” said Ortmans. “The world needs more entrepreneurs and we all must work together to encourage more citizens to unleash their ideas.”
The two days of panel discussions, breakout groups, and learning sessions were housed at Microsoft Canada offices, with an evening reception hosted at local Ottawa startup Shopify and sponsored by Intuit Canada.
“Startup Nations is a fantastic model for how industry, government, and the not-for-profit sector can work together to foster start-up success – both here at home and around the world,” said Jeff Cates, managing director of Intuit Canada. “At Intuit, we work every day to give entrepreneurs the tools and resources they need to build businesses, create jobs, and contribute to a growing economy. The Startup Nations Summit enabled us to connect, share, and partner with other organizations so that we can work together towards our shared objectives.”
Plans have already begun for the 2013 Startup Nations Summit.
“Startup Malaysia is delighted to gather the lead organizers of Startup Nation programs worldwide in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2013,” saidRebecca Hwang from Startup Malaysia. “We are looking forward to productive discussions, collaboration opportunities and to making new life long friends.”
For more information on the Startup Nations Summit, please visitwww.startupnations.org.
Sponsors of the 2012 Summit included the United States Embassy, Intuit Canada, UK Trade & Investment, Invest Ottawa, Shopify, the British High Commission, Microsoft BizSpark, Ernst & Young, Gowlings, and the International Startup Festival.
Click here to see photos on Facebook for the daytime and eveningprogrammes.
