1 SCALEUP PORTO MANIFESTO
PREAMBLE In the lst decde Europe hs been witnessing significnt overll chnge in the prdigm of entrepreneurship nd innovtion, reflected in the intensive prolifertion of strtup progrmmes nd other supporting frmeworks. These progrmmes nd projects relted to the strtup phse hve been developed very successfully so fr, but fledgling firms could not truly enter the wrp-zone of growth bsed only on the help of erly stge ccelertors or incubtors. After successfully chieving problem/ solution fit, vlidting business model nd entering the loop of funding rounds, strtups iming t moving towrds pth of sustinble growth will need completely new supporting pltform. With this new scenrio in plce, nd with hundreds of strtup compnies redy to grow ll over Europe, the chllenges re now relted to scling these compnies in sustinble wy. Severl metrics re used to define compnies in scle-up phse. And for the purpose of this mnifesto, we dopt, s strting point for the development of complete frmework, the following definition: Scle-ups re enterprises with verge nnulised growth in employees (or in turnover) greter thn 20 per cent yer over three-yer period, nd with 10 or more employees t the beginning of the observtion period. This is the sme definition used by the Orgnistion for Economic Co-opertion nd Development (OECD), Nest nd Endevor, mongst others. 2
In functioning, dynmic nd sustinble scle-up environment, successful entrepreneurs do not just develop their businesses. They lso shre their success s inspiring role models, their knowledge s mentors, experts or techers, nd their finncil gin s investors in the next genertion of entrepreneurs. This consolidtes virtuous cycle tht improves the ecosystem itself. Cities cn hve unique role fcilitting compnies growth nd the cretion of thriving innovtion ecosystem, impcting economic development nd job cretion. Therefore, iming t creting sustinble entrepreneuril ecosystem where cities cn work s true scle-up ctlysts, the ScleUp Porto Mnifesto comes together to: Stnd Strt Scle 1. Foster locl development by focusing on cities role s ggregtors in complex nd heterogeneous Europen network; 2. Support compnies redy to scle to chieve sustinble development nd growth in globl economy; 3. Involve citizens nd empower them to tke dvntge of the growing innovtion environment tht provides new highly qulified job opportunities. 3
MANIFESTO SCALE UP PORTO With these min gols in mind, the city of Porto reches out to ll the stkeholders - citizens, enterprises, public uthorities nd Europen prtners - to join this movement in brod ttempt of co-creting the most pproprite strtegies, s well s jointly implementing them in the yers to come. The ScleUp Porto Mnifesto contribution to the scle-up movement is bsed on the solid pillrs, commitments nd ctions described below: 4
COMMITMENTS 01 THE FOUNDATION: TRUST 02 ENABLING ACCESS TO TALENT 03 TRAINING AND KNOWLEDGE SHARE 04 FUNDING 05 GENERATING DATA 06 MEASURING AND LEARNING SELF ASSESSMENT & BENCHMARK 07 CONNECTING COMPANIES TO CUSTOMERS CITY AS A LIVING LAB 08 BUILDING NETWORKS NETWORK OF CITIES FOR SCALEUP 09 CONNECTING ALL THE PLAYERS CITY AS A CENTRAL HUB 5
01 THE FOUNDATION: TRUST Trust is t the foundtion of the ScleUp Porto Mnifesto vision. All the stkeholders re considered to hve unique role, contributing to innovtion inititives nd policies on relevnt nd peer bsis. 6
02 ENABLING ACCESS TO TALENT Universities nd polytechnic schools must work together in strong prtnership with reference industry prtners nd reserch institutions to crete highly skilled resources nd tlent. Cities need to be engged in the development of mesures to empower new job cretion, by blncing trining opportunities with the high qulity of life stndrds, where culturl ctivities cn ply n essentil role. 7
03 TRAINING AND KNOWLEDGE SHARE New effective lerning progrmmes must be creted for scle-ups, together with the locl stkeholders, iming t improving ledership nd mngement skills. Knowledge exchnge nd expert dvice must be fostered. 8
04 FUNDING As funding is criticl sset for compnies to scle, solid prtnerships must be developed in this field, both with venture cpitlists nd business ngels. It s relevnt to foster the cretion of strong network nd implement mesures tht fcilitte the ccess to investors nd funding. 9
05 GENERATING DATA The scle-up gp must be mitigted with the implementtion of system to trget, endorse, empower nd report mtters tht concern this subject. Dt must be relesed to mke it possible for ntionl nd interntionl stkeholders to identify, trget nd evlute their support to scle-up compnies. 10
06 MEASURING AND LEARN- ING SELF ASSESSMENT & BENCHMARK Reversing the scle-up gp will be effective if ll stkeholders re invited to prticipte nd engge in dedicted monitoring nd open self-ssessment process. The scle-up process must be monitored nd tsk force must be ppointed to continuously report bout the effectiveness of the strtegies. 11
07 CONNECTING COMPANIES TO CUSTOM- ERS THE CITY AS A LIVING LAB Cities working s living lbs cn support the linkge between compnies, customers nd dily life chllenges. The development of smrt procurement frmeworks, ligned with open public nd privte prtnerships, will foster the development of innovtive, demnd-oriented products nd services. 12
08 BUILDING NETWORK NETWORK OF CITIES FOR SCALE-UP In Europen single mrket, fr from being relity, cities working in networks will be unique growth ctlysts. By creting nd promoting the development of ntionl nd interntionl network of support for scle-up compnies, entrepreneurs will hve ccess to informtion bout their nd other environments, be ssisted in building reputtion nd credibility while incresing sles t home nd brod. 13
09 CONNECTING ALL THE PLAYERS THE CITY AS A CENTRAL HUB Exploring n ctive, prticiptive nd collbortive pproch will help scleups fulfill their potentil. Government, regionl nd locl uthorities, entrepreneurs, eductors, reserchers, investors, industry nd lrge corportions, cn crete the conditions to support scle-up compnies by working together. 14
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WHY PORTO? 17
As one of the mjor urbn res in Southern Europe, Porto stnds out s city with strong potentil to become ntionl nd interntionl reference in the domins of innovtion nd entrepreneurship. With more thn one hundred yers of existence, the University of Porto is n importnt centre of reserch nd scientific production. The connection between this knowledge, strong entrepreneuril community, privte nd public prtners nd the support of the Municiplity, mkes the city vibrnt nd competitive hub. Porto hs designed nd embrced policy strtegy imed t pplying mesures for the implementtion of Smrt City principles. Citizen s centred sustinbility, energy efficiency, R&D nd economic growth re the min res of interest of the city, which strted different progrmmes nd projects in those res. The implementtion of this innovtive strtegy dopted n interdisciplinry pproch in which the city s well-known strengths re ligned with the excellence of the work developed by the cdemi. With the support of reference industry prtners, the developed strtegy ws ble to contribute to the cretion of hundreds of qulified jobs nd to trnsform the city into plce where people, especilly young entrepreneurs, re inspired by new risk culture nd integrted into new multiculturl nd interntionl ecosystem. As cler result of this strtegy, Porto is now ttrcting more people to the city, creting new jobs, developing solutions required by citizens, reducing socil exclusion, nd incresing the city security. 18
Porto ims t working s true fcilittor of innovtion, where the city becomes living lb where citizens chllenge compnies, entrepreneurs nd reserchers, nd work together to solve rel problems with direct impct on the city life, with strong differentition nd cpcity of repliction. Porto is ttching specil importnce to mesures, t city scle, to strengthen locl innovtion ecosystems nd to network them t locl, regionl, ntionl nd interntionl levels. Synergies nd the reduction of frgmenttion will help the city to become tech, innovtive nd cretive entrepreneuril spce. The scle-up phse deserves prticulr ttention in this context. The ScleUp Porto Mnifesto is lunched s the first step of coordinted ScleUp Porto progrmme tht s included in broder municipl strtegy for innovtion nd competitiveness, to foster employment, the economic development, interntionlistion nd the well-being of citizens. ScleUp Porto differentites itself by its scle-up nture. Compnies which need this kind of support cn hve in Porto nturl choice. The city of Porto is inititing through this Mnifesto n importnt commitment for the implementtion of scle-up progrmme tht cn be reflected ll cross Europe. 19
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