Second edition of EAE LAB: "At Hupity, we connect the best professional teams with the needs of each company"
21 de September de 2018
21 de September de 2018
EAE Business School's business incubator has selected nine different projects for the second edition. EAE LAB provides the tools required for the School's current and former students to make their entrepreneurial business venture a reality. The initiative gives them access to physical workspaces and equipment, mentoring, guidance and coaching, as well as the opportunity to present their projects to potential investors.
Hupity is one of the projects selected for the second edition of EAE LAB. Hupity is an employability website that connects SMEs with in innovative professionals who can work together to create an open ecosystem in which companies have access to their own innovation area at no cost. The creators of the platform are José Luis Parra, Luis Vega and Michael Felipe Ayala, three former students of the Master in Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
What do you think of activities like EAE LAB in which the School helps and enhances the talent of its students most interested in business entrepreneurship?
It is an opportunity to incentivize the business mindset of the different professional that come to Spain in search of new horizons, hoping to enrich their professional experience, but also in search of new things to see and try, always with the aim of enhancing their experience. In my opinion, it is the perfect platform for getting the best out of a good connection, a job well done and the desire to do something different.
Has it been hard to get to this point? Have you received essential support for the development of Hupity from a lecturer or classmate?
I can't say it has been easy. It really has taken too much hard work. But when you really enjoy it, you don't notice and you eventually make your way along a path on which you only see the progress you have made when you stop and look back. Although there may only be a few of us actually on the team, it has involved the contribution of many people: our families, our partners, the great advice from our tutors and lecturers that enabled us to turn it around, learn and change quickly.
Did you have a project that was already developed or did you create one expressly for EAE LAB?
We had a project that we had developed to complete the Master's Thesis but, to be honest, we always had the plan that it was a project that we would like to move forward, something that could help us fulfil our purpose and do what we enjoy. Joining EAE LAB is an opportunity to keep learning and be able to have the space to continue developing our project. It gives us a great boost towards achieving the objective we have been working towards for so long.
What does the Hupity project entail?
Hupity is an online platform that will transform the innovation department of SMEs, where we connect the best professional teams depending in the needs of each company. It is a startup created by three fully committed people with different profiles, personalities and nationalities. There are two engineers, one from Colombia and the other from Peru, and a company administrator from Ecuador. Our goal is to generate opportunities for growth, always supporting not just an economy but also families, dreams and people. We know that a company is far more than just a name or an active economic agent. It is the dream of a group of people who fight every day to overcome the constant and challenging changes in the market, their competences and customer. We know that they have limitations and few people give them much thought. We want to become the opportunity that they have always been looking for.
In your opinion, why has Hupity been selected?
I think that we were chosen for our vision, the impact we could achieve and what we have done so far. We know that it is a problem that is not only seen here in Spain but rather it exists at a global level. Our target market is very attractive but there are lots of economic, financial and cultural barriers. This makes the project a great challenge and also a great opportunity to transform something that is already changing slowly.
EAE LAB accompanies the development of each entrepreneurial venture for six months. How do you expect Hupity to evolve with the support of this team of mentors and experts over the period?
We know the professionalism of the people that form part of EAE LAB and we know that we can rely on their support. We want to take full advantage of this opportunity to get our there and build our startup. This initial push that can be so hard and which, sometimes due to a lack of knowledge and experience, often throws up various future problems and present difficulties.