A Study on Entrepreneurship at the University of Valencia

In the last few decades, there has been growing interest in the so-called third mission of universities, one of which, the question of entrepreneurship, will be highlighted in this paper. Hence, universities have been configured as institutions to proactively motivate there alumnae, and there, students will find an ideal environment in which to familiarize themselves with the skills and expertise that entrepreneurs require. Furthermore, universities provide advisory services as well as technical support, which are essential elements of sowing the seed of business start-ups. This chapter sets out, from a qualitative perspective, the policies, strategies and actions undertaken by the University of Valencia to encourage university entrepreneurship. It also includes the outcomes from the past year. We based our approach on the Comprehensive Model for University Entrepreneurship Encouragement, proposed by, with which we were able to describe the entire entrepreneurial process carried out by the University of Valencia in a logical order. This chapter contributes to existing literature by adding to the repertoire of papers to outline the entrepreneurial experiences of other universities. At the same time, it provides a guide for other academic institutions whose procedures are still in the early stages of design and implementation.