Page 30 - AC/E's Digital Culture Annual Report 2015

Cultural business models on the Internet30• Seed accelerators, collaborative envi- ronments that invest in business projects which have already been created by an entrepreneur and have initially validated their business model at an early results stage but need impetus to grow, such as Wayra,7 Lanzadera8 ...According to Carlos Blanco,9 a “seed accelerator” is based on mentorship and ends with a demo day where entrepreneurs deliver their sales pitch. Their main differences with respect to business incubators are that:– The application process is open and competitive.– Small sums of money are invested.– The focus is on small teams, not sole entrepreneurs.– There is a set duration (3, 6 or 12 months).– Training sessions take place during acceleration.• Seed Capital. During these initial stages of entrepreneurship, in addition to a collabora- tive environment, the entrepreneur requires funding. The initial capital is known as seed money and includes funds provided by the entrepreneur’s friends and family as wellas by the business angel, 10 who can be an individual or a group of them, normally with expertise in the entrepreneur’s own sector, or the investors of a business incubator or seed accelerator. Entrepreneurs can also opt for equity crowdfunding. 11• Crowdfunding. As part of the entrepreneur- ial ecosystem, this can raise funds through collaborative funding platforms such as Kickstarter,12 Verkami13 or Lánzanos.14There are 344 million homes willing to make minor investments in crowdfunding businesses. And 1.2 million projects were funded all over the world in 2013.• Venture capital. The second and successive phases of funding for successful startups are necessary to the development of talent, marketing, channels, markets, product,etc. During these phases funding can be obtained through venture capital funds,15 which own equity in innovative companies, though of a certain size (depending on the type of venture capital). There are private and public, national and international, bank-owned venture capital funds, such as cabiedes & partners SCR,16 Caixa Capital Risc,17 and Seed Capital de Bizkaia.18According to the report El Venture Capital en España 201319 (Venture capital in Spain 2013), total venture capital investment in Spain in 2013, including national and international venture capital entities operat- ing in this country, public funds owned by CDTI20 and Enisa,21 as well as groups of business angels, business accelerators and seed incubators, amounted to 291.3 million euros in a total of 1,275 operations:How to encourage entrepreneurship in the culture sector