Bringing students and business together: this is the main goal of CONNECT, an entrepreneurship event organised by AEIST and JUNITEC, whose 1st edition took place from 29th to 31st March. Students interested in entrepreneurship had the opportunity to attend training sessions and learn from various entrepreneurs and professionals, and also to receive feedback from startup incubators or company representatives.

According to Mariana Candeias, Employment and Entrepreneurship Coordinator at AEIST and one of the coordinators of the event , “AEIST had in mind to create an entrepreneurship event for quite some time. JUNITEC has shown the same will, so we decided to organise the event together”, explains the student. “Interest in entrepreneurship has grown exponentially. In Portugal, an increasing number of students want to start their own business”, she stresses.

The second day of the event, March 30, focused on two inspiring and motivating entrepreneurship activities.

The participants had the opportunity to get in touch with the founders of some startups created at Técnico – Just a Change, PLUX, Alfredo, CycleAI, Futah or Sound Particles – at the Pitch Perfect event.

The “Empower Your Project” activity was mainly addressed to students who presented their ideas or projects to a judge panel composed of people from Portugal’s top startup incubators.

According to Mariana Candeias, the feedback has been great and the various activities have been captivated the students’ attention. This success and the growing interest in entrepreneurship suggest the existence of more editions. “We want to continue developing and improving this initiative”.