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MIT REAP Team Wales’ regional focus is on all of Wales with a special focus on the south of Wales. The team is championed by the Welsh Government and has strong representatives from all stakeholders, including University of West England, Catalyst Growth Partners, Swansea University, IQE, and local entrepreneurs.

Team Members

University
Government
Corporate
Risk Capital
Entrepreneur

Innovation Ecosystem Stakeholder Model

Simon Gibson
Champion
Chief Executive, Wesley Clover
Duncan Hamer
Champion
Deputy Director, Welsh Government
Dylan Jones-Evans
Professor of Entrepreneurship & Strategy, University of West England
Matt Collins
Entrepreneurship Engagement Manager, Welsh Government
Ashley Cooper
Founding Partner & Director, Catalyst Growth Partners
Hilary Lappin-Scott
PVC Research, Innovation & Strategic Development, Swansea University
Daniel Mines
Data Transformation Manager, Admiral Group
Sue Morgan
Head of Entrepreneurship Engagement, Welsh Government
Huw Morris
Group Director Skills, Higher Education & Lifelong Learning, Welsh Government
Drew Nelson
President & CEO, IQE plc
Susan Pattison
Entrepreneurship Engagement Delivery Officer, Welsh Government
James Taylor
CEO, SuperStars
Orla Thomas
Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Coordinator, Welsh Government

Team Strategy

  • Challenge & Opportunity
  • Strategy & Action
      • Region of focus: Wales, UK with a special focus on the south of Wales
      • Comparative advantage:
        • Strong economic sectors: energy, manufacturing, water and defense activities.
        • Strong research in areas of antimatter, numerical modelling of engineering structures and neuroscience.
      • Core Challenges:
        • Lack of a social entrepreneurial community and culture of entrepreneurship.
        • Lack of awareness of support structure for entrepreneurs.
        • Lack of public-private coordination on an economic development strategy that includes all stakeholders.
        • Talent drain to other parts of the UK
      • Stakeholder Insight:
        • Strong representatives from all stakeholders.
        • Both majority political parties from the region are supportive of the team’s plans (recent elections).
        • Entrepreneurial education in universities and earlier education is a priority of the local government.

Will be updated once the team graduates from the program.

      • REAP Strategy:
        • Began promoting publically the teams plans to support entrepreneurship in Wales.
        • Met with all major stakeholders and working to develop a vision that includes the top 10-20 most pressing challenges and opportunities for starting a business
      • Potential Strategic Intervention(s):
        • Targeting campaign focused on engaging and inspiring the core stakeholders and raising awareness
        • Create broader awareness of the resources available for startups through a digital platform as a referral point for entrepreneurs
        • Metrics:
          • GEM data around desire to start a business
          • Business registrations
          • Number of high growth businesses (bank data)
          • New patent registrations
          • Angel/ capital investments

Core Regional Metrics

Economic & Social Progress

Social progress and economic prosperity as a collective measure of development in a region.

Innovation-Driven Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

Innovation-Driven Entrepreneurial Ecosystems are regional environments that effectively support startups focused on addressing global markets based on technological, process or business model innovation.

Innovation Capacity

Ability to develop new to the world innovations from inception through to the market.

EXPAND ALL

Performance

Demand

-Nature of established companies in region

Policy

Coming soon!

People

Coming soon!

Funding

Coming soon!

Culture & Community

Coming soon!

Entrepreneurial Capacity

Ability to start and build new to the world businesses from inception to maturity.

EXPAND ALL

People

-Pool of innovators
-Education in tech and commercialization

Funding

-Funding for research
-Government programs

Policy

-Competition policy
-Intellectual property policy
-Technology transfer and collaboration policy

Demand

-Nature of established companies in region

Performance

Coming soon!

Culture & Community

Coming soon!

Team News

April 7, 2020

MIT REAP Team Wales Alumnus Open Letter To Welsh Government: Support Our Start-Ups at This Critical Time

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April 28, 2015

Wales selected for MIT’s prestigious entrepreneurship programme

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September 18, 2015

First class panel to work on MIT project aimed at giving Wales a competitive advantage

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November 10, 2016

How we can improve Wales’ economic position by drawing on some of the best entrepreneurial brains around the world

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December 19, 2016

Innovation and Entrepreneurship ARE a National Imperative for Wales

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October 14, 2016

Embedding innovation and entrepreneurship in Wales

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September 23, 2015

Champion panel appointed to work on MIT project to give Wales a competitive advantage

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June 18, 2014

Creating an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Wales

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July 6, 2017

Get this right and the Welsh economy will be in a much better place

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