The platform for VentureGarden has opened in Athens, as announced by the Alba Graduate Business School The American College of Greece, The American College of Greece. The idea accelerator provided free of charge by Alba Graduate Business School, The American College of Greece. The project is implemented by the Alba Hub for Entrepreneurship and Development (AHEAD), Alba's entrepreneurship centre. This year the program celebrates 16 years in Greece.

Those interested in the new cycle of VentureGarden Athens are invited to fill in their application by September 13, 2021, when the application process will be completed. The number of places is limited and an evaluation process will follow for the selection of candidates.

Free participation in the program is ensured by its supporters. The founding national donor is The Hellenic Initiative, while VentureGarden Athens is supported locally by Logstail.

The competition VentureGarden

VentureGarden emphasizes the person rather than the idea, as the idea and the business environment are constantly changing. Participants are encouraged to learn to use tools, which can be applied to any idea they are inspired by. Program participants who directly want to implement their idea can, based on the preparation they have done at VentureGarden, join incubators, seek funding or seek support from other actors in the ecosystem.

VentureGarden starts with an intensive training to develop business ideas lasting 5 weeks. The launch is expected to begin October 4.

After completing the training, participants are selected to continue with 3 months of mentoring.

Since the launch of the program in February 2014, more than 1,422 applications have been submitted for VentureGarden Athens, of which 381 were selected to attend the previous cycles of the program in Athens. During the 15 cycles that have been implemented, participants attended a total of 438 hours of lessons. 130 lecturers and mentors have provided participants with support, enabling them to turn their entrepreneurial creativity into tangible results. To date, more than 1,820 hours of supportive guidance have been offered to VentureGarden participants.

The programme is implemented in Greek. It will be implemented electronically with limited physical presence in the premises of Alba Graduate Business School if conditions permit. For the best possible participant experience, modern and asynchronous training and collaboration tools will be used.