Creative Business Academy

Sector: Culture and creative industries
Type: Programme
Location: Online
Deadline: Finished
Organiser: House of Europe

This is an intense online training aimed at structuring the work of your creative business and turning it into a profitable successful company. Participation is free of charge due to the support of the EU. 

The training will touch upon the effective business modelling, protecting your inventions from plagiarism, pitching to investors and persuading them to back your enterprise, outperforming the competitors on the local market and performing well on the global one. To prepare you for the future, we will mention some of the trends. To save you from the potential mistakes, we will study real cases. 

We will invite the best participants to partake in the national competition for creative start-ups Creative Business Cup Ukraine. The winning business will compete for the title of the best start-up of the year and the money prize at BRIGHT. Creative Business Cup. 

To find out more about what you will learn in the online training, please check the PDF document with the programme. 

What do I get?
  • Help with the most pressing issues the creative business is facing: how to receive stable profit, sell your products on the global market, set up an effective work of your company, protect your inventions from plagiarism, get investments, and promote your enterprise. 
  • Nine lectures from experts from the EU that established successful international businesses and are ready to share the know-how.
  • One-on-one consultations with experts from the EU that understand the challenges of your business. 
  • One month access to PESA Virtual Academy platform, where you can find more than 50 hours of video lectures with subtitles, articles and hands-on tasks. 
  • The opportunity to participate in BRIGHT. Creative Business Cup. The best participants will join the national competition Creative Business Cup Ukraine, while the winner will represent Ukraine at the international competition at our expense.
Who are the lecturers?
The training features more than 15 experts from 11 countries. Here are some of them:
  • Markko Karu (Estonia) — has more than 25 years of professional experience in the sphere of creative industries. Shares his time between designing digital services, being a co-founder of a few start-up companies, and consulting organisations on branding, packaging, and communication issues.
  • Christina Wainikka (Sweden) — CEO of Wainikkas Innovationsbyrå, an innovation agency specialising in intellectual property rights. She is a Doctor of Law and has an MBA in Leading Innovation. 
  • Toomas Roolaid (Estonia) — has over 16 years of experience in consulting and facilitation. He has a toolbox of practical tools for all situations, where keeping the competitive advantage depends on the ability to learn complex things fast. Toomas consults a lot of Ukrainian businesses and speaks Russian. 
  • Amy Cosper (USA) — former vice president and editor-in-chief of Entrepreneur Media Inc. She knows how to find the words to present your product to clients and potential investors. 
  • Erich Giordano (Italy) — manages business development and sales in Nextatlas, AI company that is re-shaping the trend forecasting and market research industries.
  • Jelena Zovnikova (Estonia) — has more than 15 years of experience in consulting businesses on strategies, business models and financial outlook. Her clients range from big company groups to starting entrepreneurial teams.
Does my business fit into the creative category?

Here are some of the spheres that we consider creative: 

  • Architecture
  • Design
  • Fashion
  • Visual arts
  • Crafts
  • Photography
  • Music
  • Performing arts
  • Film
  • Publishing 
  • Literature
  • Media 
  • TV 
  • Radio 
  • Advertising
  • Marketing
  • IT 
  • Game development
  • Creative hubs
  • Festivals
  • Museums and galleries
  • Other

Start-ups that work at the intersection of sectors and produce creative products can also apply. If you are not sure whether you are eligible, contact yulia.filipieva@houseofeurope.org.ua.

What do I need to apply?
  • Your own product or prototype
  • At least one year of working on your own creative business
  • Good knowledge of English: you should be able to understand the lectures and participate in discussions
  • Film a short video in English about your business and the motivation to participate in the training. We do not mind the image quality or creativity — you can shoot a video with your smartphone. 
How do I apply?
Read the information on the call carefully and apply via our online platform. The language of the application is English.
Good to know
  • You shall attend all online sessions — approximately 36 hours in the period from 19 October to 6 November 2021. 
  • There will be hands-on homework and the opportunity to discuss the exercises with the experts. 
  • Our in-house experts will evaluate the applications according to these selection criteria:
- Does the applicant’s business belong to creative industries? 
- Does the applicant have the working prototype or minimum viable product released already?
- Does the applicant demonstrate the motivation to develop their business locally and internationally?
- Does the applicant demonstrate the motivation to receive a consultation by international experts?

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