Smart People

Lending Club is the world’s largest online credit marketplace, facilitating personal loans, business loans, and financing for elective medical procedures. Borrowers access lower interest rate loans through a fast and easy online or mobile interface. Investors provide the capital to enable many of the loans in exchange for earning interest. They operate fully online with no branch infrastructure, and use technology to lower cost and deliver an amazing experience. They pass the cost savings to borrowers in the form of lower rates and investors in the form of attractive returns.

Giraffe Street Lamp is a very cute self-sustaining swing design that provides illumination at night. It harnesses kinetic energy each time you swing and as a double back up, utilizes the solar panel hood to soak some more energy goodness. It’s a very clever design that interweaves play and eco sense into the urban environment. Something that our future generation may as well get used to!

M-PESA, a mobile phone-based system for person-to-person payments and money transfers. M-PESA – M stands for mobile phone, and PESA is a Swahili word for money. We in the developed world take money transfer for granted, as is usually a very simple transaction, using an easily accessible service. But in a country like Kenya, where financial services are so heavily under-developed, it is very difficult, risky and expensive to send or receive money.

Startupbootcamp is a global family of accelerators that focus on connecting startups with the most relevant and impactful connections in their industry. Each year Startupbootcamp runs industry-focused programs in more countries than any other accelerator in the world. All programs are located in global innovation hubs where startups spend 3 months meeting the top mentors, investors and partners in their industry from over 30 countries.

The European Network of Living Labs (ENoLL) is the international federation of benchmarked Living Labs in Europe and worldwide. Founded in November 2006 under the auspices of the Finnish European Presidency, the network has grown in ‘waves’ up to this day. ENoLL counts today over 170 active Living Labs members worldwide (395 historically recognised over 9 years), including active members in 20 of the 28 EU Member States, 2 of the candidates and it is present in 5 continents in addition to Europe.

This is a support fund for micro, small and medium enterprises, which generally aims to promote economic development through the provision of temporary support to projects that favour the creation, development, consolidation, viability, productivity, competitiveness and sustainability of micro, small and medium enterprises and to enterprising initiatives, as well as to those that promote productive investments that will generate more and better jobs, more and better micro, small and medium enterprises, andmore and better entrepreneurs.

Citadel on the Move is a European Commission funded (CIP PSP) project which aims to make it easier for citizens and application developers from across Europe to use Open Data to create the type of innovative mobile applications they want and need.

In collaboration with the SME Administration of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, has provided SMEs with a series of guidance programs on e‐services based on their requirements and electronic workflow. Projects include Bridging Industry Digital Divide, Industryspecific e‐Commerce Business Operation Project, SME e‐Services Corps Project, SME e‐Learning Project (SME Online University), SME Knowledge Management Promotion Project. Other services are consulting for start‐ups, HR training, financing, marketing and promotion services.

Urban-Knowledge is an open platform dedicated to compile an innovative and effective system of methods and techniques for urban expertise through a knowledge platform. The Urban-Knowledge platform wants to strengthen the expertise of the urban professionals and facilitate their learning and development paths by increasing their understanding skills on the applications of existing and innovative urban analysis methods.

In the city of Barcelona, the creation of new companies is channelled through Barcelona Activa, Bacelona's Local Development Agency. Since its inception in 1986, almost 7,000 companies have been established. The programmes developed and dedicated to entrepreneurship are: Programme "Entrepreneurship with Barcelona Activa is easy". On a daily basis, and through collective briefings, different options and resources are introduced that enable entrepreneurs to set up their businesses. Resource Centre for Entrepreneurs.