About
Culturepreneurs provided new development opportunities for entrepreneurs in the cultural and creative industries, managing their own businesses or projects and accessing and adopting new technologies in the creative processes.
The initiative was tested by the Cluj Cultural Centre in previous years, as part of the Academy of Change programme, and in April 2020, it was launched as a Cluj Future of Work activity, aimed at supporting beginner or advanced entrepreneurs in the cultural and creative sectors who are open to technology and entrepreneurship and are interested in developing sustainable projects.
How it worked
A theoretical framework helped participants enrich their knowledge of Business Essentials and reach out to specialists for advice and mentorship
69 participants were accepted into the first phase of the project, in the 20/21 edition, where they worked on their projects during six various online modules
An open call was launched, addressing emerging entrepreneurs based in Romania, who work in the cultural and creative industries
At the end of the first phase, a pitching session ended with 51 of the participants receiving 1200 Euros each for implementing their ideas
A practical phase followed, in order to guide the participants through different stages of outlining, testing, and materializing their ideas
Five finalists were selected to be included in the ZAIN Accelerator programme for international marketing and networking opportunities
Modules
The six theoretical modules within the programme were meant to explore different facets of developing a creative program, from an entrepreneurial point of view. Participants had the opportunity to learn more about:
Systems thinking and Open innovation
Management and Strategy
Financial management
Marketing and communications
Innovative audiovisual content
The theoretical modules were followed by three practical courses that offered participants a more tangible view of their ideas:
Artistic thinking – coordinated by the University of Arts and Design Cluj-Napoca
Digitalization – coordinated by Transylvania IT Cluster
Product design – Transylvanian Furniture Cluster
Testimonials
See all testimonials
Transfer
In 2022, a new edition of Culturepreneurs was launched with the purpose of facilitating its transfer within the Municipality of Cluj-Napoca and the team of CREIC – Regional Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries.
Implemented between August-October 2022, this comprised version of the programme was only focused on the learning aspects, with no financial support offered to the participants. Participation in the programme was free-of-charge. More results are to be made public soon.
