INSIDER INSIGHTS
PANEL PARTICIPANTS
What makes a business school incubator or accelerator genuinely impactful today, beyond providing desk space and basic networking? Sherif Kamel: “Desk space is a commodity and unstructured networking is often just socialising. Demo days matter, but they are not enough. Since its establishment, the school’s Venture Lab (V-Lab) has held 27 demo days, but the focus has always been on building a community. “What moves ventures forward is access that changes outcomes: mentors who challenge assumptions, customers willing to provide feedback, investors who understand the local context and peers facing similar challenges. In Egypt, where family businesses, informal markets and a growing venture ecosystem coexist, effective incubators must connect entrepreneurs with established business networks and regulatory realities. “Scaled, sustained impact comes down to three things: the first is structured mentorship. As a certified member of MIT’s Venture Mentoring Service, CEI has delivered more than 2,000 mentoring hours since 2023. Second, incentives should align with entrepreneurs’ interests. The V-Lab takes zero equity in participating start-ups and, by 2026, had graduated 411 ventures, helped raise £280 million and contributed to the creation of more than 12,000 jobs. “The third is inclusion. Through initiatives such as Rabeha and Digitelles Misr – in collaboration with UN Women and Capgemini – CEI has trained and supported female entrepreneurs with business, AI and digital skills, while promoting ethical leadership and responsible decision-making.” Jason Evans: “Impact comes from creating meaningful interactions and providing the right support at different stages of the entrepreneurial journey. That’s something we increasingly demonstrate at Aston. Programmes such as Apollo allow students to test and develop early ideas, while the Birmingham Skills for Enterprise and Employability Network provides more intensive support, mentoring and a community for students and recent graduates to launch businesses. “At the other end of that journey, Aston works directly with SMEs and scaleups through its business growth programmes. Importantly, this connects with the wider university rather than entrepreneurship sitting solely within the business school. That’s where a university can offer something distinctive: bringing together research, entrepreneurs, investors and industry expertise to create purposeful connections. It moves from a simple physical space to an ecosystem capable of supporting an idea through to commercialisation and growth. “My research focuses on entrepreneurial intention, so neither would I measure impact purely through quantitative outcomes. Developing the confidence and capability to pursue an idea can itself be a valuable outcome.” Maija Renko: “In our Founder School’s Sprint programme, we emphasise learning to work in teams of high achievers from very different backgrounds. Entrepreneurship is rarely an individual endeavour and learning to make those differences productive is
Jason Evans Senior lecturer, international business & entrepreneurship Aston Business School
Sherif Kamel Dean, Onsi Sawiris School of Business, The American University in Cairo
María del Pilar Lopez Gonzalez International liaison lead ITESO
Maija Renko Professor of entrepreneurship Aalto University School of Business
Ambition • ISSUE 5 • 2026 23
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