Universidad Carlos III de Madrid brings students together with startup business owners, creating mutually beneficial collaborations
IN FOCUS: UNIVERSIDAD CARLOS III DE MADRID Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) emphasises the value it finds in partnering MBA students with entrepreneurs on real-world projects that yield learning on both sides
worked with MBA students twice when we were first starting out. They really helped us formulate the business plan, have a commercial strategy and get all the things that you need to have in place when you start a business because we didn’t really know much about that,” reveals Jardines. He also emphasises that the relationship between students and startups is by no means one-sided, with both parties enjoying tangible benefits. He explains: “Through having the chance to work with us, I believe the students were able to realise that it is possible to start a company in their position and get funding to develop a product, so I think it was a positive experience for us all. In fact, one of the students is now working with us, which is a nice story.”
“What we do is collaborate with them and our students make business plans for them. We have people who come from as many as 25 different nationalities and seeing the plans come together is a beautiful experience.”
A recent episode of the Leading the Future docuseries filmed in the Spanish capital highlights how the UC3M MBA seeks to provide students with a transformative experience, while also
supporting new businesses. MBA programme supervisor
Julie Vinnai begins by outlining how the school connects real-world business owners with students in mutually beneficial partnerships. “What sets us apart is that our real‑world business plans are done in collaboration with the UC3M Science Park, an innovation hub where inventors may have created different products and launched different businesses, but they’re not necessarily business people,” comments Vinnai.
SUPPORTING STARTUPS One example of this approach
comes from Aniel Jardines, CEO of AI Methods, a UC3M spinoff company that deploys forecasting technology to enhance air traffic management and reduce delays caused by adverse weather conditions. Jardines explains how MBA students have aided his startup’s development. “My background is in engineering and the business side was new to me. We’ve
52 Ambition • ISSUE 2 • 2026
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