Microsoft Innovation Center Brussels

Last week, on 8th of November took place a special boostcamper Breakfast, organized by the IT Cluster “Software in Brussels” of the Brussels Entreprise Agency (ABE-BAO-BEA) where the ABE-BO-BEA team presented their different services that can support the Startups that graduated from the MIC Brussels boostcamp.

Guillaume Béland, member of IT Cluster team at ABE-BAO-BEA started the meeting with a introduction of the IT cluster and explained how the different services of the IT Cluster could support the boostcampers. He then focused on some available subsidies offered for ICT like consultancy (specific problems), R&D subsidies (for higher budget projects), human resources (recruitment for specific projects and individual training inside the company) and the international business development subsidies (market prospections, fair trade…).

In the second part of the session, experts from different fields in ABE-BAO-BEA, introduced themselves and explained how they could more specifically in their own field, support the entrepreneurs in their business.

Here is a snapshot of some of the experts met:

Azèle Mathieu, Financial analyst at BEA, explained how she could support the startups to maximize the financing success of their projects emphasizing the importance of having a good overview of the financial situation.

David Azaerts, Economical Counsellor at ABE-BAO-BEA, introduced himself and pointed up the relevance of looking for Subsidies before making any big expense and before it is too late. He invited all startups who needed, to book a in-depth one-to-one with him, to review possibilities for their own business in detail.

Kris Thesin, Legal Counsellor at ABE-BAO-BEA, presented as an introduction a checklist of important points that every entrepreneur has to take into consideration. Among others, the legal structure chosen by the startup is key and when the business is established the entrepreneur will have to pay attention to the taxation of benefits. He also invited the Boostcampers in need of a legal advice, to meet him in a one-to-one session.

So: There is a life after the Boostcamp! Actually there is a lot of work ahead for the startups and the IT Cluster at ABE-BAO-BEA is there to help the boostcamper make their company grow.
This is the message that IT Cluster team emphasized again, and at the end of this introductory Breakfast, all Bootscampers where invited to register to the IT Cluster and were presented all the further events and workshops where they would meet again.

We thank again the IT Cluster and ABE-BAO-BEA team for their warm welcome to our Boostcampers!