First Summer School for Entrepreneurship at the Heidelberg Center Latin America (HCLA)

28 February 2024
published by hei_INNOVATION

The one-week Summer School welcomed eleven participants from various disciplines and backgrounds, who worked on two practical challenges during the program, which the Summer School's sponsoring partner, Boehringer Ingelheim, had provided in advance and presented during the school.

The Summer School was run by Amelie Vermeer and Julia Piechotta. At hei_INNOVATION, they are responsible for the conceptual design of education in the field of entepreneurship and are active in the area of startup support. On the HCLA side, Inés Recio, Astrid Waltermann and Nancy Iribarren supported the organization of the program.

Using methods such as design thinking and the business model canvas as well as theoretical foundations of entrepreneurship, the lecturers guided the participants through the challenges to concrete business ideas that provided solutions to these challenges. This content was supplemented by a keynote speech by Victor Chaparro, who shared his expertise as a founder and participant in numerous hei_INNOVATION programs in Spanish. The participants also received extensive pitch training.

In three teams, the participants presented – as the finale of the Summer School – their business ideas in the areas of kidney disease prevention and improving basic medical care in those regions of Chile that are characterized by poor infrastructure. Representatives of partner Boehringer Ingelheim were also present at the pitches and networked with the participants afterwards.