• The G-Accelerator helps maximise the efficiency of the early stages of the business development process

• Each year it issues an “Impact Call” looking for entrepreneurs with innovative and disruptive ideas

• The Impact Call provides a 20 week programme which offers training, mentoring, networking, and financial support

In the last 3.5 billion years, humans evolved from single-celled organisms into vastly more complex beings. A far more rapid evolution is currently taking place in how we view the core purpose of businesses.

From a singular focus on generating profit, modern perceptions are increasingly gravitating towards the “triple bottom line”, which considers having a positive environmental and social impact just as important as raking in cash.

Business schools, naturally, are now playing a crucial role in cementing this new approach to business in the minds of the next generation of corporate leaders. Schools involve their students in non-profit consulting, social entrepreneurship and social impact projects, in addition to making courses more accessible for people from disadvantaged backgrounds through scholarships and pushing for solutions-focused research on global issues.

However, GBSB Global Business School is exceeding this new status quo in supporting innovators and budding entrepreneurs through its world-renowned start-up accelerator. As part of the school’s pedagogical focus on innovation and technology, the G-Accelerator is designed to help young entrepreneurs with innovative and disruptive ideas found new businesses that will have a “triple impact” – this means embracing socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable practices.

“To maintain credibility, stay afloat, and remain at the front of global change, business schools must embed a number of pillars into their DNA, from globalization and digitalization to inclusion and positive impact on society,” says Xavier Arola, Director of the G-Accelerator.

For this reason, the G-Accelerator announces a yearly “Impact Call” – a six-month pre-accelerator programme that provides training, mentoring, networking, and financial support services to entrepreneurs in the early stages of developing their innovative ventures.

The programme is designed to maximise the efficiency of the business development process, acting as a fast lane but not a shortcut. It offers a 20-week roadmap guiding participants from the first steps of ideation all the way to the market, from product development to managerial skills and acquaintance modules.

Training is further broken down into blocks that encompass ideation, going to market planning, business readiness, and funding. Participants will learn about topics including Triple Impact Awareness, Ideation Block, Market Testing, and Management Skills. If you’re wondering what any of these terms mean, don’t worry because GBSB Global’s expert trainers take you through what each of these elements are and how they are useful to you in starting a business.

Mentors are also allocated to participants to provide them with specific guidance on how they can nurture their innovative sapling ventures. A single mentor is allocated to each entrepreneur at the beginning of the programme and remains with them throughout their entire journey, and additional expert mentors are assigned temporarily to a project at various stages of its development according to its specific needs. All mentors are appointed through a consensus process in which the entrepreneurs, mentors, and G-Accelerator staff all have a voice.

The Impact Call also presents an opportunity for participants to network extensively. There are, of course, constant chances for beneficiaries of the programme to connect with each other. Exchanging insights, concerns, and results from their own journeys, are incredibly valuable lessons, especially because many participants will be at different stages of business development.

On top of this, the beneficiaries have access to the local business ecosystem in Barcelona through the G-Accelerator’s links with Barcelona Tech City. Going further afield, the accelerator has an agreement with enpact.org to present and elect specially selected start-ups for their international programmes, putting a world of opportunities at the disposal of its participants.

Other partners of the G-Accelerator include the Universitat de Vic – Universitat Central de Catalunya and the Institute for Social Innovation and Impact at the University of Northampton, and it receives funding and support from the European Social Fund and the Catalan Government.

These organisations recognise that creating a start-up does not need to be an arduous task, though the investment of time and energy it requires from an entrepreneur can make it seem like an unending process.

And with reports suggesting that start-ups that secure funding and support elsewhere (such as via government schemes) are more likely doomed to fail, programmes such as the G-Accelerator are increasingly vital for entrepreneurs who want to maximise their efficiency in the early development stages and get a head start on the majority of their competitors. They also play a critical part in educating the next generation of corporate leaders about the future of sustainable business.

For time marches briskly on, the business landscape evolves, and companies that are not swift enough to keep up are in danger of being reduced to fossils.

… Business schools too for that matter.