Mentoring, coaching and training programmes for the 4th Edition of BFFood presented

Business Factory Food (BFFood), which last 10 June selected the 13 projects that would take part in the 4th Edition, held the online Kick Off Meeting this morning, officially launching the 4th edition once all projects had completed the joining formalities. Representatives of the projects and mentor companies attended the session to gain an in-depth understanding of the coaching and mentoring programmes offered by the accelerator, as well as the official training programme coordinated by the three Galician universities.

Mentoring programme

Higinio Mougán, from AGACA, presented the mentoring programme to those attending the meeting. To do so, he defined the roles of the mentors and the mentored projects, and focused on the keys to mentoring: providing guidance in setting objectives, supporting the overcoming of difficulties, contributing vision and offering a space for the mentee to express knowledge, innovations and aspirations, without forgetting that solving any problems that arise is the responsibility of the project.

During his speech, he also wished to highlight that the mentoring programme is open so that it can be adapted to the characteristics and expectations of professionals, and he emphasised the importance of following the schedule of meetings planned between projects and mentors.

Coaching programme

Next, Noelia Vilar, from FEUGA, explained what the coaching programme consists of, delivered jointly by FEUGA and AGACA. First, she wanted to clarify that it provides support on a range of topics: market, funding, events and channels, and business model.

The development of the coaching programme will begin with an assessment of the project’s status and the identification of its needs, in order to develop an individualised follow-up plan with support for the project’s development.

“Entrepreneurship in the food sector”

Mª Ángeles Romero, from USC, presented the training programme, which is scheduled to start in October 2022 and is jointly coordinated by the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela (USC), the Universidade de A Coruña (UDC) and the Universidade de Vigo (UVigo).

As a new development, it was announced that this 4th Edition will, for the first time, be regulated and official training. Thus, the training programme entitled “Entrepreneurship in the food sector”, will consist of 85 hours of training divided into 11 modules and will be delivered in a blended format. In addition, upon completion of the training, a Specialisation Diploma will be awarded by the three Galician universities.

Info Desk

Xose Ramón Vázquez, BFFood manager at the Galicia Food Cluster (Clusaga), highlighted the support the cluster provides through the Info Desk service to all projects, including support in managing the grants awarded by the Axencia Galega de Innovación (GAIN) to the projects, as well as the coordination and monitoring work for the programmes.