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“If you have a business and want to grow, you need money. And investors are constantly in search of interesting opportunities”, says Yannick Dillen, senior research associate and coordinator of the iGMO platform and Vlerick Venturing. “Once a year, we bring our students and alumni who have founded a start-up in contact with venture capitalists and business angels through [email protected]” Yannick takes a brief look back with Dries Wijnen, the co-founder of Securafin and runner-up in [email protected] 2017.

In the context of the 11-day event Vlaanderen Feest! and on the occasion of the Flemish public holiday on 11 July, the Flanders-Europe Movement will be presenting awards to deserving Flemish citizens as it does every year. Louis Verbeke, honorary chairman of Vlerick Business School, will be presented with a Golden Spur for Economic Excellence.

Vlerick Business School is to launch the first Belgian 100% online MBA programme from this December. The Vlerick online MBA, which will be delivered in English, will be taught entirely remotely without any need for participants to attend any of the Vlerick Business School campuses. It will provide business leaders globally with a high-quality, tailored and pragmatic programme that fits around their schedule.

The Vlerick Healthcare Management Centre and the Leuven Institute for Healthcare Policy at KU Leuven are joining forces. The two bodies intend to work together under the umbrella of the new Health Sciences & Business Institute (HSBI) in the fields of scientific research, and international training in entrepreneurship and leadership in healthcare.

The Alliance for Rural Electrification (ARE) has been globally supporting (social) entrepreneurs wanting to start up or expand clean, renewable and sustainable energy businesses in developing countries. A recent knowledge collaboration with Vlerick’s Energy Centre allows them to connect to the huge potential of our young and innovative Masters- and MBA-students, who have the necessary skills to look at the energy access issue with a fresh perspective. Vlerick, in turn, can tap into the extensive ARE network of entrepreneurs, financiers, and public and private partners. As a first concrete result, the students taking part in our brand-new Renewable Energy boot camp will travel to the ARE conference in Lisbon to put their knowledge into action and solve a selection of participating social entrepreneurs’ real-life challenges.

Some six years ago, Professor Hans Crijns, together with around 20 iGMO members - the Founding Fathers - christened the Entrepreneurs for the Developing World forum. The forum has since financed more than 100 student projects in social profit, both in Belgium and abroad. Today, it is known as the Forum for Social Entrepreneurship and is headed by Professor Leonardo Meeus.

According to the 2016 European Business Schools ranking which is annually issued by the Financial Times newspaper, Vlerick Business School has maintained its 15th position within this ranking of 90 European business schools in total. From a national point of view, Vlerick Business School stays number 1 in Belgium and the only Belgian school covering the full breadth of Masters, MBA and Executive Education. Overall, Vlerick has managed to hold a stable position during the last few years.

On Saturday November 19, the 3rd edition of the Vlerick M&A Challenge took place at our Brussels campus. “The competition which is aimed at final year Masters students is a great way of giving young high potentials a flavour of the Vlerick experience. It also provides them with a great networking opportunity”, says Wouter De Maeseneire, Professor of Corporate Finance. We received 171 applications of which ultimately 78 high calibre students of various nationalities were selected.

Is it a classroom? Yes it is. Is it a brainstorm room? That too. But it’s also so much more than that. Always looking to enhance the learning experience of our participants we have experimented with one of our lecture rooms. Think of writable and magnetic walls, different table heights, high stools, power sockets all over the floor,… The restyled flexible and innovative learning environment is not meant for traditional teaching. It allows for more creative setups with interaction, discussion and brainstorming.