Euronext subsidiary EnterNext, is to launch TechShare, an educational programme designed especially for fast-growing tech companies, in September 2015.
EnterNext has created this pan-European course to familiarise innovative businesses with capital markets and give them the information they need to take their companies to market.
EnterNext is aware of tech stocks’ market potential, and in November 2014 launched three initiatives to strengthen the clout and visibility of innovative SMEs. TechShare is the third of these, following the rollout of the Tech 40 label and the launch of Morningstar’s commitment to publishing information and analyses of young companies.
TechShare helps leaders of tech companies better understand the role of financial markets and how they work. Entrepreneurs are thus better able to judge the opportunity of listing in tandem with their specific business projects, and to prepare in good time.
More specifically, the 30 successful candidates will be offered customised training over a 12-month period based on three components:
• Two on-site academic sessions organized in conjunction with the European Business School HEC Paris and the Engineering School Ecole Polytechnique (France);
• Technical workshops organised year-round with industry experts;
• Individual coaching sessions with auditors, lawyers and communications advisers.
The course will begin on 18-19 September with an on-site session at Ecole Polytechnique’s campus in France. It will be repeated each year.
TechShare covers all Euronext countries, combining a pan-European and local approach. The inaugural class consists of 30 tech businesses—15 French, five Belgian, five Dutch and five Portuguese. Their representatives will meet at on-site sessions, with technical workshops and one-on-one coaching organised by partners in their country of origin.
Selected for their innovative flair and impressive performance, participants are businesses active in digital technology, life sciences and eco-industries that might consider listing in the three years ahead.
Eric Forest (pictured), Chairman and CEO at EnterNext, says: “With TechShare, EnterNext aims to provide long-term assistance to tomorrow’s economic champions, starting well before listing. Education, proximity and close collaboration with target companies are our watchwords. Europe has a rich fabric of innovative companies and a pool of international investors prepared to support growth. We are convinced that financial markets have a role to play in company growth and our aim is to make Euronext a European benchmark for technology stocks. We are also very proud to have rallied so many truly outstanding partners and mentors to this project and we thank them for their participation.”
