Fundación LAB Mediterráneo holds its “II Unlimited Mentoring” to help SMEs overcome challenges in innovation and technology

Castellón, 31 October 2023.- Fundación LAB Mediterráneo, a project promoted by the Employers’ Association of Valencia (AVE),  today, 31 October, in collaboration with the Employers’ Association of Valencia (AVE),  the European Business and Innovation Centre of Castellón(CEEI),   the Business Confederation of the Region of Valencia of Castellón (CEV Castellón) and the  Council of Chambers of Commerce of the Region of Valencia, held a Business Mentoring day with the aim of helping SMEs in the Region of Valencia to overcome technology and innovation challenges, thanks to the experience and learning of leading business people in these areas.

The event, which took place at the Hotel Intur Castellón, was inaugurated by Héctor Dominguis, president of the Fundación LAB Mediterráneo , who stressed that until now technology was a differentiating factor, “In other words, those who incorporated technology and innovation into their processes had a competitive advantage. But it is currently becoming an exclusionary factor, which means that those businesses that do not include innovation and technology as a fundamental core of their strategy will be at a clear disadvantage with respect to the rest of the sector”.

After the welcoming ceremony, there was an inspiring conversation between representative of leading companies in the Region of Valencia such as Sergio Aguado, co-founder and CEO of Cuatroochenta, Jose Guillermo Berlanga, Director of Innovation at Grupo Gimeno, José Luis Diéguez, Project Manager at Grupo Simetría, and Amparo García, COO of ZEUS, moderated by Enrique Soto, Director of Fundación LAB Mediterráneo, in which experience was shared on the importance of innovation and technology in businesses.

The co-founder and CEO of Cuatroochenta, Sergio Aguado, explained what innovation meant to them: “We understand innovation as part of internal training. What this department does is innovate and research and train the company’s own staff with the aim of improving onboarding and productivity”.

Guillermo Berlanga emphasized two key points: the culture of entrepreneurship and anticipation: “In the culture of entrepreneurship, it is important to activate multidisciplinary groups of people who are in charge of defining how a company can grow organically”. Regarding anticipation, he pointed out that “it is important to be vigilant to keep up to date with what is happening outside in order to take it to the organization”.

In his speech, Diéguez, spoke about Grupo Simétrica’s business lines and, particularly, about the innovation department, which, being transversal, focuses all efforts on responding to each of the group’s businesses. “Everything we develop has to respond to the needs of the business. At the end of the day, today’s innovation can be tomorrow’s business. You have to be prepared and anticipate changes”.

For her part, Amparo García, argued the importance of synergies for a future full of opportunities for all, adding that: “Inhabiting today’s dynamic business landscape is a constant challenge that demands the perfect balance between experience and innovation”. “Large corporations urgently need to adopt innovative tools and strategies, as an inescapable necessity. Meanwhile, startups are faced with the challenge of building solidity and expertise in the competitive business world”.

This inspiring table gave way to group work sessions, led by mentors who are experts in innovation and technology, including representatives from: Aquaservice, Banco Sabadell, CaixaBank, Cuatroochenta, Dacsa, Familia Martínez, GDES, Grupo Gimeno, Grupo Simetría, Lanzadera, Logifruit, Royo Group, S2 Grupo, SPB, TIBA, and Zeus.

During the day, the mentees worked to overcome the barriers that their companies face on a day-to-day basis with the support of 2 mentors who  shared their point of view and helped handle the different problems.

Among the businesses intervening were: Aletreo, Azigrene Consultores, Bioinicia, ESAT Valencia, Eture Sports, Frutos Secos Del Maestrazgo, Grupo Cano Lopera, It Metal Cutting, Kaizen Consulting Europa, Monser Electricidad, Montajes Cebis, Perseo Biotechnology, Pinturas Cadroy, Quasar Dynamics, Rosales Ferrer, Semeve Medios Publicitarios, Solatom, Urbanclean, Valmexin and Vigilant.

The common challenges that they face in their respective companies and on which they worked as a group today were: differential growth compared to competitors; market differentiation; optimization through technology, adaptation to the online environment (channels and platforms); data exploitation and innovation in business systems; improved productivity, automation of functions through technology, among others.

After completing the mentoring, the mentees are entitled to take a business management course at EDEM Escuela de Empresarios. The main objective of the SuperPymes course is to train the business people taking part by providing them with knowledge in the main areas of business management.

Fundación LAB Mediterráneo