Amorim Cork Ventures launches 1st Call for entrepreneurship

Amorim Cork Ventures is launching a call for entrepreneurs with strong innovative ideas for cork uses or business proposals for the cork industry. The call starts now and will be running until March 23, 2015. This entrepreneurial training program for entrepreneurs will be conducted in partnership with Gestluz at the facilities of Amorim Cork Ventures in Mozelos, Santa Maria da Feira, Portugal.

After the selection phase, successful applicants will benefit from a skills development facilitation process and the chosen entrepreneurs will join Corticeira Amorim incubator. The last step of the process will be an investment to be made by Amorim Cork Ventures and its support to the launch of new ventures onto the market or the strategic strengthening of start-ups.

Amorim Cork Ventures was established in mid-2014 with the purpose of promoting the development of new cork products and cork-related businesses targeting essentially foreign markets, in line with the international profile of Corticeira Amorim. Since then, the company received about 100 proposals spanning multiple areas of business and coming not only from Portugal, but also from Australia, Italy, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, reflecting an increasing recognition of cork's versatility and the benefits it brings to the applications that can take advantage of it.

As Paulo Bessa, General Manager of Amorim Cork Ventures, said: "It was precisely the perception of the versatility of natural cork and its ability to respond with superior environmental performance to technical challenges posed by different sources, in addition to a context of great awareness for natural cork, that prompted us to set up Amorim Cork Ventures". And he added: "This is a clear sign of Corticeira Amorim's leadership profile, which is now reinforced as the epicenter for these new entrepreneurs and cork-related businesses."

Eight months have elapsed since Amorim Cork Ventures was founded. After an accurate selection, the company is now supporting seven projects related to interior design, sports, sustainable construction, footwear, sustainable mobility and materials engineering that are at different stages of business development. Two of such projects have resulted in startups.

Amorim Cork Ventures is particularly focused on supporting startups by providing entrepreneurs access not only to funding, but also to a set of management skills, know-how and an extensive network of contacts in different industries and countries.

Anyone interested in participating in this selection process that has now been announced, must submit his/her application by March 23, 2015 through www.amorim.com/corkventures.