VCP Forum 2020 is postponed. More information will follow.

The VCP Forum is an annual seminar with the leading institutions teaching entrepreneurship through venture creation. By sharing and developing best practices and methods within entrepreneurship education, we can meet, learn from each other, and continue to evolve.

A VCP, or venture creation program is an academic program where starting a new venture is an essential part of the curriculum. Students come together to form new ventures in order to educate themselves in a practical and hands-on manner. This gives students the tools and mindset to become change agents in society, either as founders in their own start-ups or in other roles.

VCPs contrast themselves to similar programs because the ventures that are created have an intention to incorporate. In other words, the ventures are not a part of any classroom simulation but a real-life future business with collaboration agreements, supplier and customer contracts.

Universities like Chalmers, NC State, and NTNU feature several departments within STEM and are among the leading researching institutions in their countries. When researchers create new technologies but are for some reason unable to follow their ‘babies’, the students at a VCP can act as surrogate entrepreneurs. Research shows that this is an effective way of incorporating new technology in society and has many things to offer the world.

NTNU has been teaching through VCP for 17 years. In that time 140 companies have been established, and in 2019 these companies had a turnover of NOK 500 million.