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Embracing failure to facilitate second-chance entrepreneurship in the Danube region

Business entry and exit are natural processes that are inherent to European economic life. In fact, 50% of enterprises do not survive the first 5 years of their life, and bankruptcies account on average for 15% of all business closures. In Europe, 200,000 businesses face insolvency every year, resulting in 1.7 million jobs lost. In the Danube region, the number of business failures rose by 3.6 per cent last year. Even though only 4-6% of bankruptcies are fraudulent, public opinion makes a strong link between business failure and fraud. Many honest entrepreneurs whose businesses have gone bankrupt feel discouraged to re-start due to the stigma and difficulties or discrimination faced after a bankruptcy.

DanubeChance2.0 aims to facilitate improved policy learning between: policymakers and government agencies; research institutes and universities; financially distressed enterprises currently involved in insolvency procedures, or entrepreneurs who have already gone bankrupt but ready for a fresh re-start; business accelerators; and the public. DanubeChance2.0 will deliver innovative policy designs, give formerly bankrupt entrepreneurs a second chance in the Danube region. Acting as a policy driver, DanubeChance2.0 brings together a multi-disciplinary quadruple-helix partnership of 12 partners and 5 ASPs to create the first "Second-chance Entrepreneurship Strategy for the Danube region". The project will provide a path for more legitimate entrepreneurs whose first businesses have failed to re-enter the market through delivering 130 hours of "blended" learning experiences at the ”’Trial and Error‘ Re-Design Transnational Academy”, and the launch of the first "Business Re-Structuring Initiative", which will provide business acceleration support for approximately 60 legitimate entrepreneurs whose first projects failed. A Second-chance Entrepreneurial Transnational Community Pool of Experts will also provide mentoring to second-chance entrepreneurs beyond the lifetime of the project. 

Project co-funded by European Union Funds (ERDF, IPA, ENI).

The official project webpage is available HERE.