The goal of the annual W Summer Academy is to help university students experience what it takes to turn ideas into  startups, run by great teams. Participants are immersed in a comprehensive training program, which is based on insights uncovered during a WAVE Lab's international research project on entrepreneurship (CREA project). The Academy is enhanced by the international profile of all participants (students, instructors, mentors, guest speakers, workshop leaders), who create a multi-cultural, cross-disciplined learning environment. Indeed, past participants joined us from as far as Asia (China, Vietnam), the Americas (Brazil), and Europe (Austria, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK, Netherlands), bringing on board a wealth of knowledge and experiences from various disciplines (Product Design, Law, Bioinformatics, Business Administration, Computer Science, Financial Engineering, Social Sciences).

The training journey traces the path from the identification of market opportunities, to business conceptualization, modeling, and product/service prototyping. During this journey, we focus on combining theories and practices from design thinking, business modeling, innovation management, customer validation, and market research. Coaching on team skills, mentoring and intercultural cooperation provide, in turn, a reality check on all activities.

At the end, one or more teams may want to continue their journey and make their ideas happen. The WAVE Lab will support them as venture consultants, as well as provide access to its growth transformation ecosystem of businesses and experts.