STEAMhouse, Birmingham’s pioneering innovation centre, is set to deliver the flagship “Exponential Argentine Design (DAE). Creative Bootcamp” mentoring programme in 2025 for a third year in a row, strengthening its commitment to fostering innovation both locally and on the global stage. Working in collaboration with The British Council and Fundacion Bunge y Born, the initiative will provide 15 selected Argentine creative entrepreneurs and businesses with tailored guidance, invaluable peer networks, and access to high-quality resources.
By building on previous successes, the programme aims to further establish Birmingham as a leading centre for creativity, sustainability, and technology-driven innovation and collaboration on the international stage. Creative ventures from the West Midlands and beyond will again have the opportunity to learn from and collaborate with inspirational international startups in the design space.
DAE is a programme developed as part of the Creative Bootcamp, promoted by the Bunge y Born Foundation and the British Council. Through 6 months of intensive training and the support of STEAMhouse mentors at Birmingham City University and experts from Argentina, the 15 selected businesses will compete for one of up to three “Fundacion Bunge y Born ” Seed Capital Funds.
Valeria Zamparolo, Head of Arts Americas at British Council added: “The British Council has a strong commitment to the creative industries across the region, and DAE – Creative Bootcamp showcases how collaboration between the UK and Argentina can propel local talent into a global market. This program allows us not only to foster innovation but also to create meaningful connections that expand the boundaries of Argentine design.”
The DAE programme will offer structured one-to-one mentoring, masterclasses and interactive workshops, equipping participants with the tools needed to refine, test, and scale their ideas. Previous editions have seen STEAMhouse deliver masterclasses on the perfect Business Model Canvas, Creative and Innovation Industries, Design Thinking: Creative Processes and Inspirational Models, and Effective Communication and the Perfect Pitch, as well as hours of 1-to-1 mentoring and the judging of the final pitching sessions to determine the winners of the Seed Capital Funds. This year, the team of experts and STEAMhouse will deliver sessions on building a resilient and valuable business, and how to boost your sales by developing strategies to connect and grow, as well as the return of pitching sessions.
Patrick Bek, Head of Service Innovation from STEAMhouse, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to be part of the Argentina Mentorship programme again! Supporting emerging businesses and entrepreneurs, both in the UK and internationally, is at the heart of what we do, and this programme is a shining example of the power of collaboration.
Our team is incredibly excited to share our expertise, learn from the businesses involved in the programme, and see the innovative ideas that are certain to emerge. Initiatives like this fill us with passion and optimism for the future of innovation worldwide, and we can’t wait to see the impact of our 2025 mentorship programme.”
In 2024, STEAMhouse reinforced its international presence through its involvement in the “Diseño Argentino Exponencial. Creative Bootcamp” in Argentina. This impactful initiative provided hands-on training and mentorship to the most exciting ventures from Argentina’s creative industries, showcasing the region’s international impact regarding knowledge-sharing and collaboration.
Carla Martínez one of last year’s winners of the Seed Fund Capital, shared their perspective on the transformative impact international collaboration projects such as these have on emerging businesses: “Thanks to the experience at DAE – Creative Bootcamp, we were able to consolidate our business model and gain a very broad network of mentors, where we felt deeply supported. Additionally, we explored different areas of the business, and, thanks to the bootcamp tools and exercises, we were able to conduct an exhaustive analysis of our project and gain insight into many areas for improvement that, without those exercises, we would not have been able to notice.”
The return of this initiative reflects the shared ambition of STEAMhouse, the British Council and Fundacion Bunge y Born by providing access to specialist expertise and an international network of innovators, the programme will empower participants to develop ideas that leave a lasting impact, both in the UK and beyond.
