The problemStart-up companies are an essential part of European Commission priorities for the attainment of a sustainable and durable European economic growth. Specifically, they will have a leading role in the European Digital single market as underlined in the “Start-ups and the Digital Single Market final report”. However, most entrepreneurs lack of the knowledge and skills required to effectively develop and manage their company. The solutionThe B-Capp project develops an open, all-inclusive training program for financial planning/management of start-ups comprising the smart use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to reduce the operating costs and cross border business activity leading to increase competitiveness and result to less business failures. After the completion of training, all participants in B-CAPP will be able to retain and improve their knowledge and skills, acquire new high-quality skills and continue their personal and professional development by implementing the recommended strategies.The target groupThe project foresees the following target groups:- Female/Male entrepreneurs, mainly aged 18-35 - Professionals dealing with management aspects of start-ups - VET training organizations, universities, trainers already providing entrepreneurship, financial management, eBusiness/eCommerce, ICT related training or looking to introduce such a training offering, business mentors, coaches- SME chambers, Business Innovation Centers, business incubation clusters, entrepreneurship associations, public officials responsible for entrepreneurship/growth/VET.Main objectiveThe specific purpose of the proposed project is to help entrepreneurs improve their skills and knowledge in financial management (e.g. Entrepreneurial Finance, Cash flow management & Basic accounting concepts, etc.) and smart use of ICT/eBusiness for reducing operating costs and generating revenues (eg. Cash flow automation tools, eTendering, eCommerce, etc.).The objective is to address financial management concepts in direct relation to the adoption of proven ICT practices and tools as smarter use of ICT drives revenues and reduces operating costs. Sustainable financial management cannot be isolated from uses of ICT.The partners The partnership comprises 8 partners from 7 countries. A software development company, an educational technology and knowledge dissemination company, two higher education institutes active in entrepreneurial training and support, 2 VET training consultancies with ECVET expertise and a foundation all active in entrepreneurial VET and a regional development agency specialized in the field of internationalization and training of companies. MethodologyThe project started with a comparative analysis of the current state of play between financial and e-Business practices implemented by start-ups in partner countries and winning practices in countries outside the partnership (Germany, Sweden, Poland). The aim of the analysis was to identify the actual needs of the target group in order to form a training program tailored to them.The next step was the validation of the needs by representatives of the direct target group in order to address and describe the learning outcomes for the Financial Sustainability Manager profile. The training methodology and strategies recommended for the start-ups are based on the validated needs.Upon the results, the partnership developed an action-based course materializing the strategies and supporting their implementation in real working environments. To that end, nine modules were created comprising specific actions linked to ECVET points in relation with the learning outcomes defined in the validation phase.Together with the Financial Strategy Genie, a personalized tool delivering the action-based course in all partner languages, the Skills Retention Service, was deployed with re-modeled actions complementing the training program.ResultsThe outcomes of B-CAPP comprise the: - Financial Check Course (FCT): instructor led and e-Learning - Financial Strategy Genie: personalisation of training paths - Learning Motivation Environment: skills retention functionality - ECVET tools for the Financial Sustainability Manager for Start-ups Long-term benefits With the support of B-CAPP Academy, a virtual space developed for sustainability of the training program, entrepreneurs will be in position to implement financial management strategies at their business which will ensure sound financial management, reduction of operating costs, increase of revenues through eBusiness resulting to less business failures.