Set up in 2005, The Gdańsk Entrepreneurs’ Foundation (GEF) is a non-governmental located in Gdańsk organization. The GEF was founded by the Gdańsk City Council in response to the signals coming from the local market. From that time, GEF has started to be one of the most important instruments supporting Small and Medium Enterprises in Gdańsk. The main goals are implemented by educational activity within the range of entrepreneurship, legal and economic consulting, supporting SMEs and promotion of entrepreneurship.

The aim of the Foundation is to enhance economic development in the City of Gdańsk by supporting micro, small and medium enterprises, mainly through:

• organising educational activities in the field of entrepreneurship,
• stimulating the development of micro, small and medium businesses,
• providing legal and economic consultancy (in order to minimize the risk of setting up a business),
• promoting entrepreneurship.

The main scope of the GEF activities is:

• providing mentoring, counseling, training, financial support and publications for people planning to start their own business and start-ups,
• providing counseling, training and publications for entrepreneurs,
• supporting trade initiatives (i.e. building and developing clusters),
• running educational programmes for children and teenagers,
• publishing materials on entrepreneurship,
• creating multimedia and e-learning programmes, especially for start-up’s,
• renting space for offices and warehouses.

Founder

The founder of the Gdańsk Entrepreneurs’ Foundation is the City of Gdańsk.

Gdańsk is a city with a population of nearly half a million. It is a big economic, scientific and popular tourist centre. Located near the Gdańsk Bay, a thousand-year-old city has for centuries performed a central role in goods exchange between northern and western Europe and the countries situated in Central-Eastern Europe. Modern Gdańsk is the capital of the Pomeranian voivodeship and is an important administrative centre.