{"id":48662,"date":"2026-10-16T14:29:43","date_gmt":"2026-10-16T18:29:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insagrado.sagrado.edu\/?p=48662"},"modified":"2026-10-16T14:30:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T18:30:15","slug":"sagrado-celebrates-the-10th-anniversary-of-its-collaborative-innovation-center-neeuko-advancing-university-entrepreneurship-in-puerto-rico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insagrado.sagrado.edu\/en\/sagrado-celebrates-the-10th-anniversary-of-its-collaborative-innovation-center-neeuko-advancing-university-entrepreneurship-in-puerto-rico\/","title":{"rendered":"Sagrado Celebrates the 10th Anniversary of Its Collaborative Innovation Center-Neeuko, Advancing University Entrepreneurship in Puerto Rico"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Over the past decade, the Center has impacted 4,637 individuals, supported 1,253 ventures, and facilitated more than 10,000 personalized mentoring sessions.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Showcase@Sagrado offers students the opportunity to present their business projects to the local community.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By Institutional Communication<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Santurce, Puerto Rico <\/strong>\u2013 A decade ago, the Universidad del Sagrado Coraz\u00f3n (Sagrado) established Neeuko<\/a>, Puerto Rico\u2019s first collaborative innovation center within a university setting. What began as a laboratory designed to strategically integrate the creativity, production, and research generated across the institution\u2019s academic programs has evolved into the cornerstone of Sagrado\u2019s entrepreneurship ecosystem and a platform that transforms ideas into projects with economic, social, and creative impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neeuko, whose name originates from the abbreviation of \u201cnew company,\u201d has supported 4,637 participants, assisted 1,253 ventures, facilitated 10,090 personalized mentoring sessions, and promoted 39 strategic collaborations during its first ten years of operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These results reflect the evolution of an initiative that has grown alongside Sagrado\u2019s academic vision. In 2020, Neeuko was formally integrated into the University\u2019s entrepreneurship curriculum, becoming one of the defining features of its educational model. As part of this approach, all undergraduate students, regardless of their academic major, complete 18 credits in entrepreneurship throughout their four years of study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, students graduate with an entrepreneurial project that may take many forms, from an artistic proposal or scientific or social research initiative to a community-based project or a business venture. The goal is for every project to provide tangible solutions and create value for its surrounding community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Engineer Sandra Pedraza Torres, dean of the School of Business.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To support the development and validation of these ideas, Neeuko combines academic coursework with specialized mentorship and access to state-of-the-art technological infrastructure. Its facilities include collaborative workspaces, meeting rooms, and a FabLab equipped with 3D printers, laser-cutting technology, a vacuum former, woodworking areas, robotics equipment, and computer numerical control (CNC) machines, enabling students to design, test, and prototype their ideas. The Center also offers support in brand and product development, as well as consulting services on financial, legal, and regulatory matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As part of its continued evolution, during this academic year the Collaborative Innovation Center-Neeuko became part of Sagrado\u2019s School of Business, together with the Entrepreneurship faculty. Through this new structure, the Center will continue providing services, experiences, and opportunities to students across all academic disciplines at the University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt Sagrado, entrepreneurship is understood as the ability to identify opportunities and develop sustainable, creative, and responsible solutions that address community needs and the challenges of a constantly evolving society. More than a discipline, it is a way of thinking and acting that transcends all fields of knowledge and prepares our students to create value in any professional setting,\u201d said Dr. Anuchka Ramos Ruiz, Provost and Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs at Sagrado.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Showcase@Sagrado: From the University Project to the Marketplace<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The growth of Sagrado\u2019s entrepreneurial ecosystem was on full display on Thursday, October 15, during Showcase@Sagrado, an event that brought together over 180 students to present products, services, and projects developed as part of their academic experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The initiative gives students the opportunity to showcase their ideas to the public, validate their concepts, strengthen their sales skills, and gain firsthand experience in bringing entrepreneurial ventures to market. Its continued growth reflects the expanding opportunities Sagrado provides for students to take classroom ideas into real-world settings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since its first documented edition in 2022, which featured 16 student participants, Showcase@Sagrado has steadily expanded its reach, bringing together more than 180 participants in its October 2026 edition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe want our students to have the opportunity to pursue the entrepreneurial journey with guidance and access to meaningful resources. In addition to the Showcase, we offer several programs such as La Cepita, which has awarded $94,000 in seed funding to 47 student entrepreneurs, as well as our Entrepreneurship HUBs, which provide specialized mentoring and support to help participants move from idea to execution,\u201d said Sandra Pedraza Torres, Dean of the School of Business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Over the past decade, the Center has impacted 4,637 individuals, supported 1,253 ventures, and facilitated more than 10,000 personalized mentoring sessions. By Institutional Communication Santurce, Puerto Rico \u2013 A decade ago, the Universidad del Sagrado […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":48646,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3696,3695,5672,5289],"tags":[5671,4229,3731,5018,5110],"class_list":["post-48662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english-en","category-featured","category-neeuko","category-school-of-business","tag-collaborative-innovation-center","tag-neeuko-2","tag-sagrado-en","tag-sagrado-corazon-university","tag-universidad-del-sagrado-corazon-3"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insagrado.sagrado.edu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48662","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insagrado.sagrado.edu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insagrado.sagrado.edu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insagrado.sagrado.edu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insagrado.sagrado.edu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48662"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/insagrado.sagrado.edu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48662\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48667,"href":"https:\/\/insagrado.sagrado.edu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48662\/revisions\/48667"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insagrado.sagrado.edu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insagrado.sagrado.edu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insagrado.sagrado.edu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insagrado.sagrado.edu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}