ITALY – THE FUTURE OF INNOVATION IN THE E.U.

By Chiara Paolinelli

… All Roads Lead to Taking your First Step in Rome in Rome!

Rome is connected to three other cities in Europe, Stockholm, Lille and Warsaw, through several digital projects, under the umbrella of Startup Europe. Rome is represented by two relevant organizations in the local ecosystem: Lazio Innova, Lazio regional development agency and LUISS EnLabs, one of the best-known accelerators in Italy.
As is the saying “all roads lead to Rome” and this is still true today since most of the startups in Italy are oriented to happen first in Rome, and then to rise on a European and global scale. Rome is the most important center for start-ups in Italy, offering entrepreneurs and investors the opportunity to build new companies from scratch and to connect with each other, in order to build a powerful ecosystem for the development of new businesses.
The startup scene in Rome has seen significant progress in recent years, driven mainly by the new opportunities related to the boom in the mobile applications sector. Being a strong ICT / creative industry and an Italian aerospace hub, Rome has an incredible potential to exploit hub connections across the EU and around the world.
Adding its history and biennial traditions, Rome has a lot to offer both to new emerging industries and to old traditional business models that want to adapt to the current modern era in which we live today.

Useful information on Rome and the potential for the future:

– There are 7 accelerators and incubators in Rome!

– There are 29 co-working spaces!

– There are 4 institutional investors!

– There are 316 innovative startups!

With about 4,447,881 inhabitants, Rome, and as the capital of the country’s political scene, Rome is the ideal scenario to start its own entrepreneurial activities on support of different infrastructures in the Capital!

…Fashion, Innovation and Tech Start in Milan!

Milan is not only the capital of fashion, finance and industry in Italy, it is also the largest start-up hub in Italy.
Milan boasts an ideal scene to open start-ups! Support, such as tax benefits, legislative cuts and the great resonance of the name of the city in the world, have created a perfect entrepreneurial ecosystem for start-ups – also thanks to the renown world fair, Expo 2015, two four years ago.
Thanks to its talent pool, Milan is led by a strong research group, and by students affiliated to the best universities in the country, including Bocconi, IULM, Politecnico and Cattolica.
Thanks to recent legislation, the streamlining of bureaucratic procedures for start-up and the opening of start-ups and tech-companies has facilitated the allocation of offices such as Google, IBM, Microsoft, Deloitte and Gartner in the beautiful industrial city.
The bureaucracy has stifled the start-ups in Italy in the past, but starting from the beginning of the government of Matteo Renzi, the opening of the start-up procedures for innovative companies has become easier. For example, many people do not know that start-ups, active for less than 5 years, with revenues of less than 5 million euros, are exempt from paying certain taxes, thus creating flexible contracts for skilled workers.
Networking also defines the scene of the Milan start-ups! There is Startup Italia in Milan, the Codemotion Tech community, the Digital District Milano and Startuppa MI and many other organizations and associations that are able to promote the meeting between innovative minds. Events such as Startup Grind Milano, and Robotica Milano Meetups are key events for young students, entrepreneurs, and innovators, to which all specialists in the sector should participate!
In addition, here are three Milanese “to watch for” start-ups: Milan’s ELSE – for the future of retail -Offing manageable, virtual back-end processes and order creation, and efficient production solutions for brands, dealers, independent producers, and designers! FABS Milano – app aimed at professional fashion buyers – assists buyers throughout the entire process, from the initial order to the final report! WISE Milano – a biomedical startup that develops the new generation of implantable leads for neuro-modulation!

Take Your Business to Politecnico City, Turin, Italy!
 In global terms, when one thinks of innovation and technology one thinks of California, but Turin is the birthplace of the “Personal Computer” Pyrus. Turin is also home to the Slow Food movement, Fiat cars and a rich architecture of the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The Polytechnic University of Turin makes the city an ideal location for research and innovation, given the existence of the Tech incubators and accelerators and is building a “Torino ama le startup” program to encourage mentoring between the most traditional companies and the technological startups. The national government has also launched an excellent program called Startup Italia, two years ago, with incentives and special visas to help start-ups grow. The city offers tax incentives and works constantly on the establishment of an ecosystem suitable for the start-up culture. There are over 260 innovative start-ups that appear officially in the register of the Ministry of Development, and Turin and the province are in third place – as a tech hub in Italy – after Milan and Rome. The leader among the start-ups and example for young Italian techies, the Argotec Company. Argotec works in the aerospace engineering sector – innovating and developing information systems for aerospace. Their technology, since 2017, has been called revolutionary. Another exemplary startup for Italian entrepreneurs and innovators, the Sherlock. Sherlock’s goal is to free cyclists from fear of theft – given the development of their super safe active technology with the Sherlock device. Sherlock is an app and GPS tracking device, which monitors the location of the bikes always – on Android and iOS devices. An additional company, Turin super techie, Tyvak International, a startup focused on the development of products/services for Nanosatellite and CubeSat spacecraft for governmental and commercial clients. Last year, the European Space Agency selected the start of a feasibility study using nanosatellites for autonomous inspection and support services on the International Space Station (ISS) during the orbit. Turin has everything – Research centers, facilities, infrastructures, leading figures, now young Italian innovators, do not leave Turin and Italy – follow the example of Argotec, Tyvak and Sherlock
The Startups are not just in Silicon Beach – Italians: “We put in place the Brain Gain”, the opportunities and the means are there in the Bel Paese!