Intesa Sanpaolo StartUp Initiative / Global Social Venture Competition 2017

Milan, Italy - February 23, 2017

Innovative technologies and projects with high social impact

Intesa Sanpaolo is pleased to announce the upcoming StartUp Initiative / Global Social Venture Competition organized in collaboration with ALTIS Cattolica, Associazione Prospera, Italeaf, Impact hub Milano and Réseau Entreprendre Lombardia. The event will take place on Thursday, February 23 2017, starting 8.45AM in Milan (Palazzo Besana, Piazza Belgioioso 1).

To RSVP please click here. Please find attached a detailed agenda.

The event will focus on innovative technologies and projects with either high social or environmental impact (social ventures), offering several opportunities for all players who care about corporate social responsibility and the business sustainability of social projects. After a training and selection phase by experts and angel investors, the best two startups will get access to the Global Finals at Berkeley (USA) (April 5-7 2017), competing with startups coming from all over the world, for prizes worth $80.000 overall.

Since 2016, the Romano Rancilio Award has assigned to the top two startups of the Italian edition. The award, dedicated to the memory of Romano Rancilio, Italian entrepreneur (1935-1981), is worth 10.000€. Moreover, will be awarded the following prizes: She 4 imp(act), which provides a package for three months incubation at Impact Hub Milan (worth € 25,000) for the best classified with female prevalence in the founders team, and Réseau Entreprendre Lombardia (REL), which provides personalized meetings with professionals and experts, mentoring and training sessions with the other startups followed by REL.

The main language of the event will be English; a translation service will be available to and from Italian.

The event will continue in the afternoon! Starting from 4.00PM and up to 9.00PM, will be held at Impact Hub Milan, via Aosta 4, the first Impact Park, an event dedicated entirely to the IMPACT investing, with testimonies, opportunities for comparison and investment, pitch of firms from the impact universe. Please, confirm your attendance at Impact Park by clicking here.

For further information about the GSVC, please visit www.gsvc.it or www.startupinitiative.com.

The partners

Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy’s leading bank, is engaged in fostering R&D and in accelerating Innovation processes. In particular, we run the StartUp Initiative, an international acceleration platform which selects promising high-tech startups, coaches them and connects them with financial and corporate investors. Since its inception in 2009, the program has developed a strong track record: 95 investment forums in 6 countries across technologies and industries, matching 700 startups and growing companies with thousands of investors, corporations and players of the innovation ecosystem. 

Alta Scuola Impresa e Società (High Institute for Entrepreneurship and Society, or ALTIS) was founded in 2005 within Milan’s Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, with the aim of promoting - through research, training, projects and relationships with businesses - the spread of a culture of responsible management.

Italeaf was established in December 2010, it’s a holding company and business accelerator focused on enterprises and startups working in clean-tech, smart energy and tech innovation industries. Italeaf offices are located in Terni, Milano and Lecce, while its international branches are located in London and Hong Kong, whose research center is located into the Hong Kong Science and Technology Park. The company have some subsidiaries: TerniEnergia that works in renewable energy and waste management industry; Skyrobotic works in ICT industry with the aim of producing civil drones for professional purposes; Numanova that works in metallurgic industry and finally Italeaf RE that’s a real estate agency.

Associazione Prospera is a free association of managers, professionals and faculty who voluntarily offer their experience to foster innovation and support young entrepreneurs via tutorship and mentorship activities.

Impact Hub Milano is a Coworking and Events Space, a Community and a Social Business Incubator part of a global network of about 90 spaces and 15.000 entrepreneurs and innovators who share the passion for projects and enterprises with a social, environmental or cultural impact. IHM opened in Milan in 2010 following the growing need of a space for social innovation in the city. It was the first Impact Hub to open in Italy and was then followed by 8 more spaces across the country.

Réseau Entreprendre Lombardia is an association that aims to support philanthropic startupper arise because new businesses create new jobs. The main activity of the REL is the accompaniment, interdisciplinary and continuous, from its members. It is entrepreneurs and experienced professionals in different fields, all make available, free of charge, their time to study the business start-up projects, participate in validation committees, accompany the new entrepreneurs and animate their association. This represents more than 70,000 volunteer hours for year.