Intesa Sanpaolo StartUp Initiative / Global Social Venture Competition 2018

Milan, Italy - February 28, 2018

Innovative technologies and projects with high social impact

ALTIS Università Cattolica and Intesa Sanpaolo are pleased to announce the upcoming edition of StartUp Initiative, the Italian selection round ofGlobal Social Venture Competition, organized in collaboration with Associazione Prospera, Italeaf, Impact hub Milano and Réseau Entreprendre Lombardia. The event is going to take place on Wednesday, February 28 2018, starting 8.45AM in Milan (Palazzo Besana, Piazza Belgioioso 1).

The event is going to 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. The best two startups will get access to the Global Finals organised this year in Milan (Italy) (April 11-13 2018), competing with startups coming from all over the world, for prizes worth $80.000 overall.

Moreover, the She 4 imp(act) prize is going to be also awarded which provides the best classified startup with female prevalence in the founder team with three-month incubation at Impact Hub Milan (worth € 25,000).

The main language of the event will be English.

For further information about the GSVC, please visit www.gsvc.it or the What’s New section of 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: 110 investment forums in7 countries across 9 technologies and industries, matching 820 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 responsible management culture. Since 2018 ALTIS has been the partner of the Haas School of Business, University of California Berkeley in the organisation of the Italian edition of Global Social Venture Competition.

Italeaf was established in December 2010, it’s a holding company and business accelerator focused on enterprises and startups working in clean-tech and innovation industries. Italeaf operates as a company builder fostering the creation and development of industrial startups in clean-tech, smart energy and tech innovation industries. Italeaf offices are located in Terni, Nera Montoro, Milano and Lecce, while its international branches are located in London and Hong Kong, whose research center is located in the Hong Kong Science and Technology Park. The company has some subsidiaries: TerniEnergia which is listed in the STAR segment of the Italian Stock Exchange and focused on renewable energy, energy efficiency and waste management; Skyrobotic which works in the ICT industry with the aim of producing civil drones for professional purposes; Numanova which works in the metallurgic industry and finally, Italeaf RE which is a real estate agency.

Associazione Prospera, part of Progetto Speranza, is a non-profit association founded in 2009 with the aim of fostering the values of social responsibility, transparency and intellectual honesty. Their projects support young people in their professional education and in getting access to the world of work which may sometimes seem remote and inaccessible.

Impact Hub Milano is a Coworking and Events Space, a Community and a Social Business Incubator part of a global network of about 100 spaces and 16.000 entrepreneurs, creative people and other professionals. Since 2012 Impact Hub Milano has demonstrated its strong competence in incubating social startups, thanks to the management of the first Italian centre focused on innovation and social entrepreneurship and to the continuous flow of information and practices from its international network.

Réseau Entreprendre Lombardia is an association that aims to support the rise of philanthropic startuppers because new businesses create new jobs. The main activity of REL is the interdisciplinary and continuous accompaniment from its members. Entrepreneurs and experienced professionals coming from different fields invest their time, free of charge, in working on projects related to creation of enterprises, participating in validation committees, accompanying new entrepreneurs and managing their association. This represents more than 70,000 volunteer hours per year.