The startups Fidelio Medical and Algor won the final prizes in the Life Sciences and ICT categories respectively at PNI 2021, the National Award for Innovation promoted by the PNICube association, obtaining cash prizes of € 25,000 each. The young companies awarded prizes were joined by Reefilla, which received the UniCredit Start Lab prize.
The competing startups were chosen from the 63 winners of the 15 Italian regional Start Cups and, in particular, the two category winners were selected from the 16 superfinalists who competed on December 3, 2021 in Rome, at the "Tor Vergata" University.
The three innovative enterprise projects Fidelio Medical, Algor and Reefilla come from Start Cup Piemonte Valle d'Aosta 2021. Now in its 17th edition, the business plan competition has been promoted by the incubators I3P, 2i3T and Enne3 with the aim of spreading the culture of innovation and supporting the birth of innovative startups with high knowledge content, to promote the economic development of the Piedmont and Valle d'Aosta territory.
Fidelio Medical, startup incubated in 2i3T, won the award in the Life Sciences category with the project that aims to bring to market the first digital solution for screening and diagnosis of iron deficiency directly in doctors' offices and pharmacies, designed specifically for women.
Algor, supported by the I3P incubator, has been awarded in the ICT category: innovative startup in the Edtech field, it has developed Algor Maps, the first web app that supports students with DSA, teachers and tutors in the creation of concept maps automatically from a text, thanks to a proprietary AI algorithm. Algor also received the "Best Social Innovative Startup" Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center award, assigned to it for having proposed innovative solutions with a social vocation in the educational field.
Finally, the UniCredit Start Lab Special Prize was awarded to Reefilla, a startup incubated in I3P that has developed the first predictive charging service for electric vehicles through a fast charge device, based on interchangeable batteries, connected and transportable. Everything is managed by a cloud-based digital platform, which will allow to control the devices and coordinate operational activities. The prize gives access to UniCredit's business platform and includes: assignment of a mentor chosen from among professionals, consultants, entrepreneurs, UniCredit's innovation partners for periodic discussions with the startups on strategic and growth aspects; participation in the Startup Academy; coaching program by the UniCredit Start Lab team; assignment of a UniCredit Relationship Manager to follow up on banking needs; organization of Business Meetings with UniCredit's Corporate clients and with possible investors.
Elemento, a startup founded by physicists Gabriele Gaetano Fronzé (CEO) and Federica Legger, recently established at the 2i3T incubator and now part of the shortlist of the 4 best national startups in the ICT sector, is one of the 63 startup finalists at PNI. Elemento was created to simplify the realization and implementation of a personal and private cloud that is as advanced as that of the big internet providers, but so user-friendly as to become the new standard even for less experienced users.
"The innovative entrepreneurial fabric that is born within university incubators is more than ever the result of young talents who deserve to be supported and encouraged: this recognition is the right epilogue to what we have been advocating for some time," commented Elena Chiorino, Piedmont Regional Councillor for Education, Employment, Professional Training and Right to University Study. "Our thanks go to all those who believe in this project, work on it with passion and the important goals achieved prove it, becoming, for all of us and for future generations, an excellent example to pursue."
"A month ago we awarded the commitment of many young people and researchers who have submitted projects and proposals under the Start Cup program. These activities now receive the right consecration also at the national level, this can only confirm the validity and quality of a path that enhances the Piedmont research," said Andrea Tronzano, Piedmont Region Councillor for the development of productive activities. "We must have faith in people, in young people, in their spirit of always putting themselves on the line, of overcoming their limits and working and inventing through the tools that we can provide them with, and the teamwork that underpins the Start Cup can only come out stronger."
