Start Cup Piemonte Valle d'Aosta is back for its 15th edition! The business plan competition aimed at fostering the birth of innovative startups is promoted by the incubators I3P, Innovative Companies Incubator of the Politecnico di Torino, 2i3T, Business Incubator of the University of Turin, and Enne3, Business Incubator of the Polo di Innovazione of Novara.
The initiative
Organized as part of the National Award for Innovation (PNI) promoted by PNICube, Start Cup Piemonte Valle d'Aosta is divided as always into two stages, the Competition of Ideas (Phase I) and the Business Plan Competition (Phase II), which you can participate for free by submitting a business idea or a business project that, regardless of the stage of development, are the result of the work of an individual or a group of individuals and aimed at the birth of an innovative startup.
By supporting the creation of innovative and knowledge-intensive startups, the Start Cup aims to spread the culture of innovation at local level and promote the economic development of the Piedmont and Valle d'Aosta territory.
Are able to participate, individually or in groups, all aspiring entrepreneurs over 18 years old, including university students and structured of universities and research centers (university students, graduates, PhD students or PhD, research fellows, professors structured) and the owners of companies just started. In this new edition, moreover, thanks to the support of Contamination Lab Torino, university students have a preferential lane: the CLAB special prize is in fact destined to the best Business Plan presented by a team composed of at least two university students enrolled at the Politecnico di Torino and the University of Torino.
Ideas and projects
To be admitted to the competition are business ideas and projects that refer to the competition categories: Life Science, ICT, Cleantech & Energy, Tourism and Cultural and Creative Industries, as well as Industrial.
Phase I - Competition of Ideas (applications until June 5) rewards the best business ideas in services, free support activities and advice provided by the Business Incubators, aimed at the drafting of the business plan. The business idea can be submitted by June 5, 2019 (18.00) through www.startcup-piemonte-vda.it.
Phase II - Business Plan Competition (applications until July 24) is the one that gives access to the final selection and prizes. It can be accessed by everyone, even if they did not make the first selection and even if they did not submit an idea to Phase I. To participate in Phase II of the competition, the Business Plan Competition, it is instead necessary to submit no later than July 24, 2019 (18.00) through the website www.startcup-piemonte-vda.it a Business Plan describing the business project.
The prizes
The best startup projects, which will be decreed by October 31, 2019 in Alessandria, Italy, will receive cash prizes and special mentions, awarded with the support of a Jury composed of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and business angels. The prize pool amounts to over 60,000 euros, disbursed in cash and services: the first place will go to a prize of 10,000 euros, the second of 7,500, the third of 5,000. In addition, the first 6 projects of the final ranking will acquire the right to participate in the PNI 2019, National Award for Innovation, the "cup of champions" between the winning business projects of the 15 regional Start Cups that will take place in Catania at the end of November 2019.
There are also special prizes for Valle d'Aosta of 7,500 euros for the best business plan that sets up the company in the Pèpiniéres d'Entreprises of Aosta or Pont Saint Martin, offered by the Autonomous Region of Valle d'Aosta; the Eastern Piedmont Prize of 7,500 euros for the best business plan that sets up the company in the ENNE3 Incubator in Novara or Alessandria, offered by the local authorities.
Among the novelties of the XV edition, special prizes promoted by sponsors interested in contributing concretely to the development of innovation: Jacobacci & Partners, a point of reference in the Italian panorama and one of the main European realities in the field of intellectual property protection, offers 10,000 € in consulting services in the field of trademark and patent protection; Fondazione CRC, attentive to interventions aimed at competitiveness and sustainable development, assigns the Cuneo Prize of 7. 500 € to the best Business Plan that sets up the company in the Province of Cuneo; Contamination lab, an inter-university project of the Polytechnic of Turin and the University of Turin that involves more than 100. 000 students in training courses for the generation and maturation of innovative ideas, offers the CLAB Torino Prize, consisting of a year of pre-incubation at the I3P or 2i3T Incubator for the best Business Plan presented by a team composed of at least two university students (at least one enrolled at the Politecnico di Torino and at least one enrolled at the University of Torino) offered by the Contamination Lab of Torino.
Confirmed also two special mentions for the best project of "Equal Opportunities" aimed at promoting the principle of equal opportunities and female entrepreneurship, and the best project of "Social Innovation".
Other new sponsors are also participating in the initiative, supporting the organization of the Start Cup:
LINKS Foundation, a research center that develops next-generation technologies, interested in fostering technological and economic growth, increasing the competitiveness of the ecosystem and enhancing intellectual property,
Fondazione Michelin Sviluppo, aimed at promoting the socio-economic development of the territory and the creation of jobs,
UniCredit, attentive to cooperative relationships to support innovative startups.
The numbers of the previous editions
To date, 5,900 aspiring entrepreneurs divided into teams have presented a total of 3,000 business ideas and 1,400 business plans. The total prize money of over 1 million euros has supported the creation of at least 100 companies, which today employ around 1,000 people.
