With the conclusion of Stage 1, the "Ideas Competition", the 17th edition of Start Cup Piemonte Valle d'Aosta has entered Stage 2, the "Business Plan Competition", which gives access to the final selection and prizes for the aspiring entrepreneurs of tomorrow.
How to join the Business Plan Competition
Beginning Tuesday, July 6 through Wednesday, September 1, 2021, it will be possible to submit one or more innovative projects on the official competition website, within five different categories: Cleantech & Energy, ICT, Industrial, Life Sciences, Tourism and Cultural & Creative Industry.
In filling out the application, it will be necessary to enter the personal, educational and professional information of all team members, the document containing the Business Plan / Business Model of the project and another one containing the Executive Summary.
On the "How to apply" page of the Start Cup Piemonte Valle d'Aosta website, you can learn more about the requirements and evaluation criteria, as well as see an example of a summary. To compete for special prizes and special mentions, you must select them when registering your project and include a special section in the Business Plan that contains the appropriate quantifiable parameters to measure the required impact.
Once you have everything you need prepared, go to the "Submit a project" page and start filling out the application form!
What prizes are up for grabs
The 2021 edition of Start Cup Piemonte Valle d'Aosta offers a prize pool of over 50,000 euros to support the most promising projects, directly in cash or services, that will apply in the competition categories. The initiative aims to encourage and support the birth of innovative startups with a high knowledge content, in order to promote the economic development of the Piedmont and Aosta Valley territory.
This year the three absolute prizes of the competition amount to 10,000 euros for the first classified project, 7,500 euros for the second and 5,000 euros for the third.
Among the special prizes offered by the sponsors, the Cuneo Prize of 7,500 euros, offered by the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Cuneo, will be awarded to the best business plan to set up a company in the Province of Cuneo, Italy. The Valle d'Aosta Prize, also worth 7,500 euros, is offered by the Autonomous Region of Valle d'Aosta for the best Business Plan that sets up the company in the Pèpiniéres d'Entreprises of Aosta or Pont Saint Martin; the Jacobacci & Partners Prize, worth an indicative 10,000 euros, is offered by Jacobacci & Partners to the best Business Plan with intellectual property features and provided in the form of consulting services on the protection of trademarks and patents, for a period of 6 months from the date of the award ceremony.
The first 6 projects in the final ranking of the competition also acquire the right to participate in PNI 2021, the Italian National Award for Innovation: the registration fee, worth 1,000 euros for each project, will be paid directly by the organizers of Start Cup Piemonte Valle d'Aosta. The next edition of the PNI will take place in Rome, at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, at the end of November 2021.
The list of awards that participants in the Business Plan Competition can win is not over yet: there are also four special mentions, across the award categories.
"Equal Opportunities": for the best project of "Social enterprise in terms of equal opportunities" aimed at promoting the female entrepreneurship, whose definition requires that it meets at least one of the following criteria: women-led team or social structure; team or social structure containing at least 51% of women..
"Social Innovation": for the best "Social Innovation" project, defined according to the criteria expressed by the Italian regulations for innovative startups..
"Covid-19": for the best project that offers solutions to health crises caused by the spread of virus outbreaks through innovative products/services designed to protect human health, prevention, emergency management, data and information, economic recovery and health system strengthening.
"Open Innovation / Industrial Spin-off": to the best project concerning innovative products and/or services coming from a joint research activity between a company and a University in Piedmont, Italy.
Put your project into play
To learn more about how the initiative is run, the eligibility criteria and the awarding of prizes, check out the official competition rules. When your Business Plan is ready for the contest, apply on the website and keep following us - also on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter - for the next news!
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