The prizes
Discover all the prizes for the best business ideas and projects competing in Start Cup Piemonte Valle d'Aosta 2025!
For the Ideas Competition
The best business Ideas will receive prizes in services: free-of-charge support and consulting activities aimed at the Business Plan’s development and / or competition, provided by the organizing incubators through experts.
By selecting the corresponding preference during the Business Idea registration (Stage I), the entrepreneurial team will have the possibility to make use of the following free-of-charge services:
a) guidance and advisory services on Smart Mobility topics in Turin, aimed at illustrating relevant policies, technological infrastructure for smart roads, applicable regulations, available research infrastructures in the territory, and open and proprietary data accessible within Turin's ecosystem. The "Smart Mobility Induction" services are provided within the framework of the City of Turin's ToMove project;
b) guidance and support services provided by experts from Invitalia, Official Partner of the Italian National Innovation Award (“Premio Nazionale dell’Innovazione”), aimed at assisting applicants in submitting applications for business creation incentives.
For the Business Plan Competition
Cash prizes are awarded to the best business projects, in accordance with Article 11 of the official rules of the initiative. The award ceremony will be carried out by the Promoter Committee at the beginning of November 2025. Thanks to the endowment made available by the Promoting Institutions and Supporters of the XXI edition of the competition, over €65,000 of prize money will be provided in cash and in services:
Absolute prizes
€7,500
€5,000
€2,500
of €10,000 for the best entrepreneurial project setting up a business in the Italian Province of Cuneo, sponsored by Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Cuneo (Fondazione CRC) and awarded as outlined in Article 11.2 of the competition Rules.
of €7,500 for the best business project that establishes the company in the Pépinières d'Entreprises of Aosta or Pont-Saint-Martin, sponsored by Regione Autonoma Valle d'Aosta and awarded as outlined in Article 11.3 of the competition Rules.
of €7,500 for the best business project proposing innovative products or services regarding the sustainability in the space and aerospace fields, sponsored by Distretto Aerospaziale Piemonte (Piedmont Aerospace Cluster) and awarded as outlined in Article 11.4 of the competition Rules.
of €7,500 in total, awarded to two best innovative entrepreneurial projects in the fields of scientific research, medical and pharmaceutical technological innovation, biotechnology, agriculture, and food needs that foster social progress and better living conditions. Specifically, the two awards are the Social Innovation ‘Gold’ Prize, worth €5,000, and the Social Innovation ‘Silver’ Prize, worth €2,500, sponsored by Fondazione Laura & Franco Beltramo ETS and awarded as outlined in Article 11.5 of the Competition Rules.
of €7,500 in total, awarded to the best entrepreneurial projects (maximum 2 winning teams) proposing innovative products or services based on sustainability-related technologies, sponsored by the LINKS Foundation and awarded in the form of technical services, as outlined in Article 11.6 of the Rules of the competition.
worth a total of €7,000, to be awarded to the two best business projects with intellectual property characteristics on the basis of merit - Jacobacci Gold Award, worth €5,000, and Jacobacci Silver Award, worth €2,000 – that will be distributed in the form of consultancy services on the protection of trademarks, models and patents, as outlined in Article 11.7 of the contest Rules, sponsored by Jacobacci & Partners.
for the best entrepreneurial project on the basis of the maturity of the project, the market potential, the team's skills and the innovative characteristics of the finalist start-ups, consisting of a mentorship session, offered by UniCredit SpA and provided as described in Article 11.8 of the competition Rules, during which will be assessed the suitability of the project to be admitted to the targeted content of the Start Lab programme.
in services, awarded to the three best entrepreneurial projects on smart and sustainable urban mobility, provided within the framework of the City of Turin's ToMove project, awarded as outlined in the Article 11.9 of the competition Rules.
Participation to PNI 2025
The first 6 projects of the final ranking will gain access to the Italian National Innovation Award (PNI). The registration fee of €1,000 per project is paid to the PNI by the organizers of Start Cup Piemonte Valle d’Aosta. Travel and accommodation expenses are charged to the participating teams.
The 2025 edition of the PNI will take place in Ferrara, Italy on Thursday, December 4, and Friday, December 5, 2025, organized by the University of Ferrara, within the framework of ECOSISTER – Ecosistema Territoriale di Innovazione dell’Emilia Romagna, funded by the PNRR.
PNI, the Italian National Award for Innovation which awards cash prizes, is the "Champions Cup" of the winning business projects of the regional Start Cups and is promoted by PNICube, the Italian Association of Incubators and Business Plan Competitions.
The regional Start Cups cover almost the entire Italian territory and involve more than 50 universities and incubators.
Special Mentions (cross-category)
for the best female-led business Project with a majority female team (over 50%).
for the best social innovation project proposing innovative solutions in one of the fields envisaged by Article 2, comma 1, of the Italian Legislative Decree 155/2006 on social enterprise.
for the best project regarding innovative products and/or services deriving from a joint research activity between a company and a Piedmont University.
for the best business project regarding climate change, capable of integrating innovation, technology, protection, and enhancement of natural resources in order to create economic growth and environmental protection.
for the project which stands out the most by its originality, intended as either related to the trademarks’ field or the technology, awarded by Jacobacci & Partners.
