Technology transfer: the “Up2Stars” programme has accelerated 80 startups
With 1,000 applications, 80 accelerated startups and letters of intent from 250 companies, investors, experts and venture capitalists, Intesa Sanpaolo's Up2Stars programme has, in two years, positioned itself among the most interesting initiatives dedicated to the growth of startups.
Up2Stars aims above all to select and develop the most innovative Italian startups to foster the process of technology transfer to SMEs.
Technological innovation is in fact one of the main drivers of growth, both at a macroeconomic level and for individual companies: developing new technologies and introducing innovations in business processes makes it possible to increase productivity, which is necessary to maintain a good level of competitiveness and support the future development of companies and the country.
The Up2Stars programme represents an initiative with a total value in services and opportunities of around €2.2 million, in addition to the financial and non-financial support activities offered by Intesa Sanpaolo to startups. Indeed, for more than a decade, the Group has been devoting specific attention to this segment, with a market share of almost 32% and financing in excess of €800 million.
"We have been working for years and investing to create an organic network made up of research, innovation and technology transfer to SMEs, capable of fostering our country's transition towards new models, in close correlation with the objectives of the NRRP"
Anna Roscio, Executive Director Sales & Marketing Enterprises Intesa Sanpaolo
The programme partners
Up2Stars relies on the network and synergies activated by Intesa Sanpaolo with partners of excellence such as Microsoft, Cisco, Gellify, Elite-Euronext Group and Digit'Ed. A network of collaborations that, from the second edition, has also extended to National Research Centres and Extended Partnerships.
Moreover, thanks to the collaboration with the Italian Innovation Centre in San Francisco established at INNOVIT, Up2Stars represents the first international startup acceleration programme by an Italian bank: 12 start-ups were presented to investors, venture capitalists and entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley.
Collaboration with the Federico II University of Naples
The closing ceremony of the second edition of Up2Stars, organised and carried out with the support of Visa, took place at the Federico II University of Naples: the university is in fact a pole of excellence for innovation and has been collaborating with Intesa Sanpaolo for some time.
The main initiatives shared included:
- it is home to CNR Agritech, a partner of Up2Stars, of which the bank is a founding member, and the Group's Innovation Hub, dedicated to technology transfer from academic research to companies
- 34 workshops during which the bank facilitated the meeting of over 40 start-ups with more than 900 client companies in the area and 500 students, creating several innovation matches
- Fintech Project work, a project to bring students closer to their professional future by acquiring project management and digital strategy skills
- Terra Next, the acceleration programme for innovative start-ups and SMEs in the Bioeconomy sector, set up in cooperation between the Intesa Sanpaolo Group and Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, which sees the Federico II University as a scientific partner alongside corporate partners.
Technological innovation is one of the main drivers of growth, both at a macroeconomic level and for individual companies. Developing new technologies and/or introducing innovations into business processes makes it possible to increase productivity, which is necessary to maintain good competitiveness and support the future development of companies and the country.
Innovation is one of the priority themes identified in the European Competitiveness Report presented to the European Commission by Mario Draghi in September: Europe must speed up the rate of innovation to remain competitive in an increasingly complex international scenario, where US technological leadership is threatened in many strategic sectors by Chinese know-how.
Europe lags behind in terms of productivity, especially in comparison with the US, reflecting on the one hand a lower diffusion of ICT technologies among companies and on the other, a lower intensity of R&D investment by companies (1.5% of the GDP for European companies versus 2.8% of the GDP for US companies, average 2021-2022, source: Eurostat). European companies are not only investing less in R&D, but they are also concentrating on medium-technology sectors (e.g. automotive, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering), which guarantee lower growth returns than high-tech sectors (aerospace, pharmaceuticals, electronics, software, biomedical, etc.), where frontier research provides greater competitive advantages. The US system is also characterised by a greater tendency to change, showing a better ability to adapt to a constantly changing competitive environment than European companies. In 2022, the top 3 US companies, in terms of R&D investment, are active in software (Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft), whereas in 2003 the main players were specialised in automotive and pharmaceuticals. In Europe, on the other hand, greater stability can be observed, with a preponderance of companies more active on the innovation front in the automotive sector in both 2003 and 2022.
In this context, our country does not stand out in the international rankings on innovation and digitalisation: according to the European Innovation Scoreboard 2024, an index that measures the degree of innovation of a country by analysing more than 30 indicators, Italy ranks below the European average, in fact, among the countries that are considered only “moderately innovative”. A boost to innovation can come from the world of innovative start-ups: new companies with high technological content and strong growth potential.
According to data from the Chamber of Commerce Registry, which collects up-to-date information on innovative start-ups from 2012 to end 2023, there were over 12,000 innovative start-ups registered in this registry (data updated at November 2024), showing an acceleration of new entrants, above all in recent years. These companies mainly specialise in ICT services, with a clear focus on the development of new high-tech digital solutions, operating in a wide variety of fields, ranging from health to Industry and Agriculture 4.0, culture and tourism, education, gaming, fintech and professional services in the legal, accounting and/or insurance fields. These are small to very small enterprises, which need to be supported to grow and enter the scale-up phase: the financial system plays a crucial role in this respect, both through the provision of the necessary resources to support investments and through the provision of advice and services.
Last updated 18 November 2024 at 16:54:09
