“INTESA SANPAOLO START-UP INITIATIVE” HOLDS SECOND

INTERNATIONAL ROAD SHOW IN LONDON

 

• 9 Start-ups from the Cleantech sector, selected among participants in the previous

roadshows, presented their businesses in the City today to around 100 potential

investors and industrial partners

 

• Over 600 Start-ups and Early Stage projects took part in the previous stages of the

process, with over 140 selected for training activities and more than 90 presented

at an Investor Arena Meeting to about 450 business angels, venture capitalists,

seed capital funds, foundations and private investors

 

• 4 more roadshows are scheduled to take place in Italy in 2011, to be held in March,

June, September and November, with additional meetings planned for London,

Frankfurt, Tel Aviv and San Francisco

 

London, 1 February 2011 - The “Intesa Sanpaolo Start-up Initiative” held its second road show in the “City of London” today in connection with the first Italian platform devoted to start-ups and to their investors of reference. Today’s Investor Arena Meeting saw nine Cleantech businesses present to about 100 investors, representing business angels, venture capital and seed capital funds, and  international corporations. The format of the day was in accordance with the customary schemes for this type of event: presentation of the company and the business plan, followed by a Q&A session between investors and the company on economic, financial and technical themes.

The aim of the event, and of the Intesa Sanpaolo Start-up Initiative, is to discover new, highly innovative entrepreneurial businesses, to prepare them to confront the market and to give them the opportunity to present themselves to potential investors and industrial partners, so as to bring closer together the world of finance and that of technological innovation and research.

The following start-ups were present at this session:

 

 KITEnrg: provides an innovative technology for transforming wind energy into electric power at competitive

costs.

 Siena Solar Nanotech: provides solar energy operators with a technology for the production of thin films that

permit the development of products that reach or exceed grid parity. The firm’s property deposition technique

far exceeds the limits of the techniques currently utilised in the production of thin films.

 GerocoMartigny: furnishes families with interactive solutions for monitoring and managing their daily

consumption of energy. The product consists of a whole set of devices that measure electric power

consumption and ambient temperature, transmitting the data to a personal Web portal designed to facilitate the

saving of energy.

 Agroils: produces sustainable biodiesel fuel that it sells to cellular operators in Africa for powering their base

radio stations.

 Enatek: is developing a new type of wind turbine that can be easily installed on residential and industrial roofs

in urban areas. The horizontal shape of the turbine permits installations to scale, and minimises noise and visual

impact, while maintaining high efficiency thanks to the wall effect.

 Skipso: supplies a Web platform that makes it possible for Cleantech companies to find the resources

necessary for accelerating internal innovations, making the business grow at lower costs and marketing their

products.

 Ohikia: offers a new photovoltaic solution for heat collection.

 Continental: has designed a 360-kilowatt wind turbine to be located in proximity to the final user, such as

industrial and commercial activities.

 All Energy Matters: builds and operates photovoltaic plants at competitive costs through subsidies of the

European Union, which in turn guarantees the purchase of all the energy produced and consequently a high rate

of efficiency.

 

A year after launching the ”Start-up Initiative”, which is promoted and organised by the Innovation Team of the

Corporate & Investment Banking Division of Intesa SanPaolo, over 600 Start-ups and Early Stage projects have

been through the selection process. In total, more than 140 were admitted to the training phase, which

focused on the preparation of the business plan and the management of the meeting with the investors, and is

organised with the support of Maverick Angels, a network of informal investors focused on investments and the

mentoring of fledgling firms.

At the next stage, over 90 companies from the Cleantech, Nanotechnologies, ICT and Biotechnologies sectors

took part in the Arena Meeting, where they presented their businesses and met some 450 potential investors

and industrial partners.

During previous events held by the Intesa Sanpaolo Start-Up Initiative, over 620 manifestations of interest were

received from the participating firms and in many of these cases talks are in progress with the aim of finalising

investments.

In 2011, four “Intesa Sanpaolo Start-Up Initiative” events are scheduled for March, June, September and

November; and in addition to London, the international roadshow will also take place in Frankfurt, Tel Aviv

and San Francisco, the details of which events are in the process of being worked out.

 

Thanks to the Start-Up Initiative, Intesa Sanpaolo Group is able to expand the spectrum of services and

products that it puts at the disposal of Italian businesses. For firms that intend to undertake a process of growth

through innovation and research in particular – from university spin-offs to start-ups, from small and mediumsized

high-tech businesses to technological groups – the Bank offers assistance, professional advice, financing

and equity through a series of specially created structures, including:

• Intesa Sanpaolo Eurodesk, the European desk for facilitating the access of businesses to EU financing

projects;

• MedioCredito Italiano, which handles different lines of financing in favour of innovation, among which is

Nova+;

• the Corporate & Investment Banking Division, through its Merchant Banking and Innovation teams;

• Atlante Ventures and Atlante Ventures Mezzogiorno, the two venture capital funds for businesses that

have projects for growth through research and innovation;

• Banca IMI, through its consulting services aimed at companies planning quotation on the stock exchange

and/or other strategies for growth;

• A partnership in the Filarete Foundation, together with the University of Milan and the Cariplo

Foundation;

• Participation in the Fund for the Development of Small and Medium-Sized Businesses, promoted by the

Ministry of Economy and Finance;

• A partnership in “Fondazione Ricerca & Imprenditorialità,” the research and business foundation

promoted by the Bank together with the advanced studies institute “Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna,” which also sees the participation of important academic and business realities, such as Telecom Italia, Finmeccanica, Enel, the Polytechnic Foundation of Milan and the Italian Institute of Technology.

 

About Intesa Sanpaolo

 

Intesa Sanpaolo is among the top banking groups in the Euro zone and the leading player in Italy in the retail,

corporate and wealth management business areas. Thanks to a well-spread network of 5,900 branches it offers a

wide range of services to about 11.3 million customers in Italy. Intesa Sanpaolo’s international activities are

focused in Central-Eastern Europe and in the Mediterranean basin, where it operates in 13 countries through

retail and commercial banks with approximately 1,800 branches and 8.6 million customers. Moreover, an

international network is present in 30 countries to support corporate customers.

 

 

For further information:

Intesa Sanpaolo

Media Office - Corporate & Investment Banking

Tel. +39.02.8796.3851 / 3010

stampa@intesasanpaolo.com