START-UPS WITH SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT:
THE SECTOR’S MOST INNOVATIVE TECHOLOGIES AND IDEAS WILL BE REWARDED

• The winners of the Global Social Venture Competition are ATLAS and D-heart
• Over the 9 editions, 77 start-up finalists have met more than 700 potential investors, raising more than 9 million Euro.

Milan, 23 February 2017 - Innovative technologies and projects with a strong social and environmental impact. These are the social venture solutions for a sustainable economy presented at the 9th Italian edition of the Global Social Venture Competition (GSVC), international award conceived by the University of California, Berkeley to encourage and develop entrepreneurial ideas in this sector.  The event, which will be held at the Intesa Sanpaolo Group’s Convention Centre in Piazza Belgioioso, Milan, was organised by ALTIS - Postgraduate School for Enterprises and Society (Alta Scuola Impresa e Società) of Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, a GSVC regional partner of the Berkeley university, and by the Intesa Sanpaolo StartUp Initiative.

The objective of GSVC, which was founded in 1999 at the UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, is to encourage the development of new business ideas that centre around social and environmental themes. From the first event to today, it has established itself as the only global competition aimed at focusing on social entrepreneurship with a social and environmental impact.  The results are significant even in Italy: over the 9 editions, 77 start-up finalists have met more than 700 potential investors, raising more than 9 million Euro.

These results even caught the attention of the HAAS School of Business that decided to take part in this year’s Italian Round through the presence of Kristiana Raube, Executive Director of the Institute for Business & Social Impact of HAAS School of Business.

This year’s event also confirmed the presence of the “Romano Rancilio Award”, donated by the Rancilio family and awarded to business initiatives that have distinguished themselves from a social impact point of view. More specifically, a 10,000 Euro donation to each of the two winning start-ups at today’s arena meeting.

 

GSVC also relied on the collaboration of:
Italeaf, the first Italian company builder listed on the Nasdaq First North market of the Stockholm Stock Exchange, and main sponsor of GSVC. On March 17 in Terni, Italeaf will award a prize to the best cleantech and circular economy start-up;
Impact Hub Milano, which awarded the special she 4 imp(act) prize dedicated to women’s entrepreneurial projects;
Reseau Entreprendre Lombardia, which will award the REL prize, consisting of support sessions with professionals and experts, to the two wining start-ups.
Associazione ProSpera, with its tutors coming from various professions, has supported the teams in the competition with 1-on-1 coaching on drawing up a business plan.

In total, 122 business projects participated in the IX Edition of the contest, from which the 6 start-up finalists here today were selected. The first two, based on the opinions expressed by an audience of investors composed of investment funds, business angels, venture capital, institutions, and companies, were ATLAS and D-heart.  Along with the Romano Rancilio Awards, the two winners will also be given direct access to the Global Finals in Berkeley on 5 - 7 April 2017, where they will compete, along with other start-ups from around the world, for a series of prizes totalling 80,000 Dollars.

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The Global Social Venture Competition start-up finalists

• D-Heart - The first portable electrocardiograph, with the size of a yo-yo that connects via Bluetooth to any type of smartphone, enabling anyone to obtain an high quality electrocardiogram and to share it via email with their physician or a centre of telecardiology.
• Yenetics - Innovative non-invasive test for the most widespread genetic diseases in the world, including rare diseases, compared to its competitors that only test for 15. Moreover, it is the first to also test the father, therefore guaranteeing the most accurate results.
• ATLAS - a biocide based on a natural, non-toxic molecule against mosquitoes which spread vector-borne diseases such as malaria, dengue fever, and the latest emergency, the Zika virus. The innovative element of Atlas is that for the first time the mosquito becomes the tool that spreads the biocide we have developed, therefore avoiding the release of toxic chemical compositions that are found in common insecticides.
• WineLeather - New ecological leather made from wine pomace, which prevalently consists of fibres and oils that are processed in an innovative, environmentally sustainable production system.  Thanks to this transformation process the pomace is transformed into a truly natural leather that is void of any toxic substances.
• Micro-Sharing – The most simple and visible way of doing philanthropy. This new concept has the power to alleviate world poverty even though it is an incredible marketing tool for businesses. Implementing micro-sharing in a business’ products or services provides the customers with the possibility of sharing what they consume directly with a person in a developing country.
• L.I.V.E. Glacier Project - An on-line web tool that processes satellite data using a proprietary algorithm to provide glaciologists free information on the evolution and behaviour of glaciers all over the world. In order to obtain on-site photos, which are necessary to validate and improve the scientific models, the IceKing App is being developed: a sustainable tourism app about glaciers.

 

For information

Intesa Sanpaolo
Corporate & Investment Banking Media Office /International Media Office
+39 02 87962489
stampa@intesasanpaolo.com

Romano Rancilio Award
Sabrina Minetti
+39 335 6629642
sabrina@ranciliocube.com

ALTIS
Press Office
Katia Biondi
+39 335 1376604
katia.biondi@unicatt.it

Italeaf S.p.A.
Corporate Communication & Press Office
Federico Zacaglioni
+39 0744 758380
Cell: +39 340 5822368
zacaglioni@italeaf.com

Prospera
Communications Team
Laurenzia Gianfrate
comunicazione@prospera.it
 
Impact Hub Milano
02 40709253
milan.info@impacthub.net

Réseau Entreprendre Lombardia
Press representative
Marta Abbà
+39 339 3694230
mabba@reseau-entreprendre.org