It grows exponentially number of startups in Italy which, in the last four years, has increased at an average annual rate of 67%. To date, there are 5.803, almost three times as many as just two years ago, and of these over 10% (614) are active in the energy sector.
This is what emerges from the annual report on energy innovation of theInstitute for Competitiveness, I-Com, a think tank chaired by Stefano da Empoli, which this year has reached its eighth edition and was launched today on the occasion of the conference: “Innovation cubed. Energy, mobility, territories”. Title that underlines the many issues addressed by the Report, developed within the I-Com Innov-E Observatory, directed by Antonio Sileo.
According to I-Com's analysis, the contribution to the national GDP of energy startups alone could reach up to 173 million euros a year, just under 10% of the contribution of the entire start-up population in Italy, which is estimated to reach 1.855 million euros. It is certainly the North that contributes most to this result (with 105 million euros) but if one looks at the value that each start-up produces on average, it is the companies active in Central Italy that give the best results, with a production value average of 753 thousand euros. At the bottom, the start-ups of the South, which in any case produce on average over half a million euros.
“The startup phenomenon is experiencing dizzying growth and the energy sector is one of the main protagonists,” he underlines Stephen of Empoli. “And yet, the vast majority are still talking about unexpressed potential, if it is true that 69,8% of energy startups (and 67,5% of startups in general) declare a production value of less than 100.000 euros. The best results in Central Italy can be explained by a smaller number of innovative micro-enterprises active in the energy sector (66,0% against 70,3% in the North and 77,2% in the South)”.
“However”, adds Antonio Sileo, “it is precisely two regions of the South that stand out for their propensity for patenting: in Sardinia and Molise, at least half of the number of energy startups have filed a patent or registered a software. Unlike, for example, Lombardy, where, despite the absolute values, less than a third of them patent (29%). This confirms the importance of this entrepreneurial form in weaker regional economies, where start-ups can represent a driving force for growth”.
I-Com then developed a more complete performance indicator to take into account, at the same time, the per capita number of innovative startups active in the area and the survival capacity of new businesses. The best performing regions in this sense are thus the Marches, Emilia Romagna, Umbria and, once again, Molise (even if for the last two Regions the figure is statistically less significant given the low number of startups in absolute value).
