Despite the not too encouraging economic picture, however, there is light at the end of the tunnel. And one fact appears incontrovertible: even when market conditions are certainly not advantageous, the desire for business and the ferment of those with good ideas seem to hold the brunt of the crisis. This is what emerges from InfoCamere's reading of the data in the special section of the Business Register managed by the Chambers of Commerce dedicated to innovative start-ups one year after its creation.
As of 17 March, there were 1.792 companies – in the process of being or already incorporated no more than 48 months ago – with the sole or main social objective of "the development, production and marketing of innovative products or services with high technological value". The official data of this particular statistical universe are subject to weekly periodic monitoring at the address http://startup.registroimprese.it.
Driving the dynamics, in absolute value, is Lombardy with 355 units. Behind high values are Emilia-Romagna (202) and Lazio (187). On the other hand, Valle d'Aosta, Basilicata and Molise meet respectively with 6, 9 and 10 accredited entities. Among the southern regions, Campania is the one with the largest number, with its 83 registered units, followed by Puglia (76) and Sicily (63). Precisely half of Italian innovative companies (896) are concentrated in four regions, all in the Centre-North: Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, Lazio and Veneto.
The most active province is that of Milan with 236 registered startups, followed by Rome with 167, then Turin and Trento with 115 and 73 respectively. 99 provinces out of 105 see the presence of at least one startup in their territory. The distribution of data by legal form shows that the vast majority of startuppers mainly choose the legal form of limited liability company (they did so in 1.729 cases, equal to 96% of the total). The contribution provided by joint-stock companies and cooperatives was modest, with 33 and 27 cases respectively, representing 1,8 and 1,5% of the total.
Over 30% of the total number of "innovative" companies registered in the last twelve months is given by activities related to the production of software and IT consultancy, where as of 17 March there were 546 companies. The “Research and development” sector also appears to be very lively (312 units, 17,4%). To facilitate its birth and development, the State, with the Decreto Crescita 2.0, converted into law on 19 December 2012, has prepared a series of exemptions for the purpose of establishing and registering the company in the Register of Companies, tax breaks, as well as to company law and a particular discipline in labor relations in the company
