Also in 2018, the charge of innovative startups and SMEs registered in UniCredit Start Lab, the acceleration program promoted by UniCredit, continues hereby in its fifth season.
The 632 applications, received by 9 April at the end of a road-show that reached over 20 stages throughout Italy, have in fact made it possible to exceed the quota of 4.100 business plans received from UniCredit since the launch of the initiative in February 2014, the result of increasingly intense collaboration with over 150 stakeholders including incubators, accelerators, universities, trade associations and science parks.
There are 461 newly established companies this year which, together with others 171 innovative business ideas, access the final selection of the best projects in the 4 sectoral scouting categories of the programme: Clean Tech, Digital, Innovative Made in Italy and Life Science. Once again for this edition, the selection will be divided into two phases: the first will be carried out by a dedicated team from the Bank, the second by four specialized commissions made up of corporate experts in the four different sectors.
All startups that will pass the two selection levels they will benefit from mentoring activities, network development, advanced managerial training thanks to an increasingly international Startup Academy and ad hoc banking services. The winning startup in each of the four categories according to the commissions will also receive a grant of 10.000 euros.
Lombardy, with 128 applications, is once again confirmed as the most prolific region in terms of new business ideas this year, followed at a distance by Veneto, with 67 applications and from Sicily, from which 54 business plans sent for participation come from. From the point of view of the sector to which they belong, 49% of the participants come from the Digital area. 12% refer to projects related to the Life Sciences sector (medicine, biomedical, assistive technologies), 10% to the Clean Tech sector, with projects ranging from renewable energies to environmental sustainability.
The remaining 29% of the startups instead presented products, services or process innovations aimed at enhancing the distinctive excellence of Made in Italy, such as agri-food, fashion, design and tourism. In terms of age, 43% of registered entrepreneurs are between 24 and 35 years of age. On the other hand, 23% of startuppers are over 45 years old, a figure that has been growing steadily in recent years, a sign that creativity and innovation continue to develop also thanks to the work experience acquired in the field.
The northern regions are confirmed as those with the highest average age of the proposers. The younger startuppers, on the other hand, come from the regions of Central Italy, with 70% of contestants not reaching the age of 40. The figure which sees the percentage of startup candidates for the program at 17% has slightly decreased
by a woman.
