UniCredit Start Lab, the winning start-ups of the 2024 edition have been selected to access the bank's business platform dedicated to innovative Italian start-ups and SMEs

we receive e we publish the following press release issued by UniCredit.

Proclaimed i winners of the 2024 edition of UniCredit Start Lab, UniCredit's business platform aimed at the best innovative Italian "Tech" start-ups and SMEs which has seen the bank, in 11 years of activity, evaluate over 8 thousand entrepreneurial projects and accompany more than 600 start-ups in the country towards paths of growth.

The companies admitted to the program were: selected by commissions evaluators made up of experts and representatives of leading companies in their respective sectors, among the approximately 700 start-ups that submitted their applications.

Among the five sectors to which the initiative is dedicated, the majority of participations appear to come predominantly from the Digital world (43% of the total), followed by Impact Innovation (17%), Innovative Made in Italy (14%), Clean Tech (14%) and Life Science (12%). %)

The percentage of female-led start-ups who applied this year, 19% of the total applications received, almost doubled, reaching the share of 36% among those selected to access Start Lab.

They will be this year 6 Corporate Partners – Barilla, Cisco, Fincantieri, Granarolo, Jakala and Iren – who will identify at least one startup among the finalists each to support by making their mentors and facilities (laboratories and company spaces) available, launching joint pilot projects and evaluating the possibility of equity investments .

states Remo Taricani, Deputy Head of UniCredit Italy: “The Italian innovation ecosystem, after the positive trend of recent years, is going through a period of great transformations. Also in light of the current macroeconomic context it is important to continue support and promote innovative start-ups and SMEs. For this reason, UniCredit confirms its commitment to new generation tech companies, with the belief that they can represent an enabler of growth and development for our territories and our communities. In the last 11 years, thanks to UniCredit Start Lab, we have accompanied hundreds of companies in their growth path and we will continue to encourage the creation of an open and inclusive ecosystem, capable of giving rise to and supporting new entrepreneurial realities with a technological matrix. ”

To the best companies selected in each of the 5 categories mentioned, UniCredit awards a prize of € 10.000.

For the category Life Science, the start-up from Abruzzo came first ExoLab Italy which has developed a 100% plant-based technological platform, capable of making the transport of biochemical signals and cell-cell communication more efficient, with application in the fields of regenerative medicine and drug delivery, but also in the fields of nutraceuticals and dermocosmetics .

in the category Clean Tech & Industrial the Milanese start-up excelled Eoliann with its ''climate risk suite'' capable of estimating the probability, intensity and effects of extreme phenomena, such as floods, droughts, earthquakes and fires, on a global scale and with a high degree of precision.

'SInnovative Made in Italy, the Turin start-up was the winner Restworld which has developed a platform dedicated to the Ho.Re.Ca sector which, thanks to AI and Machine Learning technologies, is able to structure the relevant information present in workers' CVs, facilitating matching between activities and those looking for employment .

In the field Digital the Florentine team came first Equixly, which offers a SaaS platform that allows, through innovative machine learning algorithms, to integrate API security tests into the software development life cycle, allowing the early identification of security flaws.

For the category Impact Innovation, the winner is the Roman one Starting Finance which, with over 1,3 million users and 36 university clubs in the main Italian universities, is today one of the largest communities active in the economic-financial information and education of young people in Italy.

  59 selected companies they also access specific services and opportunities of the UniCredit Start Lab business platform including:

• participation in meetings with corporate clients of UniCredit to evaluate possible commercial, industrial or technological partnerships, both in ad hoc sector initiatives and in one-to-one meetings;
• the possibility of coming into contact with potential investors, including international ones (Business Angels, Venture Capital, etc.) specially selected by UniCredit;
• access to the Startup Academy, the managerial training program organized by the UniCredit Start Lab team;
• the identification of one or more Mentors chosen among professionals, consultants, entrepreneurs, UniCredit partners for periodic discussions on strategic aspects and company growth;
• the assignment of a UniCredit Relationship Manager to follow innovative start-ups and SMEs in their banking needs.

Below is the complete list of the winning start-ups and Special Mentions in the five categories of the initiative.