“Italia non profit”, “Jobiri”, “Local To You”, “Tripmetoo” are the 4 winning design ideas of the second edition of “Welfare, che impresa!” the call aimed at young social start-ups called to present innovative projects dedicated to community welfare and capable of promoting social cohesion, development and networking. The competition, promoted by the Italian Accenture Foundation, the Bracco Foundation, the Golinelli Foundation, the Snam Foundation and UBI Banca with the scientific contribution of AICCON and the Politecnico di Milano – Tiresia, on the ideaTRE60 platform, saw participation double compared to the previous edition. There were over 150 project ideas from all over Italy for a total prize money of 360.000 euros; this figure highlights the growth of interest in new services capable of regenerating the social fabric of the country system.
Fondazione Italiana Accenture, Fondazione Bracco and Fondazione Golinelli awarded the best projects in Northern and Central Italy: respectively "Italia non profit", "Jobiri" and "Local To You"; Snam Foundation awarded "Tripmetoo" for the Southern category. Each Foundation made a cash contribution of 20.000 euros available, while UBI Banca offered each winner a loan of up to 50.000 euros, at 0% interest, from the UBI Community line for nonprofits, along with a free online nonprofit account for 36 months. The winners will have the opportunity to participate in the 4-month incubation or acceleration path worth 5.000 euros organized by PoliHub (Milan), Social Fare (Turin) and Campania NewSteel (Naples).
The jury also decided to award a special prize to the "AGRIshelter" project with a cash contribution of 10.000 euros made available by the Italian Accenture Foundation and the Snam Foundation, a loan of up to 50.000 euros and a free online non-profit account for 36 months of UBI Banca and a probono incubation course offered by PoliHub, all disbursed upon achievement of planning objectives.
“Innovation with a social vocation is a millenary phenomenon, but which in recent decades has been evolving by incorporating and adapting mechanisms typical of commercial enterprise activity. In doing so, he is increasingly attracting the interest of young people who, disillusioned by the excesses of global capitalism and the inadequacy of institutions, want to do business to 'change the world'.
In this regard, the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor underlines how on average 3-4% of new global startups have a declared social mission, with peaks of up to 10% in some countries, and with double percentages compared to less than ten years ago. The backbone of social innovation, and of social entrepreneurship in a broader sense, is a moral decision aimed at favoring the creation of value by those who do business. This 'moral' choice produces consequences not only in terms of social impact, but also on the means of business activity, on the forms of governance, as well as on the scalability and economic-financial sustainability over time - recalled Alessandro Giudici, Lecturer in Strategy, Cass Business School City University of London in his keynote speech innovation and social entrepreneurship. International scenario and new generation networks.
The winning social start-ups were selected by the jury composed of: Anna Puccio – Fondazione Italiana Accenture; Gaela Bernini – Bracco Foundation; Antonio Danieli – Golinelli Foundation; Dario Manigrasso – Snam Foundation; Vincenzo Algiers – Ubi Banca; Paolo Venturi – AICCON; Denise Di Dio – TIRESIA, Milan Polytechnic; Federica Biancon – POLIHUB; Monica Paolizzi – Social Fare; Massimo Varrone – Campania NewSteel.
