This article is part of the special Tech4Climate, Startups for the environment by Italian Techtoday (7 October) on newsstands with Il Secolo XIX and yesterday with La Stampa (in Piedmont, Val d’Aosta and Liguria), Sentinella del Canavese, La Provincia Pavese, Gazzetta di Mantova, Corriere delle Alpi, La Tribuna di Treviso, Il Mattino di Padova, The New Venice, Il Piccolo and Il Messaggero Veneto
Il panorama of Genoese and Ligurian startups is wider and more varied than one might think: there is BuddyFit, one of the leading apps in Italy for streaming gym from home, Chitè, an ecommerce of made-to-measure and made in Italy lingerie, SMO, which produces microscopic lenses for smartphonesand of course WyScout, who revolutionized the world of football statistics.
And then there are those engaged in fight against climate change, to protect the environment and also to make more sustainable what we have done so far but which has now become unsustainable. For example, there is OutBefounded in Recco in October 2021 by Luca Tixi (marine biologist and former founder of Outdoor Portofino) with the help of marine ecologist Arianna Liconti and Matilde Marino and Jacopo Dellacasa: “We wanted to combine citizen science, participatory science, with the passion for being outdoors and use them to give to scientists new and better tools to do their research”, Explained Marino, who has the role of marketing and business development manager.
Companies that want to do something to help the environment turn to OutBe, which organizes training, consultancy and above all outdoor events for their employees; all that is collected during these events (information, data, objects) is indexed through the startup platform and delivered to those who do research. Instead of having the scientists go to the field, they take the field to the scientists: “During the beach cleaning events, all the micro and macroplastics are cataloged and geolocated, which allows us to better reconstruct their origin and their nature – Marino told us giving some concrete examples – During kayaking, we do the same using nets and jars, and what we collect it is delivered to the CNR“. OutBe, which today employs 6 people, in the future aims to improve the user experience of its platform, to create its own app and also to expand its business beyond Northern Italy. And beyond Italy, too.
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And definitely beyond Italy is where he would like to arrive Dario Brunaco-founder and CEO of DB Space, which makes engines for space travel. More precisely, propulsion systems for so-called launchers (missiles that take things out of Earth’s orbit) and for vehicles intended for the exploration of other planets, such as landers and rovers. Bruna, who is Genoese and worked at NASA for 3 years, told us that “the startup was founded in 2021” and that “among the founders there are also former astronaut Franco Malerba and Joseph P. Veres, former manager of the American Space Agency “. Simplifying, what they want to do (or rather: what they have done and would like to patent) is replace engine turbines with electric motors which perform the same function of increasing the fuel pressure, but using less energy and being more robust, cheaper to produce and above all reusable. More sustainable, in short: “They can be used with any fuel, from kerosene to liquid hydrogen, passing through methane and oxygen”, explained Bruna, showing us a prototype printed in 3D.
So far, DB Space has raised 100 thousand euros in funding, it stands for close another round “with an important international investor” and is in contact with ASI and ESA for the supply of its devices: “By mid-2023 we should complete the validation process, we will raise more funds, we want to hire 7-8 people and arrive on the market in 2025”. Which is roughly when humanity should return to the moon.