There are awards to help startups take their first steps. And awards that celebrate the ability of a new business to move well on its target market in the first years of its life. The Italian Master Startup Award (Imsa, former Startup of the Year), has been awarded for 15 years to university spinoffs that have won the Pni, the ‘cup of champions’ for the best business projects born in Italian universities and polytechnics. This year Imsa will be assigned on September 30th on the stage of the Italian Tech Week in Turin. The award, organized by Pni Cube, the Italian association of university incubators and regional StartuCup business plan competitions, has been active since 2007. It offers the university startup a cash prize (10,000 euros) but above all visibility and the possibility of getting in touch with venture capital funds potentially interested in investing in the company.
There will be 8 finalists. All will be companies born from Italian university research. The winners of the last editions tell it. Like this year’s finalists.
- ABzero has created a system to bring medical and biological material with drones.
- Aiko develops software for the automation of space missions.
- Ermes provides companies with protection from cyber attacks capable of reducing risks by 99% compared to more renowned competitors.
- Hero has patented an automation system to disassemble TVs and monitors and recover 99% of the materials for recycling.
- Isaac has developed a solution for seismic prevention and monitoring buildings.
- MgShell has developed a tiny intraocular device capable of saving the sight of patients suffering from degenerative diseases.
- Rozes is a service capable of identifying the degree of similarity of a company balance sheet compared to that of a criminal company, or a bankrupt one.
- Splastica, which has developed a technology capable of producing biodegradable and compostable bioplastic from milk.
Alessandro Grandi for three years he has been the president of Pni Cube, the Italian association of university incubators and regional StartuCup business plan competitions. He is professor at the engineering faculty in Bologna, where he teaches Technology and Innovation management. At the Italian Tech Week he will award the university startup winner of the National Innovation Award that has done the best in its target market. A recognition for the work done. It is an invitation to improve what was achieved in the first years of the company’s life.
Professor, what is the goal of the Imsa Award?
“Pni Cube is a university incubators association. Institutionally, we believe in the ability of research to produce results that can become a business, create startups capable of creating development in the country. Imsa is a further support to university startups that have already won the National Innovation Award in recent years “.
What does this support consist of?
“We offer startups a prize of 10,000 euros, but what matters most is to celebrate their growth path, to testify that from the university classrooms, companies able to grow are born and put them in contact with investors able to further support them in their climb to their own. reference market”.
A reward for a job well done.
“Exactly. It is also important for us to follow business projects and startups that come out of universities. It is part of our job. This is why Imsa serves to reward the one that has achieved the most significant results within 3-5 years of birth “.
What do you evaluate?
“Their growth, above all. Let’s see what they have achieved in terms of turnover, some have also achieved important results. But also the number of employees in the company and the ability to attract new investors, new financial resources ”.
Has the nature of awarded startups changed over the years?
“The nature of the projects changes. Many are more technically and scientifically ambitious. Some need more time to become solid. More resources. This is also why Imsa was born. Which also offers startups a good opportunity to gain new visibility. Many of these start-ups enter the radar of large companies, and are acquired in Open Innovation operations because certain technologies become interesting for already structured and large companies which, however, can entrust part of their innovation to startups “.
Do you award specific thematic areas?
“No, there are no specific areas. We reward all that is good that comes out of Italian research and can become a business. The business projects born from university programs cover all possible technical and scientific fields, because all the research is done in universities. Our task as an association is to look for those projects that have shown indicative results in all sectors. We are looking for the scientific impact of the proposed innovations, but also the social impact and the impact on environmental sustainability ”.