Start Lab 2021: Digital winners announced
Wednesday 28 July 2021
We take a look at the third round of winning Italian start-ups that joined the 2021 edition of our competition. Let’s discover the projects which according to our jury of experts had the highest potential and most innovative ideas in the Digital sector.
The work of UniCredit Start Lab’s Sector-specific Commissions of our selected jury has continued over the last month.
The third Commission to express its preference was the Digital one, which this year involved entrepreneurs and managers from some of the main Italian and international sector-players: Francesca Chieti, Chief Strategy, Business Development & Transformation Office, TIM; Federico Dalpozzo, Start-ups & VCs Business Growth, Google; Roberto Loro, Director Technology & Innovation, Dedagroup; Enrico Mercadante, Director, Architectures & Innovation - South Europe, Cisco Systems Italy; Valerio Momoni, Chief Strategy and Corporate Development Officer, Cerved; Roberto Privitera, Head of Marketing and Business Development , Acantho (Hera Group) Laura Rocchitelli, Chairman & CEO, Gruppo Rold and Paolo Barbatelli, Chief Sales & Innovation Officer, Gruppo Rold.
The first prize in this category was won by Coloombus, from Palermo, a company that uses AI to optimise national and international cargo deliveries for manufacturing enterprises. The company provides environmentally friendly shipping of containers and truck loads while carrying out all the post-sale administrative procedures, including digital document storage. All services are accessible online 24/7 all year round. The start-up won a grant of € 10,000.
"This prize is an important acknowledgment of the importance of modernising the logistics and transportation sector. Thanks to Start Lab, we want to connect to UniCredit's international network,corporates, investors and top managers."
The second place went to the Milan-based start-up Euklis, specialised in face recognition, artificial intelligence and video surveillance for the protection of critical infrastructures. The most innovative solution is FaRe Hybrid - security intelligence platform that certifies the identity of people, vehicles and objects by simultaneously combining pattern matching and machine learning algorithms.
"Thanks to UniCredit Start Lab's support we hope to connect with Corporate companies, starting industrial and commercial partnerships for security applications, multifactor authentication and process control through the use of artificial intelligence, and with investors who will support the process of business expansion and internationalisation."
The third place went to ToothPic, a cybersecurity start-up, spinoff at the Polytechnic University of Turin, that has developed and patented a unique multi-factor authentication solution that turns every smartphone into a secure online authentication key using the invisible and unclonable manufacturing imperfections of the photographic sensor.
"The collaboration with UniCredit Start Lab represents a growth opportunity of for ToothPic, which will help increase the visibility of our solution within the UniCredit group and banking sector, boosting our brand reputation even further and build potential partnerships to reach the market faster."
Finally, a special mention to the Turin based start-up Alba Robot, for its Augmented Mobility platform that transforms personal electric vehicles (i.e. wheelchairs and mobility scooters) into autonomous and smart ones by using the best technologies from Voice Assistants, Automotive, Robotics and IoT. ALBA Robot supports passengers with reduced mobility to become more independent and provides facilities - like hospitals, airports and museums - solutions for autonomous/assisted mobility services.
"ALBA Robot was founded with the aim of making personal vehicles such as wheelchairs and mobility scooters autonomous and intelligent. The consolidation and continuous development of the product must go hand in hand with the development of relationships that ensure skills and resources to compete internationally. The collaboration with UniCredit Start Lab goes precisely in this direction".
Over the next weeks, we will continue to tell the stories of these young Italian excellences on One UniCredit. Keep following us in the next episodes to learn about Innovative Made in Italy and Impact Innovation projects.