60 leading start-ups selected to enter UniCredit Start Lab platform in 2023

• 700 applications received from across Italy, with increased focus on "Impact Innovation" projects and growing participation from women-led start-ups
• 60 finalists to have access to specific services designed to support their growth
• Social and environmental considerations, as well as conscious use of frontier technologies, key factors in the winning projects

UniCredit today announced the 60 start-ups that will have access to its Start Lab platform in 2023.

Chosen by selection committees made up of experts and representatives of leading companies in the respective sectors, the winners represent some of the most promising Italian start-ups and innovative SMEs.

Over the course of its 10 editions UniCredit's Start Lab has seen the bank to assess almost 8,000 entrepreneurial projects and guide over 550 start-ups in Italy on their growth path.

This year around 700 applications were received from across Italy, developed by teams of new entrepreneurs working in the following sectors: Digital (40% of the total), Impact Innovation (18%), Innovative Made in Italy (18%), Life Science (15%) and Clean Tech (9%). To the top companies selected in each of the mentioned 5 categories, UniCredit awards a prize of 10,000 euros.

Women-led start-ups in this year's applications represent 22% (up from 17% in 2022), with the quota rising to 50% in those selected to access Start Lab.

This year also saw an important new development, with 5 UniCredit Corporate Partners - Barilla, Cisco, Fincantieri, Granarolo and Jakala - identifying at least one start-up from among the 60 finalists to support through mentoring and facilities (laboratories and premises), to launch joint pilot projects and to consider the possibility of capital injections.

Remo Taricani, Deputy Head of Italy at UniCredit, said: "With the UniCredit Start Lab, we have helped hundreds of start-ups to achieve sustainable growth in recent years, becoming a reference partner for the Italian innovation ecosystem. Fostering bottom-up innovation is an integral part of our commitment to supporting Italian SMEs - a critical part of the country's economy generating more than one third of employment and around 40% of value added - to grow and become stronger. It also perfectly fits with UniCredit's ESG strategy when speaking of projects having positive impacts on social and environmental aspects of the communities in which we operate".  

In the Life Science category, first place went to the Milanese start-up Medicilio which developed the first decentralised hospital in Italy capable of delivering high-quality diagnostic medicine directly to patients' homes.

In the Clean Tech & Industrial category, Katakem, a start-up from Calabria, took first place for developing the first automated chemical reactor that can eliminate most manual operations currently required in laboratory practices and chemical processes, speeding them up by a factor of ten.

In the Innovative Made in Italy category, the winner was the start-up Deliveristo, with its B2B food-tech marketplace where chefs and restaurateurs can order directly from more than 350 suppliers, while in the Digital category, the winner was the start-up Arcan.  Based in Lecco this company has developed a SaaS platform that saves on software development costs by using artificial intelligence to identify inefficiencies in source code and estimate the time, cost and benefits of eliminating them.

The winner in the Impact Innovation category was the start-up Voidless, which is tackling the problem of "over-packaging" by developing a new generation of on-demand packaging systems - machines that can produce customised boxes for each individual order directly in the logistics centre.

Finally, in the "UniCredit Start Lab for the South" initiative, which aims to showcase promising innovative companies in southern Italy, the winners were Robosan (a robotic platform for diagnostic laboratories) and Sestre (a solution for fertility and treatment of hormonal disorders).

All 60 selected companies will also have access to specific services and opportunities offered by the UniCredit Start Lab business platform, including:

• participation in meetings with UniCredit's corporate clients to assess possible commercial, industrial or technological partnerships
• opportunity to connect with potential investors, including international players (business angels, venture capital, etc.) specially selected by UniCredit
• access to the Start-up Academy, the management training programme organised by the UniCredit Start Lab team
• identification of one or more mentors chosen from professionals, consultants, entrepreneurs and UniCredit partners, for regular discussions on strategic matters and business growth
• assignment of a UniCredit Relationship Manager to assist innovative start-ups and SMEs with their banking needs.

Below is the full list of winning start-ups and special mentions in the five categories of the initiative and in the UniCredit Start Lab for the South.

Milan, 31 July 2023

Contacts

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