The Sixth Edition of Startup Marathon Kicks Off: The Contest for Innovative Enterprises

The sixth edition of Startup Marathon is now underway and is an initiative dedicated to startups, innovative SMEs and university spin-offs, promoted by Area Science Park, UniCredit Start Lab and Fondazione Comunica. Over the years, this project has established a network of dozens of incubators, accelerators, universities and other organisations supporting business development throughout Italy, which have made it possible for more than 200 of the best startups across Italy to meet and make themselves known to leading SMEs, corporations and Italian and international investors who are partners in the event.

In fact, the format requires the supporting organisations themselves to “present” their best startups, innovative SMEs or spin-offs by nominating them to participate in Startup Marathon. This approach makes it possible to bring together the most promising innovative proposals on the national scene in two distinct programmes: a startup competition and a targeted B2B matching programme.

Confirmed following the first edition last year, the Open Innovation B2B programme is designed to allow the event’s partner companies to present their innovation needs, to which the startups will respond and these startups can, in turn, be directly nominated to intercept them. Those offering the most suitable solutions will have the opportunity, during the autumn, to engage in one-to-one meetings with corporations, in order to present their innovation projects directly.

Registration for the contest follows a similar but separate process, detailed on the startupmarathon.it website. Once nominations close in September, a group of startups will be selected to present their video pitch to an audience of investors and entrepreneurs during the Startup Marathon Digital Day on 23 October, as part of the DIGITALmeet event. During this digital event, 10 finalists will be chosen to compete in a pitch competition on 20 November at UniCredit’s Tower Hall in Milan. The projects will be evaluated by a panel of judges comprised of representatives from Startup Marathon’s partners and a Scientific Committee of experts from the world of entrepreneurship, innovation and specialised press, chaired by Mariarosa Trolese, board member of the Italian Business Angel Network.

The winning startups will be accompanied along a path focused on seeking grants and funding, as well as developing products and services capable of generating revenue and employment. The startup in first place will be offered participation in the UniCredit Start Lab acceleration programme and, along with the startups in second and third place, will be included among those pre-selected to take part in the national mission to CES in Las Vegas, the world’s most important trade show dedicated to innovation and new technologies.

A special prize will be awarded to the best startup, innovative SME or spin-off with a female-majority ownership structure, which will be able to participate in the international BoostHerUp acceleration programme, organised by Area Science Park. There will also be a ranking for the organisations that support and nominate startups and they will be assigned a score based on the positioning of their companies. The top three will receive privileged access to the Executive MBA in Business Innovation offered by the MIB Trieste School of Management. This recognition will also be extended to all 10 finalist startups.

“In six years, Startup Marathon has grown, while retaining its original practical spirit: today it represents a solid meeting point between those who develop technology and those seeking it to innovate. Last year’s introduction of the Open Innovation B2B path added a direct collaboration channel alongside the contest, which is already showing concrete results and confirming how the two souls of the initiative strengthen each other. The true value of this initiative lies in the consolidated network formed over the years between support organisations, startups and industrial partners: creating the conditions for the best technologies that emerged in Italy to find markets, capital and collaboration opportunities, generating impact and new growth for the local economic fabric”, says Roberto Pillon, Head of the Business Generation office at Area Science Park.

“We are proud to support this year’s Startup Marathon once again, through UniCredit Start Lab, our business platform dedicated to startups and innovative SMEs, which, for over ten years, has accompanied hundreds of high-tech ventures on their growth paths. We consider Startup Marathon a valuable opportunity for promoting Italian entrepreneurial talent towards a more sustainable future. It’s a team game we strongly believe in, based on the shared goal of creating national and international connections between the best Italian tech companies and those who can turn their ideas into concrete solutions”, adds Francesca Perrone, Head of ESG & Start Lab Italy, UniCredit.

“Startup Marathon continues to stand out as a reference point in the Italian innovation landscape, involving participants from various regional contexts, from the most developed to the most disadvantaged areas. The initiative fits perfectly into the national ecosystem of incubators, accelerators, technology parks and universities, with the aim of promoting the best Italian entrepreneurial ideas”, says Gianni Potti, President of Fondazione Comunica and founder of DIGITALmeet. “In a country where the presence of investors in the startup sector remains limited, events like Startup Marathon are vital for supporting projects that might otherwise struggle to develop without concrete backing. We have always committed to promoting dynamic and innovative enterprises, creating growth opportunities for businesses and jobs for young people”.

Founded in 2020, Startup Marathon has, over the years, selected and rewarded innovative companies active in fields such as artificial intelligence, diagnostics, IoT and sustainability. Winners of past editions include Soundsafe Care, a spin-off of the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna in Pisa that combines robotics and ultrasound for the non-invasive treatment of tumours; Katakem, a spin-off of the University of Catanzaro, that accelerates the development of new molecules; CAEmate, a company that developed software for the predictive maintenance of infrastructures; Aisent, which provides services based on AI, machine learning and computer vision, and M2Test, a spin-off of the University of Trieste that created an innovative diagnostic method for osteoporosis.