For the seventh consecutive year, the prestigious magazine Forbes Italia has selected a group of young entrepreneurs in its annual list of the country's most promising Under 30s, and once again the main protagonists of the Italian innovation scene include many names familiar to the Incubator of Politecnico di Torino, founders or co-founders of innovative start-ups supported by I3P.
As was the case in 2021, in 2022 and in 2023, the national community outlined by Forbes includes many startuppers at home in I3P, 22 to be precise, representing 10 young innovative enterprises - 10% of the 'subjects' chosen in total by Forbes - that are following a path of growth in the Campus of Politecnico di Torino.
"From healthcare to sports, from fashion to technology via finance and music, these young talents are changing our country with their ideas," writes Forbes Italia's editorial staff in their online article presenting part of the list, "and revolutionising the way we live, work, have fun and eat."
The start-ups selected in the Forbes Under 30 2024 for Italy have been divided this year into the same 10 categories used in the European version: Entertainment, Media & Marketing, Science & Healthcare, Retail & E-commerce, Manufacturing & Industry, Social Impact, Art & Culture, Finance, Technology, Sport & Games.
Culturatela
Opening the Art & Culture category of Forbes Italy's list are Vincenzo Abbatantuoni (27 years old) and Angelo Paduano (25), co-founders of the innovative enterprise Culturatela.com, incubated at I3P since 2023. Its digital solution TELA facilitates the organisation and management of cultural events, offering a wide range of management tools, including event planning, booking management, digital content management, resources and budgeting.
The Culturatela network brings together several cultural facilities, creating an exclusive and strongly vertical environment in the sector. The facilities on the company's platform can be modified at will and it is always possible to configure new access time slots, ticket types, tours, combined tickets and additional services to enrich the cultural offer promoted. In 2023, the young company was selected by Startup Wise Guys for an acceleration path and received an investment from LVenture in the framework of the Argo acceleration programme for traveltech start-ups.
Dedalo AI
In the Social Impact category is Francesco Musso, 26 years old, co-founder of Dedalo AI. Incubated at I3P since 2022, the start-up has an ambitious goal: to save the world from software emissions. In fact, Dedalo AI works to help companies quantify the emissions caused by their digital activities, starting with their websites, and then help them reduce them by providing them with optimisation metrics and industry benchmarks.
The young company's environmental sustainability project in the ICT sector has already distinguished itself on several other occasions, winning several prizes such as the overall prize at the 4th edition of Business Meets Innovation (BMI), the reverse open innovation contest of the German-Italian Chamber of Commerce (AHK Italien).
Focoos AI
Among the most promising innovators under 30 in the Technology category is Fabio Cermelli, 29 years old, Founder and CTO of Focoos AI. Those who follow the Italian start-up ecosystem will have already heard of it: Focoos AI is in fact the young company that in December last year was elected overall winner of the Premio Nazionale per l'Innovazione (PNI) 2023, after having been recognised a month earlier as one of the best candidate projects at the regional competition Start Cup Piemonte Valle d'Aosta.
Founded in 2022 and incubated in I3P as part of the ESA BIC Turin program, Focoos AI has developed cutting-edge software for the aerospace industry that automates the process of creating and training artificial neural networks optimised for any low-power devices, such as satellites or drones. The start-up's algorithm automatically designs and trains customised neural networks, eliminating the need for expensive hardware, reducing labour-intensive tasks and minimising human error. The technology significantly reduces energy consumption, improves operational efficiency and enables the use of AI and real-time data processing directly on the devices themselves.
Novac
To create new-generation supercapacitors to be coupled with traditional batteries to increase the performance and efficiency of both electric cars and space launchers. This is the mission of Novac, an innovative start-up from Modena founded in 2020, incubated in I3P since 2023 as part of ESA BIC Turin and selected today by Forbes Italia in the Manufacturing & Industry category. Four members of its team - co-founders Matteo Bertocchi (29 years old), Alessandro Fabbri (28), Aldo Girimonte (29) and Loris Bruzzi (29) - have been chosen to join the Forbes Under 30 2024 by virtue of the technological value of their project and the possible positive impact on the mobility and space sectors.
The technology developed by Novac intends to revolutionise the supercapacitor market with two main features: solid state and mouldability. The project's vision is to create a supercapacitor that can be affordable for any application, in order to achieve a widespread presence of the product on the market within five years. The start-up, which has already flown to the United States with the Space IT Up programme of the Italian Trade Agency (ITA) and the Italian Space Agency (ASI), ended last year with several awards: 1st place at the Premio Cambiamenti 2023, 2nd place at the Grand Prix Innovation 2023, and a special mention at Bravo Innovation Hub's Demo Day.
ORiS
Acronym for Orbital Recharge in Space, ORiS is an innovative start-up officially established in February 2024, but already active and pre-incubated in I3P since 2022, with its team of very young innovators composed of Domenico Edoardo Sfasciamuro (25 years old), Anna Mauro (25), Francesco Lopez (25) and Andrea Villa (25), now included in the Manufacturing & Industry category of Forbes Italia. The basic concept of the project is the transmission of wireless power in space, through satellites that store energy and then transmit it via lasers with a high level of precision to receivers capable of converting it into electrical energy. The ORiS technology aims to become an enabler for new missions in the lunar environment and can be exploited for a vast number of uses on Earth as well, such as power distribution in remote areas.
The start-up, the brainchild of a group of master's students in Aerospace Engineering at Politecnico di Torino, has already successfully participated in several contests and initiatives, including international ones such as the International Space Solar Power Student Competition 2022 and the Telespazio Technology Contest (#T-TeC) 2022, and even won the "Sustainability Award in Aerospace" from the Piedmont Aerospace Cluster at Start Cup Piemonte Valle d'Aosta 2023.
Paperbox Health
In the Science & Healthcare category are Francesco Trovato (26 years old) and Giacomo Pratesi (29), co-founders of Paperbox Health. The start-up, founded in 2022 and incubated at I3P since 2023, facilitates the early detection of risk factors linked to specific learning and attention disorders, and supports cognitive development through digital solutions. Paperbox Health is in fact developing DINO, a web-based videogame with the goal of becoming a medical device that can identify the risk of developing learning disorders in an accessible way and can work in clinical as well as educational and home environments.
In 2022 the start-up was awarded the "Social Innovation" special mention at the Start Cup Piemonte Valle d'Aosta and in October 2023 was elected "start-up of the month" by the specialist magazine Innlifes. In the same year, it was also awarded the I3P Award at the Meet in Italy for Life Sciences 2023 initiative, promoted by Cluster Alisei, and the Relatech Prize at the Myllennium Award 2023, Italy's first generational award aimed at under-30s.
Plino
Three of the under-30 talents selected by Forbes Italy in the Finance category belong to an entrepreneurial team supported by I3P: they are Viola Bonesu (24 years old), Enrico Castelli (26) and Pietro Galimberti (25), co-founder of Plino. Their project is a Software as a Service (SaaS) for SMEs that makes it easier and faster to perform management control, such as monitoring costs, revenues and margins. Plino automatically collects company data, analyses it by extracting relevant trends and answers any questions in natural language to support the analysis. The goal is to create an immediate and error-free system for making strategic business decisions based on data.
The company, founded in 2023, is backed by Exor Ventures and Cariplo Factory and is part of the Berkeley SkyDeck B17. During last year's edition of Premio 2031, Plino was selected by LUISS EnLabs LVenture Group for the value of its innovative project and rewarded with a dedicated development path.
RarEarth
Gianluca Torta, 26 years old, is the Founder & CTO of RarEarth, a start-up born in 2023 and pre-incubated at I3P that has developed a unique process to recycle rare earths from the motors of micro-mobility electric vehicles. Starting from an engine, the young company manages to collect the metals contained in the casing and the rare-earth elements that make up its magnets. Its main customers are in fact the magnet manufacturers, who today are faced with the precarious supply situation of imported rare-earth metals, which are not sufficient to cover European and global industrial needs. RarEarth's goal is therefore to create an alternative, sustainable and domestic source of supply that can partially free Europe from imports.
The start-up was selected in the Manufacturing & Industry category of the Forbes Under 30 2024. Thanks to its innovative project, RarEarth has already won several prizes and awards: at the regional competition Start Cup Lombardia 2023 it won 1st prize in the Cleantech & Energy category, then at the national competition PNI 2023 it received the "Invitalia Special Award", the "Green&Blue Climate Change" special mention and the "Encubator" special mention, later winning the 1st prize of the Encubator 2023 programme and its €40,000 grant.
Restworld
Under the Technology category of the Forbes Under 30 2024 are Davide Lombardi (29 years old), Lorenzo D'Angelo (28) and Edoardo Conte (28), co-founders of Restworld. Founded in 2020 and "graduated" (alumni) from I3P in 2023, the start-up offers innovative services for human resources management in the Ho.Re.Ca. (hotellerie-restaurant-café) sector. Restworld focuses on decentralising, innovating and optimising the recruitment process for companies in the hospitality industry, through the use of a community of professionals working in the sector and through freelancers working with the start-up's technologies as digital recruiters.
In 2023, Restworld completed a €500,000 capital increase, led by Startup Wise Guys and several business angels, in order to develop a new section of its platform with a real map of job offers in the sector. In addition to many small restaurants and hospitality businesses, Restworld has already established partnerships with multinational companies such as Poke House, Filetteria Italiana, Berberé, Lavazza and the Pellicano Group.
UTwin
Also in the Technology category is Roberto Demarchi (29 years old), Founder & CEO of UTwin, a young innovative company from Turin incubated in I3P since 2022. The start-up, belonging to the proptech sector, deals with enhancing real estate data through digital twins: UTwin supports real estate owners in managing building data in a digital and sustainable way, through software that allows them to have a complete view of all building information, assets, maintenance and energy control activities, linked to a digital replica of the building itself. Using UTwin's solution enables real estate owners to make data-driven decisions, reducing costs and mitigating risks associated with real estate management.
Already awarded in 2022 by Intesa Sanpaolo, as part of the "In action ESG climate" programme, under its previous name of Strategic BIM in 2023 the start-up received a €400,000 investment in a round led by CDP Venture Capital and won the Edison NEXT prize of the "Smart City Challenge" open innovation initiative promoted by the TIM group; in 2024 UTwin was also selected among the success stories of innovative start-ups in the construction sector by the Edinnova network of Confindustria Bergamo.