Where does one start to turn an idea into a successful enterprise? What steps need to be followed to found an innovative start-up? How do you put together a team to take on the challenge of a technology-based business project? These and many other questions will be answered by experts from the Incubator of Politecnico di Torino during the second edition of the I3P Startup Academy, the free training course for aspiring innovative entrepreneurs to be held, in Italian language, between March and May 2024.
Online applications to participate in the Academy are open as of today and will close on March 6th, with evaluation in order of submission until the 35 available places are filled.
As with the previous first edition, held in 2023 with excellent attendance, the I3P Startup Academy 2024 training course is financed and implemented as part of the activities of the Italian NODES (North West Digital And Sustainable) Ecosystem and its Spoke 1, dedicated to Aerospace and Sustainable Mobility, of which I3P is a partner.
We start-up the venture
The objective of the course is to support aspiring startuppers at their earliest stage, helping them to give concrete form to an innovative idea, find other members with whom to compose a team with complementary skills, and initiate the customer discovery process, with insights into techniques for validating the business project and examining the market it could address.
The course will be divided into five lessons and will follow an interactive mode: each lesson will be based on theoretical preparation, business games and open discussions with I3P tutors, external mentors and start-ups already active, particularly in the aerospace and sustainable mobility sectors supported by Spoke 1 of the NODES Ecosystem. The initiative aims to create a dynamic and exciting atmosphere that encourages participants to interact, learn the basic concepts of the lean startup approach, and get to know possible new co-founders for the innovative companies of tomorrow.
The recipients of the initiative
The I3P Startup Academy 2024 course is aimed at people under the age of 35, resident in Piedmont (Italy) and already graduated. Both teams that already have a first idea for a new innovative enterprise and individuals who do not yet have a specific project, but would like to get involved by joining already formed teams or creating new ones, can participate.
In fact, one of the main aims of the course is to bring together people with different skills, either to complement existing teams or to create new ones. To succeed in this, participants must be genuinely willing to dialogue and discuss - with tutors and mentors as well as with each other - and thus be willing to share their ideas and skills with other aspiring startuppers.
The Academy initiative also aims to offer equal opportunities for meeting, training, and consulting to all those who are interested in embarking on the path of creating a start-up, with a particular focus on female entrepreneurship and on supporting teams composed of female founders, in order to foster their rise in the world of innovation still characterised by a preponderant male presence. Aspiring female entrepreneurs, the I3P incubator looks forward to meeting you and accompanying your innovative ideas towards success!
The course programme
The I3P Startup Academy classes will take place on Saturday mornings, from 09:00 to 13:00, on five dates over the next three months: March 9th, March 23th, April 6th, April 20th, May 4th 2024.
The five meetings will be held in person, mainly at I3P's headquarters, but some of the dates will be hosted within OGR Tech, the innovation and technology hub of OGR Torino, one of the incubator's partners in the creation and support of the innovation ecosystem in the area. Participation in the initiative is free of charge. During the application phase, interested parties are asked to be willing to follow the entire course with perseverance and dedication, and to build an entrepreneurial project to be presented at the final meeting, so that they can make the most of the cycle of lessons and make the most of the opportunity it offers.
Between classes, participants will also be asked to carry out activities aimed at testing their business idea. This means that during the Academy weeks, aspiring startuppers will be asked to invest their time in applying the concepts, notions and insights gained during the course appointments to their own project.
To apply to take part in the new edition of the I3P Startup Academy, and thus take the first step towards the creation of a new innovative start-up, you need to fill in the dedicated online form by Wednesday, March 6th, 2024 at the latest, but it is a good idea to do so as soon as possible because the available places are limited to 35 and applications will be processed in order of arrival.
For more information on the initiative and programme details, it is possible to write to the dedicated e-mail address academy@i3p.it.