Iveco Group, global automotive leader active in the commercial vehicles, powertrain, and related financial services arenas, has announced the launch of its new Open Innovation platform, Beyond Lab, aimed at connecting start-ups, innovators and partners to unlock breakthrough technologies and transform bold ideas into real-world solutions for the transport industry.
The platform was designed and implemented in collaboration with I3P, the Innovative Companies Incubator of Politecnico di Torino. Founded in 1999 in Turin, Italy, the public incubator I3P supports the creation and development of innovative start-ups with high technological intensity and growth potential, also through open innovation projects and initiatives in partnership with international market leaders such as Iveco Group. Beyond Lab is a platform with a strong international outlook, open to the participation of technology start-ups operating within leading innovation ecosystems worldwide.
Challenges and opportunities
Beyond Lab represents a new concept of digital laboratory, conceived to foster collaborations between Iveco Group and young innovative companies with disruptive projects. Applying a project on Beyond Lab and collaborating with Iveco Group offers the unique opportunity to make a difference in the transport industry, with a global leader active in over 160 countries.
Each interested start-up can pitch its innovative solution: the selected applications will be guided through a co-creation journey to explore how the team of Beyond Lab can bring the proposed technology into the Group’s products or services. The platform will periodically launch specific challenges focused on the real needs of individual Iveco Group brands or on innovation objectives for the entire corporation.
The first call for start-ups of the Beyond Lab platform is already online: the thematic challenge titled “Innovative materials & design approaches for sustainable mobility” is looking for start-ups that offer advanced solutions in innovative materials, design (including software and AI driven tools), manufacturing technologies, and new business models that can be applied to the industrial brands of Iveco Group. Project applications must be submitted by April 20, 2026 on Beyond Lab’s website.
The goals for the future
In recent years, Iveco Group has embraced a much broader approach to innovation aiming to play an active role in the open innovation global arena, expanding its network beyond universities to include new, innovative entities such as high-tech start-ups. These kinds of partnerships serve a dual purpose: to accelerate the technological evolution of the Group’s products while also enhancing their sustainability, in order to stay one step ahead in an industry where technology is advancing rapidly and competition is fierce, and to support the development of start-up ecosystems in the local communities in which it operates, generating benefits and prosperity for all.
Marco Liccardo, Chief Technology & Digital Officer, Iveco Group, said: “We are thrilled to support the development of start-up ecosystems, fostering the disruptive ideas that will redefine the future of sustainable mobility. Collaborating with I3P on Beyond Lab will accelerate the way we approach Open Innovation, building a structured platform for breakthrough technology and industrial-grade innovation.”
Giuseppe Scellato, President of I3P, commented: “We are honoured to launch an ambitious, long-term open innovation project in collaboration with Iveco Group. The new Beyond Lab platform will become a reference point for those who have valuable ideas and those who can turn these into reality. I3P is ready to catalyse this process with its more than 25 years of experience in supporting both start-ups in their growth and major companies in their evolution towards the future.”
