PLAI, Mondadori Group’s start-up accelerator aimed at transforming projects based on artificial intelligence into successful companies, has selected seven new start-ups for its second acceleration batch, which will be accompanied on a six-month training course culminating in a new Demo Day.
The programme of this second edition consisted in two dedicated call4startups: one for early-stage start-ups — i.e. the product validation phase — and one for more mature, growth start-ups — i.e. with a product already validated on the market and ready to build solid collaborations.
The second edition of the initiative
More than 1,000 applications received in the two batches launched by the accelerator — with 514 collected in the second batch — confirm the attractiveness of the PLAI programme. New start-ups were selected according to key criteria such as the quality of the team, potential business integration, scalability, degree of technological innovation, roadmap and go-to-market strategy.
Expanding its areas of focus, the new call included the category of procurement process optimisation in addition to education, retail, new media & advertising and publishing.
The selection process for the second cycle began on 6 March. More than 1,500 hours of application evaluation led to an initial shortlist of 16 start-ups, which presented themselves during the Selection Day held on May 27, following which 7 finalists were selected.
"We are constantly impressed by the quality of the submissions to our calls. Once again, the choice was challenging but it allowed us to identify cutting-edge start-ups with a clear vision of the future, noting an increase in international applications for the first time. The selection reaffirmed our commitment to supporting the most revolutionary and sustainable ideas, confirming the high level of competition and excellence of the projects. We can’t wait to start working with these new companies, helping them turn their ideas into commercial success," said Stefano Argiolas, CEO of PLAI.
Many Italian and international partners are supporting PLAI for Batch 2025: Startupbootcamp, I3P – Incubator of Politecnico di Torino, Amazon Web Services (AWS), ElevenLabs, Fastweb + Vodafone, WPP Media Italy, IFAB – International Foundation Big Data and Artificial Intelligence for Human Development, Multiversity Group, PwC Italy, StartupItalia and Codemotion.
The start-ups of the Batch 2025
BILLD – retail
Every year, Europe produces 230 billion receipts made of non-recyclable thermal paper, creating a considerable environmental impact and important storage limitations. Furthermore, 93% of offline data remains unused for advertising and trend analysis purposes. Billd is a green fintech start-up offering an innovative HaaS (hardware as a service) for digital receipts, collecting and analysing big data from the offline market. The device developed by Billd is easy to install and compatible with any cash register.
BOOSTED AI – education
The student drop-out rate is high (12% at university level), less than half of students receive adequate, personalised feedback and poor digitisation wastes money for educational institutions and demotivates students. Boosted AI is an intelligent platform that transforms study materials into a personalised digital learning pathway and automates assessment.
CICERO.LIVE – retail
Companies rely on hypothetical interpretations to assess the involvement in and results of conferences, trade fairs and sales spaces. Cicero.Live is a machine learning system that tracks the performance of live events by calculating the audience’s level of attention, involvement and sentiment and correlating it with the movements and words of the speaker on stage.
COMPRI – procurement
Traditional procurement tools are rigid and outdated, often add complexity and still rely on email, Excel and ERP systems that are not built for modern needs, consequently wasting time. Buy centralises all procurement activities in one platform supported by an AI assistant, and automates operational and strategic processes: from requisitions to order management, supplier qualification, compliance, RFQs, budgeting and analysis.
LIA – procurement
In Italy, more than half of B2B SMEs with an annual turnover of less than €15 million collect payments more than 60 days late, delaying growth, limiting liquidity and burdening administrative teams. The AI-based LIA platform acts as a virtual administrative and legal assistant. It sends white-label reminders, analyses customer behaviour, suggests repayment plans and manages legal steps, all while preserving customer relationships. Through customised messaging, it reduces collection times by up to 80%, lowers costs and works on a fixed fee model without commissions.
MATH LEGACY – education
Current EdTech solutions for the school system are based on quizzes and superficial gamification, but they no longer work because students do not learn. Globally, performance in mathematics continues to deteriorate and in Italy, 44% of secondary school students do not even learn the basic skills. Math Legacy is a suite of video games — one for each topic — with a shared engine, engaging narrative and recognisable visual identity. In its first tests with over 5,000 students in 30 schools, Math Legacy – awarded Best Italian EdTech 2024 (GESAwards) – recorded a 23% increase in scores in just one month.
MEMORAIZ – education
Educational, publishing and cultural institutions struggle to integrate AI sustainably without disrupting workflows or replacing the digital tools currently in use. MemorAlz provides flexible artificial intelligence modules that can be integrated into existing processes and tools to transform content, personalise experiences and support pedagogical interaction, meeting the needs of individual organisations in education, publishing and culture.
The acceleration programme
Early-stage start-ups will receive an investment of €100,000 in exchange for about 7% of the capital. If deemed viable by PLAI at the end of the course, some of the selected start-ups will also be eligible for an additional €400,000 follow-on investment to support further growth and scalability.
For start-ups in the growth phase, a €40,000 compensation for a Pilot/PoC (proof of concept) is envisaged to help implement pilot projects with and for the Mondadori Group or PLAI’s corporate partners.
Both categories include more than 60 hours of high-quality workshops with PLAI partners to develop core skills (business, tech, fundraising, external & internal communication) and over 45 hours of customised mentorship with experienced managers and entrepreneurs. All selected start-ups will also benefit from €10,000 in credit to be used on the AWS (Amazon Web Services) platform, three months of access to the ElevenLabs platform (Tech Perks) including digital services and credits, and access to the PLAI network for strategic connections and business development along with its entire ecosystem, which fosters collaboration and innovation.
The programme is enriched with vertical events with industry experts and custom Investor Day Preparation sessions, which offer tailored strategic and technological tools to grow and scale successfully.
For this second edition as well, PLAI thanked the members of its Advisory Board for their professionalism in supporting the activities of PLAI and the selected young companies: Sergio Amati; Marco Becca; Paola Bonomo; Marco Bressani; Luciano Catoni; Mario Coletti; Giampaolo Colletti; Paola Colombo; Alessandro Conca; Stefano Denicolai; Guido Di Fraia; Lisa Di Sevo; Matteo Flora; Luca La Mesa; Paolo Meraldo; Paola Mogliotti; Julian Prat; Federico Rampolla; Alceo Rapagna; Maurizio Romandini; Chiara Russo; Franco Spicciariello; Vincenzo Tanania; Davide Tesoro-Tess; Luca Tremolada.
