The latest edition of PowerUp is now underway. The initiative, launched by Qonto - the financial management solution for SMEs and freelancers with over 600,000 customers across Europe - is dedicated to supporting Italian start-ups in developing the local innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem.
“With PowerUp, we want to help bridge the gap between Italy and other major European ecosystems, as our country is characterised by a growing environment but still lags behind in terms of funding and visibility”, said Lorenzo Pireddu, Managing Director for Southern Europe at Qonto. “Italian start-ups need access to capital and high-quality investors to scale beyond national borders. That is why we are working to foster meaningful connections, putting founders in touch with investors, industry professionals and peers who can make a real difference to their growth journey. A key highlight of the programme is Pitch Night, a high-profile event in Milan where selected start-ups present their projects to a panel comprising venture capitalists, founders of scale-ups and innovation experts.”
An opportunity for young companies
Once again this year, the initiative includes a competition dedicated to start-ups, with the aim of supporting entrepreneurship in Italy by offering founders tangible opportunities for visibility, learning and networking with a qualified group of industry professionals and investors. A new feature of the 2026 edition is the introduction of online mentoring sessions: over the summer and autumn, participating start-ups will be able to engage directly with leading experts via the #asktheFounder and #asktheFund formats.
As usual, the winners will be announced during the final Pitch Night, scheduled to take place in Milan, Italy, on Thursday 5 November 2026. On this occasion, the finalist start-ups - selected by a panel of experts - will present their projects to a jury comprising representatives from leading Italian venture capital firms and accelerators, founders of scale-ups, and key stakeholders in the innovation ecosystem. At the end of the event, awards will be presented to the start-ups that have best embodied the spirit of the competition.
The PowerUp call for entries, open to innovative start-ups with funding of up to €3 million, aims to select the best and brightest to compete for the prizes on offer during the final. Among those is the opportunity for the winning young companies to attend VivaTech 2027, one of Europe’s leading events dedicated to start-ups, innovation and technology, as well as mentoring sessions with Alex Prot (CEO & Co-Founder of Qonto) and Heidrun Luyt (CGO), and a free year’s subscription to Qonto’s services. In previous editions, PowerUp has involved over 700 start-ups, supporting the growth of successful companies such as Cylock, This Unique, TrueScreen Lit, Crono and, in 2025, Rilemo and Compri.
The Pitch Night judging panel will comprise representatives from leading venture capital firms, accelerators and stakeholders in the Italian start-up ecosystem, as well as several founders of some of Italy’s leading scale-ups. This year, PowerUp is organised under the patronage of the Young Entrepreneurs Group of Confcommercio Milano Lodi Monza e Brianza, and also enjoys the support of a host of organisations in the sector, including: 360Capital, 2100Ventures, Ascensore, Axon Partners Group, Azimut, B Heroes, B4i – Bocconi for innovation, Baby VC, BAGA, BlackSheep, Bridge for Billions, F6S, Feel Ventures, Fintech District, Growth Capital, Guanxi, I3P – Incubator of Politecnico di Torino, IAG, InnovUp, ITAdvisors, Italian Founders Fund, LifegateWay, Magnisi Studio, Mamacrowd, MarshYellow, Nana Bianca, Notion, Over Ventures, Plug and Play, PranaVentures, Seedble, SocialFare, Startup Geeks, Talent Garden, The Net Value, Unfold Tomorrow, Ventive, Vento, Vittoria Hub, Zest.
How to apply
To apply for the call, candidates must submit an application by completing the dedicated form by 18 October 2026. Once the application phase has closed, the judging panel will select the finalist start-ups who will go on to take part in the Pitch Night in Milan in November.
Full details of the project, how to take part and the calendar of events are available on the initiative’s official website.
