Founded in Turin in 2013, SocialFare - Italy’s first Center for Social Innovation - has developed and continues to evolve Planet Foundamentals, the acceleration program that, since 2015, has been helping impact-first organizations build entrepreneurial, scalable, and systemic solutions.
In the newly launched 2026 edition, for the first time the program becomes multi-target, thanks to Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo, which supports the initiative’s cross-cutting nature, and SocialFare Seed, which provides investments in young innovative companies. In addition to “impact” start-ups, this year applications are also open to social enterprises organized as limited liability companies (SRL in Italy) or cooperatives. Two distinct target groups, a single shared path, the same goal: to build systemic, economic, social, and environmental resilience.
Planet Foundamentals has its roots in Foundamenta, Italy’s first accelerator program for social impact start-ups launched by SocialFare in 2015, which received over 100 applications for its first edition. From 2015 to 2025, 17 editions of the program supported 148 accelerated start-ups out of 2,924 applications received. In 2021, the program evolved into Planet Foundamentals, with the goal of addressing the key challenges for a more sustainable future by co-designing the annual call for applications based on ever-evolving, increasingly urgent, and changing challenges.
Among the start-ups that were accelerated and selected for investment in the previous annual edition of the program is DatAIMed, a young company supported by I3P, the Incubator of Politecnico di Torino.
The call for start-ups
The call for applications of Planet Foundamentals 2026 is rolling: there is no fixed deadline for applications, and the call remains open on an ongoing basis, allowing each organization to apply at the time that best suits its development path. Program partners and advisory board: Invitalia, Generaimprese, ManagerNoProfit, Confcooperative Piemonte Nord, Legacoop Sociali Piemonte, Social Hub Genova.
The call is open to organizations working in one or more of the following areas:
- social challenges aimed at improving the lives of individuals and communities, particularly in the areas of Digital Health, Inclusion and Well-being, and Education & Culture;
- environmental challenges that identify resilient solutions from a systemic perspective for the well-being of the planet, particularly in the areas of Energy Transition, Mobility, and the Circular Economy.
What does the SocialFare program offer:
- advisory and mentorship from subject-matter experts;
- lectures and theoretical/practical sessions on topics such as impact strategy, product/service design, HR and team management, business modeling, financial planning, pitching, and fundraising;
- access to a network of impact investors and opportunities to explore hybrid financial instruments;
- for start-ups, the opportunity to secure seed investment through SocialFare Seed with funding of up to €150,000.
For more information and to apply for the program, it is necessary to visit the initiative’s official page on the SocialFare website.
