Now in its 22nd edition, Start Cup Piemonte Valle d'Aosta is a competition for the innovative entrepreneurship of tomorrow, aimed at fostering and supporting the creation of innovative, knowledge-intensive start-ups to promote economic development in the Italian regions of Piedmont and Aosta Valley. With Stage I of the initiative - the “Ideas Competition” - now complete, the 2026 competition has entered its Stage II, the “Business Plan Competition”.
The initiative is sponsored by the three public universities of Piedmont - Politecnico di Torino, the University of Turin, and the University of Eastern Piedmont - and organized by two university incubators: I3P, the Innovative Companies Incubator of Politecnico di Torino, and 2i3T, the Business Incubator of the University of Turin. The competition takes place as part of the Italian National Innovation Award (PNI), Italy’s most important event for new knowledge-intensive start-ups, organized annually by PNICube, the national network of university incubators and Start Cup competitions.
The competition is free and open to all aspiring entrepreneurs who are at least 18 years old: anyone can participate in the Business Plan Competition, either individually or as part of a team, even without having taken part in the previous stage, by submitting an innovative business plan by July 28, 2026, in one of the five competition categories: Cleantech & Energy, ICT, Industrial, Life Sciences, Tourism and Cultural & Creative Industry.
The available prizes
The Start Cup Piemonte Valle d'Aosta competition offers a unique opportunity to transform studies and research into business projects, regardless of their stage of development, and to join the network of innovative companies incubators. Winners will receive assistance in launching their start-ups, support in defining their strategy, guidance in entering the market through contact with their first customers, and introductions to investors and banks to help them secure funding.
Following the closing of the application period at midnight on Wednesday, July 29, and after the interim evaluation phases of the submitted applications, the best start-up projects participating in the Business Plan Competition will be announced by October 2026. These projects will receive cash prizes, as well as special mentions, awarded with the support of a jury composed of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and business angels.
Thanks to the funding provided by the initiative’s sponsors and supporters for the 2026 edition, the total prize pool amounts to over €60,000, consisting of prizes in cash and in services provided by the initiative’s partners.
The three overall winners will receive cash prizes: €7,500 for first place, €5,000 for second place, and €2,500 for third place. The top six projects will also be guaranteed a spot in the PNI 2026 - the Italian National Innovation Award taking place in Bari on December 3 & 4 - with the €1,000 registration fee covered by the competition organizers.
Through the support of the sponsors and partners which are particularly committed to making a tangible contribution to the advancement of innovation, Start Cup Piemonte Valle d’Aosta also offers a series of special prizes:
- the Fondazione CRC Prize, worth €10,000, for the best entrepreneurial project establishing the company in the Italian Province of Cuneo, sponsored by Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Cuneo;
- the Valle d'Aosta Prize, worth €7,500, for the best entrepreneurial project establishing the company in the Pépinière d’Entreprises of Aosta or Pont-Saint-Martin, sponsored by the Autonomous Region of Valle d’Aosta;
- the "City of the Future and Sustainability" Prize, worth €7,500 aggregate, for the best entrepreneurial projects, chosen according to merit-based principles (up to 2 winning teams) proposing innovative products or services based on sustainability technologies, sponsored by LINKS Foundation and awarded as redeemable credit for technical services delivered by LINKS personnel;
- Three “Tech for Climate & Mobility” Prizes, in services, awarded to the three best entrepreneurial projects on climate neutrality and smart, sustainable urban mobility, provided within the framework of the projects Living Lab ToMove and CTE NEXT 2.0 of the City of Turin;
- the "Domenico Appendino" Prize, worth €10,000 in services for the best innovative entrepreneurial project considering the theme of Cleantech & Energy that proposes innovative products or services aimed at reducing environmental impact, improving energy efficiency, and promoting the sustainable use of natural resources, sponsored by Ame Ventures Srl of Milan.
There will also be four special mentions, independent of the award categories:
- “Women Entrepreneurship”, for the best business project developed by a team with a majority of women;
- “Social Innovation”, for the best social innovation project that proposes innovative solutions in one of the fields specified in the Italian Legislative Decree 155/2006 (Article 2, paragraph 1) on social enterprises;
- “Open Innovation / Industrial Spin-offs”, dedicated to the best project involving innovative products and/or services resulting from research conducted in collaboration between a company and a Piedmontese university;
- “Climate Change”, for the best business project addressing climate change that integrates innovation, technology, and the protection and enhancement of natural resources, with the aim of generating economic growth and protecting the environment.
For more information and to download the complete regulations, please visit the competition’s official website. To stay up to date on all the latest news about the competition, you can subscribe to the email newsletter using the form at the bottom of every page on the website, or follow Start Cup Piemonte Valle d’Aosta on its official social media channels: LinkedIn and Facebook.
