The Space & Mobility Acceleration Program is managed by the Innovative Companies Incubator of Politecnico di Torino (I3P) in collaboration with partners from Spoke 1 - Aerospace and Sustainable Mobility of the NODES Ecosystem.
The offer of the path
The program aims to facilitate access for supported start-ups to the scientific, industrial, and financial network that I3P has built over the years through collaborations with the Italian Space Agency (ASI), the European Space Agency (ESA), key players in the aerospace sector, and venture capital funds specializing in the space economy and sustainability.
The companies and projects selected to participate in the program will undertake a growth path lasting up to six months, supported by a team of professionals and a personalized work plan. Projects eligible for the process must be deep tech in nature and geared toward industrial applications.
The program is run in a hybrid format, alternating between online and in-person sessions, and is customized based on the project's stage of development and the TRL of the related technologies. In-person activities will be held at the I3P headquarters in Turin, Italy.
The support program consists of three main stages:
- initial review of the business plan;
- strategic consulting for the development plan;
- networking and matchmaking.
The program adopts the Lean Startup approach, based on the hypothesis-validation process, applied to Customer Discovery and Customer Validation.
In agreement with the entrepreneurial team, technical, business, and organizational milestones are set for the support period. The issues addressed with the start-ups will be strictly functional to the validation process for each individual company and may include support in the following areas:
- patent landscaping and IP protection strategy;
- technical and business benchmarking;
- market and industry analysis;
- operational and economic-financial planning;
- fundraising planning;
- strategic analysis for go-to-market and/or business expansion;
- support in preparing dossiers for investment rounds.
Fundamental to the acceleration process is the program of meetings that will be held with industry mentors, investors, potential suppliers and consultants, possible partners, and customers.
Requirements and perspectives
Dedicated to individuals with entrepreneurial projects or innovative start-ups, even if established less than five years ago, the program was created to further one of the ecosystem's main objectives: to support the development of hi-tech entrepreneurial projects relevant to supply chains, which in the specific case of Spoke 1 are aerospace and mobility.
The program is designed for innovative local businesses, particularly start-ups, that can bring entrepreneurial projects with a significant technological impact to supply chains. Spoke 1 also dedicates its resources to supporting the creation of innovative start-ups, promoting the entrepreneurial potential of the younger generation, supporting and raising skills in the area, seizing opportunities arising from paradigm shifts in the aerospace and sustainable mobility sectors, and innovating in products, processes, and business models.
To apply for the program and schedule an initial interview with the I3P staff, you must write to the dedicated email address nodes@i3p.it.
