Pigro is among the 12 co-innovation projects launched in the first half of 2019 by the corporate partners of the Open Italy program by Elis, the first accelerator for innovative startups.
ORVIETO, May 28–29, 2019 – Two important days in the beautiful setting of Orvieto, at the headquarters of Vetrya, where startups and corporates came together to lay the foundations for co-innovation projects (KickOff), which will be developed over the following 12 weeks as part of the Open and Collaborative Innovation program. This marks the final phase of the third edition of Open Italy by Elis, a co-innovation initiative designed to match the innovation needs of large corporations—striving to maintain their competitiveness—with the growth needs of startups, innovative SMEs, research centers, university spin-offs, and young talents.
The KickOff days in Orvieto were the result of a long selection process that culminated in Pigro’s participation in the OPEN ITALY Demoday, held in Milan on April 1, 2019, at Le Village, the Innovation Hub by Crédit Agricole. This event served as the first point of contact between corporates and startups, organized into 8 pitch sessions during which founders had the opportunity to present their innovative solutions and entrepreneurial stories to an audience of 60 heads of innovation and program partners.
During the Demoday, every participant plays a key role. “The added value of Open Italy,” says Nicolò Magnanini, CEO of Pigro, “is in connecting diverse entities such as large corporations and SMEs—each with their own unique identity—and facilitating meaningful exchanges with the highly innovative startup ecosystem, combining innovation with collaboration.”
Talents, SMEs, and mentors are now ready to support and drive Italian innovation, launching 12 new co-innovation projects between corporates and startups. Open Italy connects startups with the actual needs of corporates. After the initial 12-week period—during which a real Proof of Concept (POC) is developed—startups are given a concrete opportunity to become suppliers of the partner companies, with the possibility to submit tailored commercial offers.
Among the projects in this third edition, Pigro was selected by SKY and Trenord to develop POCs in the areas of internal helpdesk and customer service, respectively.
