Carlo, When Business Is Combined with Prevention

THE FOUNDER OF STOPFLOOD CREATED AN ANTIFLOODING SYSTEM FOR AREAS MOST AT RISK. IT USES THE FLOODWATER ITSELF TO ACTIVATE AUTOMATICALLY AND WITHOUT ELECTRICITY.

Carlo Vaccari’s business is a demonstration of the fact that every “crisis” brings with it an opportunity for change and innovation. Remember the tragic flooding that literally submerged Cinque Terre and the Lunigiana in the fall of 2011?

That was just what Carlo needed - he was born in Savona in 1965 and is a graduate in Business Economics at Bocconi - to decide he would find a system to respond to this kind of emergency. Along with his brother Massimo and a team of engineers, in 2013 Carlo created Stopflood , a business “created to meet the needs of the area,” explains its founder. The company produces anti-flooding barriers that can be activated without human intervention and without electricity, protecting homes and shops from the water.

Over the past year, six installations have been completed, “but there are truly a lot of projects to be implemented soon,” says Carlo. The most well-known was certainly the installation completed at a shopping center on Via Fereggiano, which was the location of the terrible flooding in Genoa in 2011. "This year,” says Carlo, “when the water reached the shop, the barriers came up automatically and protected it, allowing the owners to reopen the day after without any damage.”

Getting to Stopflood was a long journey. “During my years at university,” remembers Carlo, “I liked the practical approach of the faculty, in particular Professor Frova and Professor Nova: their idea of business helped me choose my way and instilled in me an enthusiasm for entrepreneurship.” After completing his university studies, along with his brother, Carlo therefore dedicated his time to the family firm, Ligure Piemontese Laterizi Spa, which produces building materials for construction companies. “Massimo and I executed several diversifications, including a waste disposal plant that was launched in 2008 which became a virtuous model for management at a European level,” explains Carlo. It is called ‘La Filippa’ and it is the first Zero Impact landfill in Europe.

From there the move to Stopflood was easy: the common thread was to combine the idea of doing business with the ambition of providing socially useful and effective answers. “The Stopflood team,” says Carlo, “is made up of very valuable professionals who, given the encouraging results, are even more excited about this initiative.” Today the company works in northern and central Italy, but the plan is to expand the business “to make as many places safe as possible, because Italy is our home and not just the country where we live,” says the founder.

Stopflood also has a company blog  to share information and promote prevention.

by Davide Ripamonti
Translated by Jenna Walker