Speed MI Up: An EXPO Effect on the Startups

FIVE OF THE 11 NEW FIRMS WELCOMED THIS MORNING INTO SPEED MI UP, THE INCUBATOR PROMOTED BY UNIVERSITA' BOCCONI, THE MUNICIPALITY OF MILAN AND THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, HAVE A BUSINESS IDEA THAT HAS TO DO WITH FOOD BEVERAGE

There is an EXPO effect on Italian startups. Five of the 11 new businesses that, this morning, have been welcomed into Speed MI Up (speedmiup.it), the incubator promoted by Università Bocconi, the Municipality of Milan and the Chamber of Commerce, deal with the various facets of food & beverage.
 
Startups range from those who intend to sell, in a box with exact quantities, the ingredients of Italian recipes to those looking to combine e-commerce and social networks to bring small producers online; from an app that helps you make healthy food choices to those who want to make sure that we can book a meal at a restaurant and find it ready, to those who want to reproduce the sensory characteristics of wines and cocktails in non-alcoholic beverages thanks to a particular molecule.
 
The other startups deal with online treasury management for small businesses; affordable 3D printing for the industrial sector; accessible tourism; cheaper and faster way to design virtual  3D backgrounds; the art market and a fulfilling experience in online apparel shopping.
 
Entering Speed MI Up, the 11 companies begin a period of incubation and acceleration that can last up to two years and gain access to numerous value-added services: training and mentoring by the Bocconi faculty, one-to-one and collective networking initiatives to meet investors, and finally a place to work in. Unlike other incubators, Speed MI Up does not enter the capital of the startups, thus preserving their value and entrepreneurial freedom. Among the novelties of this edition, the services offered by Speed MI Up’s partners PwC (advice on tax and legal issues), Armando Testa (communication and media planning), Aruba (cloud computing), and the availability, in the coming weeks, of a second building in via Achille Papa, on top of that of via Gobbi.
 
Among the companies incubated in the last two years there are some successful cases. Quattrocento, an e-commerce site of eyewear entirely produced by Belluno’s craftsmen, was reported by Forbes as one of the 15 startups to watch, worldwide, in 2015. Cercaofficina.it, the site that helps to choose the best quote for car repairs, is already active in Milan, Rome and Turin and has recently received funding from Italian Angels for Growth (IAG), the leading association of Italian business angels, which has a collaboration agreement with Speed MI Up. One Tray designed an airport tray for passengers objects which speeds up the security controls and has signed its first contracts. SpeedyPlan, a truck routes management system, has as its first client a major automotive brand. D1, which offers watches designed as fashion accessories, has completed its incubation period and opened a showroom in one of the fashionable streets of Milan: Corso Como. Junto Italy, which provides market research for SMEs, can show the first results.
 
Among the companies at an advanced stage of development, Lattina Design is planning a crowdsourcing portal for designers and Ats Enterprise has designed, and is prototyping, a microcombustor (a 2 cm. engine) able to recharge, during the use, the batteries of drones and other equipment.

by Fabio Todesco