Start-Cup Torino: Entrepreneurship

Background

I3P, the Innovative Enterprise Incubator of the Politecnico di Torino, is a non-profit joint-stock consortium (S.c.p.a.) founded in 1999,  constituted by the Politecnico di Torino, the Province of Torino, the Chamber of Commerce of Torino, Finpiemonte, Torino Wireless Foundation, and the City of Torino.
I3P’s activities fall within the greater global framework of strategies for the Piedmont region, aimed at promoting research, technological innovation and new entrepreneurship. I3P sponsors the Start Cup Torino Piemonte, a region-wide competition for the best innovative and knowledge-based business ideas.

Aims and targets

The Start Cup Torino Piemonte is a business plan competition targeted at anyone and everyone with an innovative business idea. Innovative enterprises are businesses that introduce something new to products, processes, business organisation or in their approach to the market, compared to the state-of-the-art in technology seen in Piedmontese or Italian companies. In short, innovative enterprises turn scientific knowledge and competencies into economic value.
Aimed at promoting local economic growth, the competition has three key objectives:

• To assist in the creation of new businesses and promote the growth and development of the local economic fabric
• To raise awareness in young (and not so young) people of entrepreneurship
• To provide training in business skills (both directly and indirectly) for participants in the coaching stage

Strategy and actions

The competition consists of two stages:
In the first stage, all the applicant  needs to do is describe his or her business idea succinctly and complete a detailed application form. Only in the second stage the applicant will be asked to draw up a business plan, with the help of I3P tutors and coaching services. Competition participants can thus take advantage of the assistance and support necessary to transform a business idea into a concrete business plan, and a fast-lane to accessing the academic, business and financial worlds.

Monitoring and evaluation

The criteria for the evaluation of the Start Cup business plans are:

• Quality and competence of the business team
• Prospects for economic growth
• Sustainability of the competitive advantage;
• Assessment of competition in the sector
• Satisfaction of market needs
• Size of the market of reference
• Originality of the product/service;
• Assessment of the degree of technical development achieved
• Technical feasibility in consideration of the proposing team

Funding/Cost effectiveness

Piemontech, a venture capital fund for Piedmont-based companies, is investing €50,000 in the company established on the basis of the winning business plan of this initiative.

Sustainability/Transferability

Outcomes/impacts

Achievements

The number of completed business plans:

The 2005 Start Cup Torino Piemonte attracted 108 Business ideas

 and 44 Business plans. Subsequent years figures are:

•            2006:106 Business ideas; 39 Business plans
•            2007:160 Business ideas; 50 Business plans
•            2008:145 Business ideas; 55 Business plans
•            2009:158 Business ideas; 55 Business plans

Success factors

One main success factor is that competition participants can take advantage of the assistance and support necessary to transform a business idea into a concrete business plan, and a fast-lane to accessing the academic, business and financial worlds.

Unintended impacts

Strengths and weaknesses

Curricular reform

Funding reform

Governance reform

Management reform