The third Terra Next call4startup is underway
The Terra Next project was born in 2022 on the initiative of CDP Venture Capital, together with Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center and Cariplo Factory, which manages the program. Terra Next has selected so far 15 startups and invested 1.5 million euros through acceleration tickets. An additional 750 thousand euros of funds are expected for startups in the third batch.
The third call4startups of Terra Next, the acceleration program for startups and innovative SMEs operating in the bioeconomy sector, started on January 16th. Terra Next is part of the CDP Venture Capital National Accelerator Network, a network present throughout Italy with the aim of supporting the growth of startups specialized in markets with the greatest potential and sees the participation of Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center as co - creator and promoter, as well as the support of Cariplo Factory, which operationally manages the program.
The accelerator, designed over a 3-year timeframe, received 263 Italian and international applications in the first two editions and selected 15 startups in which it has already invested a total of 1.5 million euros, through acceleration tickets.
The third call searches for innovative companies operating in the sectors of Integrated Nutraceuticals, Circular & Bio-Materials and Regenerative Agriculture. Interested companies will have until March 8 to apply.
A program that attracts investments
Many of the startups that participated in the program have already proven their worth on the market, attracting further investments. Like, for example, Relicta - an innovative startup that has developed water-soluble, biodegradable and compostable plastic packaging, obtained from processing waste from the fishing industry, which closed an investment round of 500 thousand euros by Scientifica Venture Capital, Terra Next and Vertis SGR, through the Venture 3 Technology Transfer fund. Or ExoLab Italia – a company that has developed a system to use plant nanovesicles from fruit and organic medicinal plants for food supplementation, cosmetics and drug-delivery, which saw a co-investment from Terra Next and from Scientifica Venture Capital, a fund that invests in startups exclusively with a scientific theme, for a total of 300 thousand euros.
By virtue of the activities carried out over the course of these two years, Terra Next is among the entities selected by the Bioeconomy Changemakers Festival to organize, at the accelerator headquarters, a satellite event of the initiative, scheduled in Brussels from 11 to 17 March 2024. The Bioeconomy Changemakers Festival, promoted by the European Commission, in collaboration with the Bioeconomy Youth Ambassadors, aims to involve young people as "engines of change" in order to gather new perspectives to address the multiple European challenges in the bioeconomy.
“The results of the first two years of the Terra Next project and the industrial connections that have been created following the acceleration path confirm the validity of this model, which combines the skills of our Group, orchestrated by the Innovation Center, and of the other partners in supporting the growth of startups with the concreteness of the industrial needs, expressed by the local companies that are partners of the initiative", explains Giuseppe Nargi, Regional Director of Campania, Calabria and Sicily of Intesa Sanpaolo.
