Turin hub of innovation thanks to the new agreement

With the new protocol which will last two years, the three historic partners who have been collaborating since 2020 to give a concrete boost to innovation in Turin, are committed to continuing to support the growth of the innovation ecosystem and strengthening the strategic positioning of Turin as a hub internationally attractive.

The three partners will continue their collaboration with Techstars - one of the main global accelerators for the growth of startups -, launching the Techstars Trasformative World Torino acceleration program for the two-year period 2024-2025, at the OGR in Turin. Furthermore, the three partners aim to align commitments to support innovative startups and maximize the synergies and impacts of this and other possible initiatives in the area, for example through the provision of soft landing packages for setting up in the area of startups, their direction towards further paths of valorisation of Italian and European institutions and the facilitation of the search for technological partners and investors in Italy and abroad.

The collaboration with Techstars has allowed, from 2020 to 2023, the creation of four acceleration paths at the OGR Torino - venue and networking hub of the Program: two aimed at startups operating in the smart mobility sector (Techstars Smart Mobility Accelerator, in 2020 and in 2021) and two dedicated to startups with smart city technologies (Turin Cities of the Future Techstars Accelerator, in 2022 and 2023).

The Program aims to surpass the important results obtained from 2020 to 2023, with 45 accelerated Italian and foreign startups selected from over 1,300 candidates, over 85 million euros of capital raised, over 50 proof of concept agreements (tests for technical and economic) with Italian clients, around 500 jobs created and two exits (sales of capital shares).

Thanks to the previous Program, between 2020 and 2023 the international attractiveness of Turin as an innovation hub grew, attracting a growing number of startups from across the border: two thirds of the 45 accelerated startups and 90% of the over 1,300 candidates are foreign. Four of the 30 accelerated foreign startups have chosen to remain in the city, opening an Italian branch to give continuity to the synergies established with the territory. Important numbers which are also confirmed in the latest Global Startup Ecosystem Report, published by Startup Genome, which sees Turin among the top 35 most attractive European ecosystems in terms of affordable talents.

The commitment made by the three partners with the help of Techstars to strengthen the local entrepreneurial and innovative fabric is demonstrated by the growing number of accelerated Turin startups, 6 out of 15 in Italy, and by the synergies developed with several local players: the Municipality of Turin with the Torino City Lab testing platform, the House of Emerging Technologies, the University and Polytechnic of Turin, the Piazza dei Mestieri Foundation, the ESCP Business School master's degree, the Intesa Sanpaolo Group and the LINKS Foundation.

Recently, Innovation Center organized the Torino Smart Destination event, precisely to take stock of the ecosystem and its prospects; the meeting saw the participation of Compagnia di San Paolo and CTE Next.