Calls
Start Cup Piemonte Valle d’Aosta 2025 - Business Plan Competition
Now in its XXI edition this year, Start Cup Piemonte Valle d'Aosta is the competition for tomorrow's innovative entrepreneurs, aimed at encouraging and supporting the birth of knowledge-intensive innovative start-ups to promote the economic development of the Italian regions of Piedmont and Aosta Valley. Having completed Stage 1 of the initiative, the “Ideas Competition”, the initiative has entered its Stage 2, the “Business Plan Competition”.
The initiative is financed by the Piedmont Region with resources from the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), promoted by three universities in Piedmont - Politecnico di Torino, University of Turin, and University of Eastern Piedmont (UPO) - and organized by two university incubators: I3P, Innovative Companies Incubator of Politecnico di Torino, and 2i3T, Business Incubator of the University of Turin. The competition is held as part of the Premio Nazionale per l'Innovazione (PNI), Italy's most important event for knowledge-intensive start-ups, organized annually by PNICube, the national network of university incubators and Start Cup competitions.
The competition is free of charge and is open to all aspiring entrepreneurs over the age of 18: anyone can enter the Business Plan Competition, either individually or as a team, even without having taken part in the previous phase, by submitting by July 28, 2025 an innovative business project in one of the five competition categories: Cleantech & Energy, ICT, Industrial, Life Sciences, Tourism and Cultural & Creative Industry.
The Start Cup Piemonte Valle d'Aosta competition is a unique opportunity to transform studies and research into business projects, regardless of the stage of development, and enter the network of innovative business incubators. The winners will in fact receive support for the birth of start-ups, support in defining their strategy, accompaniment on the market through contact with the first customers and introduction to investors and banks for raising capital.
Following the closing of applications at the end of July 28, and after the intermediate stages of evaluation of the collected applications, by early November the best start-up projects participating in the Business Plan Competition will be selected to receive prizes of economic value, as well as special mentions, awarded with the support of a Jury composed of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and business angels.
Thanks to the endowment made available by the promoting entities and supporters of the 2025 edition, the total prize pool amounts to over €65,000 and will be disbursed in cash and services offered by various partners.
The three overall winners will receive cash prizes. The first place winner will receive a prize of €7,500, the second of €5,000 and the third of €2,500. The top six projects will also be awarded a prize of €1,000 each for entry into the 2025 edition of PNI, the Italian National Innovation Prize, the “champions cup” among the winning business projects of the regional Start Cups, which this year will be held in Ferrara at Ferrara Expo on Thursday, December 4 and Friday, December 5, 2025. The event will be jointly organized by PNICube and the University of Ferrara, as part of ECOSISTER - Territorial Ecosystem of Innovation of Emilia-Romagna, funded by PNRR.
There will also be a number of awards and special mentions promoted by sponsors and partners interested in contributing concretely to the development of innovation.
All information is available on the official website.
The initiative is financed by the Piedmont Region with resources from the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), promoted by three universities in Piedmont - Politecnico di Torino, University of Turin, and University of Eastern Piedmont (UPO) - and organized by two university incubators: I3P, Innovative Companies Incubator of Politecnico di Torino, and 2i3T, Business Incubator of the University of Turin. The competition is held as part of the Premio Nazionale per l'Innovazione (PNI), Italy's most important event for knowledge-intensive start-ups, organized annually by PNICube, the national network of university incubators and Start Cup competitions.
The competition is free of charge and is open to all aspiring entrepreneurs over the age of 18: anyone can enter the Business Plan Competition, either individually or as a team, even without having taken part in the previous phase, by submitting by July 28, 2025 an innovative business project in one of the five competition categories: Cleantech & Energy, ICT, Industrial, Life Sciences, Tourism and Cultural & Creative Industry.
The Start Cup Piemonte Valle d'Aosta competition is a unique opportunity to transform studies and research into business projects, regardless of the stage of development, and enter the network of innovative business incubators. The winners will in fact receive support for the birth of start-ups, support in defining their strategy, accompaniment on the market through contact with the first customers and introduction to investors and banks for raising capital.
Following the closing of applications at the end of July 28, and after the intermediate stages of evaluation of the collected applications, by early November the best start-up projects participating in the Business Plan Competition will be selected to receive prizes of economic value, as well as special mentions, awarded with the support of a Jury composed of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and business angels.
Thanks to the endowment made available by the promoting entities and supporters of the 2025 edition, the total prize pool amounts to over €65,000 and will be disbursed in cash and services offered by various partners.
The three overall winners will receive cash prizes. The first place winner will receive a prize of €7,500, the second of €5,000 and the third of €2,500. The top six projects will also be awarded a prize of €1,000 each for entry into the 2025 edition of PNI, the Italian National Innovation Prize, the “champions cup” among the winning business projects of the regional Start Cups, which this year will be held in Ferrara at Ferrara Expo on Thursday, December 4 and Friday, December 5, 2025. The event will be jointly organized by PNICube and the University of Ferrara, as part of ECOSISTER - Territorial Ecosystem of Innovation of Emilia-Romagna, funded by PNRR.
There will also be a number of awards and special mentions promoted by sponsors and partners interested in contributing concretely to the development of innovation.
All information is available on the official website.