Startup World Cup is an event that takes place every year and consists of a series of local events that select the best start-ups and elect the winner who acquires the right to go to the global final in San Francisco at the home of Pegasus Tech Venture, which organises the competition, and to compete for the final million-dollar prize. Local events are organised independently although they are linked to the global programme, for instance Startupbusiness was recently at the Startup World Cup in Vienna, which is held annually at the ViennaUp event.
Now the Startup World Cup also inaugurates its edition dedicated to Mediterranean countries, and does so at the behest of Francesco Cracolici, founder of Nomadic Minds, a company set up to support emerging technology ecosystems in the growth of their start-ups and the raising of local and international capital, who states in a note: “There are so many start-up-themed events taking place in our country, yet anyone with a minimum of experience of evolved ecosystems realises that there are very different circuits in which to run and, unfortunately, in Italy we are certainly not among the best performing” and who has also involved Monica Guizzardi, considered the godmother of the Sicilian startup ecosystem, Federica Pasini, an expert in community building for innovation, and Danilo Mazzara, CEO of SkillforEquity.
The Mediterranean Startup World Cup will take place in the city of Palermo on 11 October and will put 66 start-ups from over 20 Mediterranean countries in competition. It is not yet possible to know the names of the finalists because the selection process is still ongoing (applications are also open) but it is certain that they will come from one of the countries that make up the Mediterranean economic area, which are: Spain, France, Monaco, Italy, Malta, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania, Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco.
‘The call involves those countries, we will choose the best start-ups,’ says Cracolici (pictured). The sectors involved are consistent with the challenges we face in the Mediterranean: fintech and insurtech because so many people still do not have access to basic financial services; cleantech, because the energy transition passes through the Mediterranean, see also the Mattei plan; AI and deeptech, because they are the technologies of the future; social impact because inclusion is a major issue; and health because it is a sector in full transformation and the role of new technologies will be key’.
‘Italy, Sicily and Palermo are the centre of the Mediterranean and on this occasion they will also be for those who innovate. The founders will have the opportunity to present their project to an audience of more than 30 selected international investors with an available portfolio of approximately USD 2.3 billion. The event is a regional stage of the Startup World Cup, has semi-final value and the startup is the winner of the Sicilian stage, will participate by right in the Startup World Cup finals to be held in San Francisco to compete for the $1 million prize,’ Mazzara explains. Four US funds will participate in the event: Pegasus Tech Ventures, Better Tomorrow Ventures, Gainangels and Coelius Capital who will evaluate the competing start-ups.
The Mediterranean Startup World Cup will take place at the Cantieri Culturali alla Zisa, a landmark location for the city of Palermo but also for the Region itself, which aims to create here a unique pole for innovation, an ecosystem capable of networking the main operators in the sector, in partnership with the public world.
“It is important to emphasise that this event is not a fair, but an important day of discussion. For this reason, access is by invitation only because we believe that both start-ups, investors and insiders attending the event need the utmost concentration in order to be able to express their full potential,’ adds Guizzardi.
“What we want to achieve in Italy is a stable and recognised stage of the Startup World Cup. An event that represents the beginning of a great opportunity with international scope for the Italian ecosystem,’ Pasini comments.
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