“The organisation of the Mediterranean semi-final is headed by an unprecedented team of industry professionals, both Sicilian and non-Sicilian, whom I have brought together by sharing my experience in the Startup World Cup circuit and my vision,” Francesco Cracolici (pictured), founder and CEO of Nomadic Minds, tells Startupbusiness. who has always been dedicated to the development of emerging markets and, after having managed several acceleration programmes for innovative start-ups on three continents and having built up an investment portfolio ranging from Ethiopia to Brazil, kicks off this project together with Monica Guizzardi, Aurora Incardona, Federica Pasini, Danilo Mazzara CEO of Skillforequity, who share a vision of making Palermo the Mediterranean’s innovation hub by hosting the Mediterranean semifinal of one of the world’s most prestigious events for the startup sector: the Startup World Cup. The event connects innovative ecosystems globally, is organised by Pegasus Tech Venture, a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm that provides financial and intellectual support to emerging technology startups around the world and offers a $1 million prize for the final to be held in San Francisco in October 2025.
The Mediterranean Startup World Cup, held on 11 October 2024 in Palermo at the Palermo Cruise Terminal, will be the scene of competition between 25 start-ups from over 10 countries including Italy, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Serbia, Spain, France, Turkey, Egypt, Morocco, and also from the United Kingdom and Singapore, which are certainly not Mediterranean countries, but the companies competing all have a base in a country in the area as well, the start-ups were selected from over 420 applications received from 31 different countries, 34% of which were founded by women or with at least one woman in the management team.
‘In 2023 I personally managed the organisation of the only regional semi-final of the Startup World Cup for Central Asia in Mongolia,’ adds Cracolici. ‘It was a unique opportunity for investors from around the world to explore and learn about the local ecosystem of a country perceived to be ‘far away’ from the global innovation investment round. After that very positive experience, I thought it would be interesting to replicate the initiative in an ecosystem that we already know is more developed, such as the Mediterranean. I chose Sicily for two reasons: the first is the personal bond I have with this land, and the second concerns the great changes that are transforming the region. Sicily, already the geographical and historical centre of the Mediterranean, is rapidly positioning itself as the area’s centre of innovation, driven by major technological investments such as those in the development of fibre optics and advances in the energy sector, for example. Moreover, no one has ever held a world event of this magnitude in Palermo, a challenge that we accepted with great enthusiasm, driven by that desire to give back that only those who have returned to Sicily after so many years living in other parts of Italy and abroad can understand. This vision has also enthusiastically involved a group of professionals that we now consider ‘Sicilians by adoption’ who have completed the team while working from Milan, Turin and South Africa. Together, we believe that Sicily deserves an international event that highlights its potential, and this vision has been perfectly integrated with the vision of the Region of Sicily and the Municipality of Palermo, who immediately assured us of full and fundamental support to elevate the project and embrace the idea of making it a recurring event. The fact that this event went from being ‘international’ to ‘global’, welcoming investors even from Dubai, Hong Kong, and Singapore is something that has exceeded our own expectations: confirmation of Sicily’s attractiveness and, above all, of the wonderful city of Palermo’.
The founders of the 27 selected start-ups will have the opportunity to present their project to an audience of more than 30 selected investors with an available portfolio of around nine billion dollars. The start-up that wins the Mediterranean semifinal will participate by right in the Startup World Cup final to be held in San Francisco to compete for the $1 million funding prize. Six large US investment funds will also participate in the event: Pegasus Tech, Orbit, Coelius Capital, Telegraph Hill, Exceptional Capital, Middle Game, as long as top business angels such as : Zach Coelius, Mike Sigal, Jenny Fielding and Brynne Kennedy who will have the opportunity to evaluate the competing start-ups together with other leading judges and experts.
Among the companies sponsoring the event are the Generali Group, Unicredit, Prysmian, PWC and Palermo-based Sispi, Formula Coach while Startupbusiness is a media partner. Concrete support also comes from the institutions of the Sicilian Regional government and the Municipality of Palermo.
All info, details, start-ups and speakers are available on the event website.
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