The initiative organized by the Pesenti Foundation and Speed MI Up recognizes new businesses that work on handling emergencies, from earthquakes to flooding.
The call for proposals expires on 22 April 2019. Six months of free incubation will be awarded
After the success of the first call for proposals, which caught the attention of experts and the media and a winning selection process, Pesenti Foundation and Speed MI Up are re-launching the challenge. A new call for proposals was issued on 27 February to select businesses and startups studying major risks such as flooding, landslides, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, fires and droughts. Applications must be submitted on the website fondazionepesenti.speedmiup.it by 22 April 2019. The two best projects will be awarded with six months of free incubation at Speed MI Up.
The project is called SHaReD, “Social Hazards Resilience in Disaster,” and it is the result of the joint work of the Pesenti Foundation, Bocconi University and Politecnico di Milano.
It aims to facilitate the creation and development of innovative startups in the field of managing seismic, volcanic, wind (hurricanes, tornados, cyclones), hydraulic (flooding) and hydrogeological (landslides) events, droughts and fires.
Startups must propose new ideas in terms of forecasting, preventing and managing an emergency, as well as post-emergency assistance, following the three Ps: prevent, predict and plan. Particular attention will be given to projects that are able to meet the challenge of activating a sort of interstate “insurance” system (of “mutual assistance”/sharing of risks/resiliency-safety net).
Sergio Crippa, Secretary General of the Pesenti Foundation: “Finding new solutions for an issue as complex as major risks is not an easy challenge.
This is why we wanted to build technical and assessment boards featuring key experts in the area of innovation and emergencies. We believe in new perspectives that can only come from new generations. The startups’ responses and the work of the boards during the first call were exceptional. The Foundation has therefore decided to renew its commitment, trusting that this second call will allow innovative businesses to emerge and improve.”
Alvise Biffi, Chairman of Speed MI Up and President of Piccola Industria at Confindustria Lombardia: “After analyzing the high quality projects submitted during the first SHaReD call for proposals, expectations are very high for the second call. My invitation to all startups and to anyone with an innovative idea is this: get involved! The board is looking for a disruptive idea that surprises and disorients. We look forward to receiving many submissions with the goal of improving the world.”
The new call for proposals is aimed at aspiring entrepreneurs and micro-, small- and medium-sized businesses with registered and/or operational offices in Milan and the surrounding area, or who are willing to move to Milan within three months after the start of the incubation process, scheduled for June 2019.
Launched in November 2018, the first SHaReD call led to the selection of the startup Isaac, which started its incubation process at Speed MI Up in February 2019 (Alberto Bussini, founder, is pictured). Isaac developed and patented a device that can counter the movement of buildings during a seismic event, reducing oscillation amplitudes and minimizing the risk of collapses and damage. “It can be installed quickly and non-invasively, it is competitively priced and it performs better than the alternatives on the market,” say Isaac’s engineers. The same system also continuously monitors the building, analyzing its stability and security. This feature is instrumental to the feasibility analysis required after an earthquake occurs.
Speed MI Up is a business incubator established by Bocconi University and the Milan-Monza-Brianza-Lodi Chamber of Commerce, with the support of the City of Milan. It is not simply a co-working space, it also accelerates the development of startups proactively, encourages them as they pursue their goals and trains them through individual and collective tutorships. Startups are thus able to grow, quickly create an organization, improve their strategy, management and finance skills and refine their business plan to access outside funding.
Fondazione Pesenti develops modern interactions between the public sector and the for-profit/non-profit private sector, providing sustainable solutions to major social challenges. The Foundation’s areas of focus aim to promote and support the development of new socially-relevant enterprises, especially businesses established by young people.
PRESS RELEASE Speed MI Up second CALL SHaReD
fondazionepesenti.speedmiup.it
