In 2024 I3P, the Innovative Companies Incubator of the Politecnico di Torino, celebrated its 25th anniversary and confirmed itself as a pillar in the Italian innovation ecosystem. The numbers speak for themselves: in the past five years alone, I3P has launched 576 new business projects and incubated 107 start-ups, which together have raised more than 161 million euros in private investment.
Founded in 1999, I3P is recognized as one of the best and longest-running university incubators, with a mission to support the entrepreneurship ecosystem, generating economic development and employment in innovation-intensive areas and industrial supply chains.
Innovation in key sectors and international projects
As the technology market has evolved, I3P has expanded its reach, taking a leading role in developing initiatives dedicated to innovative entrepreneurship and Open Innovation.
As part of its support for new start-ups, I3P analyzes and evaluates more than 1,000 business proposals a year and selects about 150, which are admitted to a pre-incubation track. The most promising projects gain access to the actual incubation program, where they receive ongoing support for up to three years through strategic advisory services that prepare them to design technological development, face the market, and raise the capital needed for growth.
In particular, I3P stands out for its ability to focus on technology-intensive projects, operating in sectors such as energy, mobility, aerospace, medical technology and fintech. An approach made possible thanks to the synergy with Politecnico di Torino, the Polytechnic University of Turin, which guarantees direct access to an ecosystem of advanced research, technology transfer and training excellence.
Among the most significant initiatives is ESA BIC Turin, launched in 2021 in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA), the Italian Space Agency (ASI), Politecnico di Torino and LINKS Foundation, with financial support from the Piedmont Region, Compagnia di San Paolo and the Turin Chamber of Commerce. The program highlighted the attractiveness of the local industrial system for start-ups operating in the new space economy, with about 40 percent of the supported companies coming from outside the region or abroad. Another example is PLAI, Mondadori's acceleration track dedicated to artificial intelligence and media in which I3P is a partner for training and mentorship activities.
I3P has also expanded its network of national collaborations, forging agreements with new venture capital funds and the national Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) technology transfer hubs, such as the Galaxia hub, which focuses on the space economy.
With the aim of strengthening its Open Innovation activities, the incubator has joined major industrial groups - including CA Auto Bank, Italgas and Edison - in finding and integrating innovative solutions developed by Italian and European start-ups. I3P has also launched an innovative Open Innovation path focused on the Italian wine supply chain with the Terra & Tech project, carried out in collaboration with the association Filiera Futura and several banking foundations operating throughout Italy, with the aim of introducing innovation and new technologies in a key sector for the Italian economy.
Toward the future: an ecosystem for hi-tech entrepreneurship
Looking ahead, the opportunities provided by the resources of the Italian PNRR (Piano nazionale di ripresa e resilienza: National Recovery and Resilience Plan) for applied research, higher education and innovation activities represent a strategic lever to foster the emergence of new hi-tech companies, particularly along the trajectories of digitalization and sustainability.
In this context, I3P intends to contribute to the process of exploiting research results on the market. Examples of this are the NODES (Nord Ovest Digitale e Sostenibile) project and its Spoke 1 dedicated to Aerospace and Sustainable Mobility, which is coordinated by Politecnico di Torino and in which I3P is a partner, which has already given rise to numerous patents and innovative start-ups, laying the groundwork for further successes until its conclusion, scheduled for 2025.
Tra le nuove iniziative in programma, l'incubatore lancerà la I3P Startup Academy 2025, un percorso esclusivo che valorizza 25 anni di esperienza e una rete consolidata di imprenditori, investitori, ricercatori e manager. L’Academy offrirà formazione gratuita e basata su un approccio esperienziale ad un insieme selezionato di giovani aspiranti imprenditori, professionisti in cerca di una svolta e aziende interessate a integrare la cultura startup, focalizzandosi sulla fase pre-costitutiva e su progetti hi-tech.
I3P intende, inoltre, ampliare le sue attività di Open Innovation, rafforzando la sinergia tra startup e aziende consolidate, e promuovere iniziative di public engagement per sensibilizzare il pubblico sull’innovazione e l’imprenditorialità. Nel 2024 I3P ha realizzato Scintille, una serie di incontri con menti brillanti e personalità di spicco provenienti da settori più disparati, mentre proseguiranno anche in futuro iniziative di divulgazione per contribuire alla costruzione di una cultura dell’innovazione e dell’imprenditorialità aperta e inclusiva.
"Con una visione orientata a nuove tecnologie e mercati strategici, I3P continua a crescere, consolidando il proprio ruolo di hub di riferimento per l’innovazione in Piemonte e in Italia” ha dichiarato Giuseppe Scellato, Presidente di I3P. “Il nostro obiettivo resta lo stesso: trasformare idee brillanti in realtà imprenditoriali di successo, favorendo la nascita di startup che contribuiscano allo sviluppo economico e tecnologico del Paese e alla capacità innovativa dei settori di riferimento tramite iniziative di Open Innovation".
L’impegno di I3P sarà dunque volto a rafforzare ulteriormente il proprio impatto sull’ecosistema dell’innovazione, esplorando nuovi ambiti tecnologici e favorendo la collaborazione tra startup, istituzioni e grandi imprese. Continuando a valorizzare le competenze e le risorse del territorio, l’obiettivo è consolidare una comunità imprenditoriale dinamica e competitiva, capace di generare valore economico e sociale e di rispondere alle sfide globali con soluzioni innovative e sostenibili.
