Qonto, Europe's leading corporate financial management solution, launched the third edition of PowerUp!, the initiative aimed at Italian start-ups to support the development of the local innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem.
Once again this year, the project began with the launch of a call open to early-stage and seed-stage start-ups, which will be used to select six excellences who will be able to present their projects during a Pitch Night, to be held on November 14, 2024 in Milan, in front of a jury made up of representatives of the main Italian venture capitalists and accelerators, scale-up founders and leading stakeholders in the innovation sector. This year's Pitch Night will feature two winning start-ups, one early-stage and one seed-stage (between €250,000 and €1.5M), who will have access to an exclusive mentoring session with Qonto co-founder and CEO Alexandre Prot, as well as prizes offered by PowerUp! partners.
For this third edition of the initiative, the travelling roadshow that started in Milan on July 4 is touching the cities of Cagliari (September 12), Rome (September 19), Catania (October 22) and Palermo (October 24): an important opportunity to involve local communities through meetings, workshops and networking activities. During the events, the PowerUp! project will be presented and the founders of successful Italian scale-ups will be invited on stage to share their experiences, advice and insights with the participants.
Qonto has chosen to create PowerUp! with the aim of supporting the Italian entrepreneurial ecosystem, offering valid and concrete support to those who have started their own project and want to make it grow in Italy as well as in international contexts. Qonto's experience, combined with the contribution of its solid network of partners, makes it possible to create value by connecting startups, investors, scaleup founders and industry experts.
"The success of the first two editions of PowerUp! has further solidified our commitment to promoting innovative entrepreneurship in Italy. This project, welcomed with great enthusiasm by numerous start-ups, continues to benefit from our experience and the wide network of our partners, allowing us to offer concrete support to those embarking on the entrepreneurial path in our country," commented Mariano Spalletti, Managing Director for Italy at Qonto. "On the occasion of the third edition, we will once again have successful CEOs and founders on stage ready to tell their stories, share their experiences and inspire new entrepreneurs."
To participate in PowerUp! you need to apply online on the website and fill in the application form on the website. The call will be open until October 27, 2024. At the end of the application phase, a panel of experts will select the 6 finalist start-ups that will participate in the Pitch Night in November in Milan.
PowerUp! has the support of numerous partners such as I3P, F65, Latuta, Over Ventures, OVHcloud, Touch and Contact, MadeIt and Torcha. The Pitch Night jury will be composed of more than 40 representatives of the main VCs, accelerators and stakeholders of the Italian start-up ecosystem including Vento (by Exor Ventures), Azimut, Zest, B Heroes, Prana Ventures, 360 Capital, Plug & Play, P101 and many others, as well as founders of some of Italy's leading scale-ups.
To find out more about the initiative, participate in the call or register for the events, it is possible to visit the reference webpage on the Qonto website.
