Where does one start to bring an innovative technology-based start-up to life? It certainly takes the right idea and a lot of effort to make it happen, but it is equally essential to bring together a team with complementary skills, build a project that has real market prospects, and earn the trust of investors to make it happen. Better to start, then, on the right foot, taking the first steps as a startupper with the accompaniment of a certified incubator like I3P.
Aspiring innovative entrepreneurs - even those who have not yet founded a company, completed an entrepreneurial team with which to start the business or defined their business plan - can enter a pre-incubation path in I3P, aimed at imparting the entrepreneurial knowledge and skills needed to mature the project, and then embark on the actual incubation.
The offer of the path
The standard pre-incubation path at I3P lasts from 3 to 18 months and can take place in-person, with the assignment of a workspace in the coworking environments within the incubator's headquarters in Turin, Italy, or remotely, through virtual consulting available from anywhere.
In both cases, the future innovative start-ups receive many accompanying services for business development, including:
- mentoring and coaching of the team by specialized consultants;
- support in finding initial funding;
- involvement in local and national innovation network;
- signaling of tenders and open calls for start-ups;
- opportunities for contact and collaboration with large companies through open innovation initiatives;
- training events, networking and meeting with industry players.
Young businesses pre-incubated at the I3P headquarters can also take advantage of all logistical services designed to minimize internal organizational costs and needs, and maximize the operational time devoted to defining the business project. For example:
- access to the facility on any day and time, throughout the year;
- reception and secretarial office for mail, deliveries and contacts to start-ups;
- availability of equipped meeting rooms and locations for public or private events;
- document printing and copying services;
- smart locker for receiving and picking up shipments.
I3P then provides pre-incubated start-ups with numerous agreements with external partners to respond to various entrepreneurial needs with the expert support of qualified entities in their respective fields. These include national agencies, banking institutions, crowdfunding platforms, research laboratories, trade associations, digital technical service providers, hospitality facilities, creative agencies and various types of suppliers. The pre-incubation path in I3P also provides access to contracted specialist consultants, on favorable terms, in tax, administrative, legal and notary matters; in intellectual property, technological development, labor safety and personnel management.
Requirements and perspectives
I3P offers its services to innovative start-ups with high technology intensity and growth potential, founded in Italy by university students and researchers, or by entrepreneurs from outside academia. Application sectors can range from industrial to digital, including aerospace, technologies for the biomedical field (medtech) and for reducing environmental impact (cleantech).
To enter a pre-incubation or incubation path, one must apply in the dedicated section of the I3P website, following the steps of the application process, in either Italian or English. All applications are evaluated by the incubator team, paying particular attention to the current composition of the team, the technology expected to be employed and the market prospects of the project.
I3P is a certified public incubator, established in the form of a non-profit consortium company, and its pre-incubation path, while not free, is accessible at greatly reduced rates compared to private incubators. The cost of the pre-incubation pathway is calculated according to the services required, in the logic of maximum customization of the program to the needs of the individual project and its stage of development, facilitating access to the services and opportunities of the innovation ecosystem even for young entrepreneurial teams with less starting capital. In some cases, through the various forms of support for new entrepreneurship funded by public entities or private sponsors, it is possible to follow a path of incubation and/or pre-incubation in I3P at symbolic or zero cost.
At the end of the pre-incubation path, after a maximum of 18 months from the signing of the contract, the team can evaluate with I3P whether to continue the relationship by entering full incubation, subject to passing a special committee for the evaluation and establishment of the company, or whether to undertake a different type of path, in any case remaining part of the incubator's innovative network and benefiting from its many free initiatives aimed at supporting innovative entrepreneurship in the area.
