ITALY TECH DAY 2020

The event showcased Italian innovation and the growing startup and scale-up industry, now worth around €260 million of investments in Italy during the first six months of 2020 (Source: StartupItalia). These trends were discussed during the event with six lifestyle sector scale-ups from Italy: Boom, Buddyfit, Everli, Freeda, Shopfully, and Velasca who shared the virtual stage with thought leaders and internationally renowned investors.

The companies have distinguished themselves for their excellent revenue performance ,as well as attractive capital and international growth paths, and have been selected by the UniCredit Founders’ Club, bringing together scale-ups from different sectors as one of the most important offshoots of the UniCredit Start Lab platform, via which the bank has supported over 350 innovative startup projects with their growth paths.

The scale-ups presentations were preceded by a round table entitled ‘Europa Tech: a mosaic in evolution for opportunities and investments’ attended by Gilad Engel, Partner, Target Global; Stefania Godoli, Joint Venture Manager, CIB-CCB Italy of UniCredit; Luca Colciago, General Partner, Kreos Capital; and Vanessa Pinter, Digital+.

Olivier Khayat, UniCredit’s Co-CEO Commercial Banking Western Europe, welcomed the guests, saying:

“Today investing in innovation is more than an option: it is a clear priority. The moment we are living is complex and the recovery of the entire system is totally linked to the ability of innovating business models to quickly adapt and respond to the current unpredicted global changes, combining the new opportunities unlocked by the digitalisation with the historical strengths of Made in Italy. This is vital to meet the evolving needs of customers and stay ahead of the evolving competitive landscape. UniCredit counts on its strong expertise and its consolidated network with corporates, institutions and investors to be a strategic partner, offering the best solutions to support the growth of both mature and new businesses.”

Over the next few days, One UniCredit will be profiling each of the scale-ups that attended the event. Watch this space for updates!

BOOM: A collaborative platform that connects professional photographers with clients. BOOM Imagestudio is an international marketplace of on-demand photographic services, and a meeting place for creatives and authors searching for inspiration, knowledge, and work opportunities.

BUDDYFIT: The first digital gym in Italy, Buddyfit is a new app created to allow people to train anywhere with the virtual support of a personal trainer, through personalised or live workouts carried out over videoconferencing.

EVERLI: The first company in Italy to give customers the opportunity to choose the supermarket they trust, order shopping online and have it delivered it to the desired address in a guaranteed time slot. Everli has the widest offering of products on the Italian online market, with more than 65,000 references and hundreds of deals available on the platform, thanks to important partnerships with major Italian supermarket brands.

FREEDA: A media brand for young women in Italy, Spain and the UK with over 7 million followers on the most important social networks. It’s also a personal care brand of products active across Europe.

SHOPFULLY: Partners with more than 700 retailers and brands globally to connect consumers with physical retailers through digital technologies and strategies.

VELASCA: A shoe and accessories brand, Made in Italy but with a global Direct to Consumer sales model thanks to its proprietary e-commerce platform. Born as a digital brand, in recent years it has also developed a network of over 10 shops.