The Italian Embassy in London and iStarter have joined forces to support Italian startups presenting considerable growth potential in order to scale up their search for investments needed to grow, in one of the most dynamic venture capital markets in the world. During the “Made in Italy 2.02.0” workshop, which was inaugurated at the opening session of the London Stock Exchange and, subsequently, at Wayra, Telefonica’s global startup accelerator. Wayra offices hosted a panel discussion on the challenges of scaling up businesses in Europe. At the end of the debate, 10 innovative startups, selected by five Italian business accelerators, pitched their offer to a selected audience of venture capital investors. The workshop closed with a networking event, organised on the premises of the Italian Embassy, attended by start-uppers, Italian business accelerators and investors.
“Made in Italy 2.0.2.0”
iStarter is one of the main Italian accelerators in the UK. Since its inception, in 2012, it has assessed more than 750 projects and offered 4.53 million to 16 startups. Following several consultations with the Italian diplomatic mission it was decided to organise this event, as the company believes that “the Italian ecosystem is ready to attract more investments from the major venture capitalists, and [that] the most prominent Italian accelerators are working together to prove it”. The accelerator announced that they are currently working on the start-up selection process, which implies criteria that include the magnitude of innovation and turnover, teamwork capabilities and the history of the company as well as its quotation.
