The Italian Embassy in Germany hosted the opening event of the sixth Smau | Italy RestartsUp in Berlin, organised by SMAU in collaboration with ICE. This was an opportunity for 36 Italian startups and corporations to meet the ecosystem of German innovators, discuss issues of common interest and start new collaborations.
The selected Italian companies included companies in the fields of commerce and e-commerce, health, elderly care, environmental protection, energy and automotive, as well as agri-food.
Berlin was specifically chosen because it is an innovation hotspot with an increasingly green vocation (76% of startups in Germany define themselves as sustainable and 43% of startups operate in the field of the Green Economy). While presenting the initiative, the Italian Ambassador to Germany, Armando Varricchio, said: “Startups are the game-changer of the economy, thanks to their unique ability to combine flexibility and adaptation with the continuous push for innovation and high technology in all major sectors, ranging from agribusiness to health, and from energy and manufacturing to transport. It is no coincidence that Open Innovation plays a leading role in the green transition and in the sustainability of production processes, an area in which Italy and Germany are at the forefront of bilateral cooperation and within the European Union.
The event at the Embassy was attended, among others, by the President of SMAU, Pierantonio Macola, the Managing Director of SIMEST, Mauro Alfonso, the Councillor for Research, Innovation and Startups of the Campania Region, Valeria Fascione and the General Manager of ENEL Foundation and Chief Innovability Offer, Ernesto Ciorra, and by representatives of the German Federal Ministry for the Economy and Climate Protection.
