The 2022 edition of BIAT just concluded in Salerno, Italy. The convention which started in 2014 has become stronger and more relevant each year. The idea is simple and effective: bring potential investors and partners from around the world to Italy to meet innovative southern Italian startups and SMEs in need of expansion and partnership.
Each year Italian startups have had the opportunity to meet foreign investors close to their own headquarters.
The 3 day event consists of networking and panels, but the bulk of the time is reserved for the most essential, which is for startups and investors to meet one-on-one, in 2 pre-matched and organised “speed dating” rotating sessions each day.
The projects presented this year were from Green Economy, ICT, Bio & Health Tech, Robotics and Automation, Space Economy, and Smart City sectors. In total 76 startups from eight southern Italian municipalities participated in one-to-one meetings with 54 potential investors, or partners from 27 countries including Canada, USA, Singapore, Lebanon, Croatia, United Kingdom, India, Japan, and Finland.
Here are a few interesting projects presented by Italian startups:
Visafy attempts to streamline the process of visa applications. Instead of communicating with- or even physically going to the consulates or embassies, you can fill the application and attache all necessary documents via the Visafy online service which could even be collected form your home.
The service facilitates visa applications for many countries, including The United States, Thailand, UK, Australia, Russia and China among others at the moment.
ASPRID (Airport System Protection From Intruding Drones) is an EU funded project coordinated by Inta. The project has received more than a million Euros from the EU’s Horizon program for research and development of systems to protect airport areas from the so-called rogue-drone flights over non-authorised areas by detecting and neutralising drones.
Preinvel claims to have invented the first “filterless” air-purifier in the world to address the problem of industrial pollution.
The company claims to have built, tested and validated a device able to stop particles smaller than 1 micron.
The solution does not include mechanical or electrical filters, but uses a patented airflow mechanism to perform the task. Thus there is no cost of filters and the work needed to change them.
These are just a few of the many interesting projects presented in the 2022 edition of Biat. A more comprehensive list could be found at BIAT web pages.
After three days of intensive meetings and networking, delegates go back home with a stack of business cards and new contact infos, but the discussion has just started. Each BIAT edition has brought several investments to Italian companies and this one will be no exception. The event, which is supported by the EU and fully organised by the Italian Trade Agency would indeed be a good-practice model worth copying to other countries in Europe and beyond.
BIAT (La Borsa dell’Innovazione e dell’Alta Tecnologia), an initiative of the Italian Trade Agency, is the most prominent event included in the “Piano Export Sud”, a comprehensive and ambitious 5 year action plan designed to benefit SMEs, start-ups, university spin-offs and research centres of eight Italian Regions: Abruzzo, Apulia, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Molise, Sardinia and Sicily.
The Plan is developed in cooperation with the Italian Ministry for Economic Development (MiSE), in compliance with the European Commission National Operational Plan on Enterprises and Competitiveness 2014 – 2020 (European Regional Development Fund – ERDF).
The Italian Trade Agency – ITA is responsible for strategy, planning, operations and management, in partnership with Regional Governments and local industry organisations.
ITA – Italian Trade Agency is the Government agency that supports the business development of Italian companies abroad and promotes the attraction of foreign investment in Italy.
With a widespread network of overseas offices, ITA provides information, assistance, consulting, promotion and training to Italian small and medium-sized businesses. Using the most modern multi-channel promotion and communication tools, it acts to assert the excellence of Made in Italy in the world.
Alexis Kouros
Helsinki Times
