Pre-acceleration programme Boost Your Ideas - EU|BIC Lazio Innova
Author: Ilaria Corsi, Head of European Projects Office at EU|BIC Lazio Innova
Boost Your Ideas, a nationwide pre-acceleration program by EU|BIC Lazio Innova.
Boost Your Ideas (BYI) pre-acceleration program had been set up to scout innovative solutions for the economic and competitive repositioning of Lazio in the post-Covid recovery. According to the success of the first edition of the initiative in 2020, the program has now reached its 4th edition (ongoing). It provides mentorship and rewards in services and money to the best solutions selected at the end of its 3rd phase.
In the first 3 calls launched, Lazio Innova received 765 applications coming from 417 startups and 348 informal teams. 127 projects were selected and had access to the pre-acceleration phases and at the end of the program 38 projects won the final prize awards.
BYI program is also strengthened by the support and the interaction with a network of 50 project partners coming from the innovation world: large companies, potential users, investors, incubators, accelerators, competence centers and public administrations – able to invest their specialized know-how and skills in vertical projects closest to their sector. Eighty bilateral meetings were held to develop business opportunities, qualified mentorship, and investments to enter the market.
In each edition, Lazio Innova involved 4 coaches, 18 tutors and 32 specialized experts.
The Program is fully digital and has a national coverage.
The global pandemic has forced the revision of the services model, stepping into a new digitalized way to provide advanced and specialized services to startups.
“Indeed, with Boost Your Ideas, we had the opportunity to map startups specific needs for entering new market and positioning new products.”
The huge number of BYI participants has fueled and raised the level of Lazio Innova ecosystem, especially referring to its local network of Innovation Hubs (so called “Active Spaces”).
The selected projects had been followed with digital tools and this aspect was crucial for achieving great results: in fact, during the lockdown, participants had the chance to upgrade or complete their innovative projects.
Moreover, the connections with strategic players and partners of BYI brought new business opportunities and investments to the participants
30% of the participating teams established their own startups (even though they had not been awarded).
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