S4S

Submitted projects will be evaluated based on the following criteria

The call is open to emerging startups and startups that have been in operation for no more than two years.
The startup’s core idea must involve sustainable innovation projects in any field of application.

A six-member committee representing the project’s partners (UNIVPM, Simonelli Group, Confindustria, SMAU, and a financial institution) will evaluate the submitted projects and select the ideas to be admitted to the program.

• Degree of innovation;
• Business potential of the idea;
• Feasibility of the project;
• Skills and motivation of the team;
• Stage of development of the product/service;
• Completeness of the submitted documentation;
• For projects of equal merit, two spots will be reserved for regional startups and one for female-led startups.

TRAINING

The S4S project includes 6 months of classroom training at the Simonelli Group Campus. The training will be held by qualified UNIVPM instructors and experienced professionals and will cover the following macro-areas:

• Strategic analysis (market analysis, business plan, marketing strategies, financial planning, etc.)
• Administration and management control (economic and financial principles to ensure balanced and sustainable development)
• Guide to legal and tax aspects (legal forms, steps to establish a company, legal requirements, directors’ responsibilities, tax principles, contracts)
• Intellectual property protection (patentability requirements, types of patents, patent path, mistakes to avoid)
• Principles and requirements for sustainability (parameters and assessment of the environmental footprint, European environmental legislation, ESRS, EUDR)
• Management and optimization of business processes (quality control, product industrialization, production planning, logistics and supply chain) Procurement)
• Marketing and communications (creating a marketing plan, how and what to communicate, creating a communications plan)
• Customer acquisition (types of sales force, customer acquisition, customer negotiation management, sales force management)
• Personnel management (recruiting and team management, regulations and labor negotiations, DE&I and equal opportunities)
• Financing channels (how to acquire funds and financial resources)

CLOSING THE WORK PROJECT

Participants will have 8 weeks from the end of the training course to finalize the organized project.

INVESTMENT DAY

Organized together with SMAU, the Investment Day will give all participants the opportunity to present their work to an audience of potential investors (credit institutions, CDP, private equity) to facilitate the possibility of engagement