Fondazione Golinelli, through its accelerator G-Factor, invests in Drug Discovery Clinics Srl, InSimili and NovaVido, the start-ups selected in the Life Sciences/Digital Health sector of the I-Tech Innovation 2021 program promoted in partnership with CRIF.
They have been announced after passing the final screening of the Call for Application launched by CRIF and the Golinelli Foundation in three strategic sectors - Life Sciences/Digital Health, Fintech/Insurtech and FoodTech/Agritech - and in which a total of 1 million euros will be invested.
The projects were chosen, among many applications received from Italy and abroad, based on research background, level of scientific and technological know-how, entrepreneurial attitudes and real growth potential as a company. All have high innovative content and a high potential for success that can improve, through important scientific discoveries, the lives of many people: from a drug for the treatment of Acute Myeloid Leukemia and COVID-19 to a device that makes faster and effective the drug selection process through the creation of an environment similar to the human body tissues, up to polymeric retinal prostheses for the recovery of vision following retinal degeneration.
The last year’s health emergency has underlined the need for our country to focus on scientific research and invest more resources for innovation in the healthcare sector.
"With this in mind, it was considered essential to dedicate one of the three calls of the I-Tech Innovation 2021 program to the Life Sciences / Digital Health sector with the aimed to give immediate support and accompany start-ups in their entrepreneurial, scientific and financial development, and, in the long term, contribute to filling the gap between Europe and Italy in the technological field» declared Andrea Zanotti, President of the Golinelli Foundation. «In the life sciences sector, investments were planned for 5 start-ups, but we had to clash with some endemic cultural aspects of our country - explains Zanotti. The final selection produced a small circle of only 3 innovative companies, which were also very valid and convincing. Today’s perception, even after three years of activity and three Calls for Application, is that entrepreneurship training is more than ever necessary, even more than the financial investment, as some brilliant ideas still risk to remain hidden if there will not be an overall leap forward in the mentality of all the protagonists of the technological and innovation "system". Uninvested resources will certainly be reinvested in 2022, but we believe the need to move on as fast as we can in our country if we want to compete within the international market” concludes Andrea Zanotti.
The start-ups will now be involved in G-Force, the start-ups acceleration program of G-Factor, incubator and accelerator of the Golinelli Foundation aimed at revealing entrepreneurial realities. The teams will have the opportunity to undertake a path of support for the development of their business models, conceived and built on the specificities and concrete needs of each individual project, lasting 7 months from 12 April to the end of November, with a first intensive phase. until July, and a second remote follow-up phase.
In the initial stages of project development, the scientific-technological validation of the product/service goes hand in hand with the entrepreneurial and managerial startup of the team, in order to formulate the most correct value proposition to be presented to investors.
“But the key elements are who helps you do all this, and how it helps you. For start-ups, we want to be that element that makes the difference» says Antonio Danieli, General Manager and Vice President of the Golinelli Foundation and Sole Director of G-Factor. «In just thirty months from its birth, G-Factor has evaluated over 350 projects in the life sciences sector alone, invested in 18 start-ups, becoming a partner and providing thousands of hours of acceleration. G-Factor is transforming the high potential of scientists and innovators into entrepreneurial realities capable of successfully establishing themselves on the market. For a few months, I-Tech Innovation will be involved in a close partnership with the same start-ups which are already partners of the promoters of the program, Crif and Fondazione Golinelli. So there will not be "us and them" but a single team with a common goal».
