Innovative start-ups, turin in the top ten

Innovative start-ups, thanks to their contribution in terms of innovation, technology and competitiveness, represent an important driver for the economic growth of territories. Precisely for this reason, in the aftermath of the second economic recession of the 2000s into which Italy fell, legislation was introduced (Decree-Law 179/2012) aimed at incentivising their birth. In the North-West, according to Infocamere data as at 24 June 2024, there were 966 innovative start-ups, 7.5% of the national total. Of these, 707 are in Piedmont (seventh largest among Italian regions), 242 in Liguria and 17 in Valle d'Aosta. In relative terms, there are 7.3 innovative start-ups per 1,000 capital companies in the macro-area, a value that is higher than the 6.8 of the country as a whole, driven by Piedmont (7.7), which is the sixth region in Italy for density of the phenomenon (Valle d'Aosta: 6.8; Liguria: 6.5). Going into territorial detail, it is worth highlighting the strong concentration of these enterprises in the provinces of Turin and Genoa, where almost three quarters of the innovative start-ups in the breakdown are located; a fact that reflects the tendency of these entrepreneurial realities to locate in highly urbanised areas. These two provinces also stand out at the national level, positioning themselves at the top of the list in terms of absolute values: Turin is in fourth position with 4% of Italian innovative start-ups and Genoa in 15th position with 1.6%. Innovative start-ups generally show a high degree of youth participation, which is even more pronounced in the North-West. In Italy, the rate of youth entrepreneurship does not reach 9% with reference to the total economy, but rises to around 16% in relation to the entrepreneurial segment analysed, reaching almost 20% in the North-West. Piedmont, in particular, marks the Italian record with an incidence of 21.4%. The presence of innovative businesses run by women and foreigners is decidedly less significant. Businesses led by women account for 11.3% of the total population of innovative start-ups in the region (a figure that is lower than the national average of 13.7%, but also lower than the weight of 'pink' businesses in the area's total economy, which exceeds 20%), while those led by foreigners account for 4.6% of the total (a figure that is higher than the national average of 3.7%, but once again far from the weight of foreign businesses in the entire entrepreneurial system of the region, which exceeds 10%). Similarly to what is found on a national scale, from a sectoral point of view it is information and communication services that absorb a large part of the innovative start-ups in the North-West, 54.1% of the total (Italy: 52.8%), of which as many as 45.5% are in software production and IT consultancy; professional, scientific and technical activities follow with 20.3%.