Linkr, the winning project of the University Startup Challenge 2024

AnklePiar is the team that has received, thanks to the Linkr project, the main prize of the University Startup Challenge 2024, wanted by the sponsors Lombardini22 and BuildVision, which consists of a mentoring activity for the development of the idea they presented. The event was organised by the student associations Entrepreneurship Club Polimi, Bocconi, Statale and Cattolica in partnership with MUSA, E-Club Ventures, University Network, Money and the Digital Innovation Observatories of Politecnico di Milano.

The theme of this edition was Urban Regeneration and Affordable Housing, focusing on possible housing solutions for students and young workers. Of the 42 projects born from the participants' ideas, 4 will be followed by the university accelerators B4i - Bocconi for Innovation, PoliHub, Fondazione Unimi and iBicocca, which have contributed to the development of the initiative and will help the students turn their ideas into businesses.

The team, made up of a hybrid group of three-year degree students from Politecnico and Bocconi, presented the Linkr project, considered worthy of interest by startup development hubs, with whom talks are currently underway. The project connects students with the world of work, with the aim of facilitating life away from home for deserving university students attending the master's degree course, proposing an innovative solution to the problem of high rents.

Undergraduates will be able to submit their CVs, which will be collected and organised in a database accessible to SMEs looking for talent. The procedure is as follows: the company identifies the most interesting resource and takes care of the partial financing of his or her rent for two years, leaving the student in charge only a fee of 10 euros per day. In addition, it will define the training course that the resource will have to follow in order to be suitable for a profitable job placement once he/she has finished university. Therefore, there will be in-company shadowing and specific training sessions required by the Linkr team, which will also involve teachers through future partnerships with universities and training organisations.

A contract is drawn up between the student and the company, which binds them in a mutual commitment: the company identifies the most suitable training to be requested from the Linkr team and bears the fee for the two-year period. Once the two-year degree is completed, the student can begin his or her working career at the company that supported him or her (for an agreed period), with the advantage of already being fully trained and thus immediately becoming a valuable resource for the company's growth.