Innovation

Palermo launches Patic, a hub for start-ups and innovation at Cantieri della Zisa

Call for Sicilian start-ups kicks off. The project, promoted by Sispi with Zest Innovation and SkillforEquity and financed by the Region, aims to strengthen the innovation ecosystem and attract investment

by Nino Amadore

31 March 2026

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

The X hour strikes tonight at 6 p.m. This is the moment when Sicilian start-ups will be able to start sending applications, but also the moment of the official debut of Patic, the Palermo Technology Innovation Centre, a new hub dedicated to the development of technological and entrepreneurial innovation in Palermo. The project is promoted by Sispi, the company controlled by the municipality that manages the administration's IT services, in partnership with Zest Innovation and SkillforEquity.

The initiative is financed by the Sicilian Region, through the Department of Productive Activities, within the framework of the European call for proposals 'Connessioni - Nuovi luoghi per l'innovazione in Sicilia' (Connections - New places for innovation in Sicily) and also includes the redevelopment of the Tre Navate space at the Cantieri Culturali alla Zisa, which is to become the physical heart of the hub. In the project charter, Patic is presented as a platform to strengthen the local innovation ecosystem, support the birth and growth of high-potential start-ups, and accompany the digital transformation of the territory.

The Acceleration Programme

The first operational tool will be the Patic 2026 Acceleration Programme: a three-month course aimed at ten Sicilian start-ups, designed to work on business model, value proposition, pitch deck, financial model, mentoring, and preparation for confrontation with investors and industrial partners. The aim is to increase the ability of young companies to reach the market and fundraising with a more solid structure.

Confirming the potential of the Sicilian ecosystem is Antonella Zullo, CEO of Zest Innovation: 'Zest has been looking at Sicily and Palermo with great attention for some time, recognising their value in terms of talent and capacity for innovation. Today there are more than 600 active start-ups on the island, around 4.5% of the national total, and in recent years this ecosystem has shown signs of growth and structuring,' she says. 'Along this path Zest has invested more than one million euro in Sicilian start-ups, helping to raise a further three million. Realities such as Keplera and Plurima demonstrate that, if supported with appropriate tools, local talent can be transformed into growth, market and concrete returns. Sicily is not just an evolving territory, but a pool of opportunities that can fully express its potential within a more solid and structured innovation chain'.

Startup selection kicked off

On the operational side, Danilo Mazzara, ceo and founder of SkillforEquity, explains that the call will open today at 6 p.m. and will remain active until May. Twenty-four projects will be selected from the applications, which will undergo an initial face-to-face discussion, and then 10 start-ups will enter the actual acceleration process. The choice will be made by assessing the quality of the projects, the solidity of the teams, and economic sustainability. Mazzara also insists on two aspects: the programme will be free of charge, with no entry costs or transfer of shares, and it will be built in a very concrete way to help start-ups find customers, consolidate and create synergies. Mazzara reads Patic as a response to a weakness that is now evident in the regional ecosystem: the decline in investment in innovative realities and the isolation in which Sicilian start-ups too often move. For Mazzara, the point is not just to select good projects, but to finally build a platform capable of accompanying them in defining their strategy, accessing the market, and dealing with investors, creating a less fragmented and more competitive environment around them. Supporting the process will also be the digital infrastructure developed with the technology partner Digitrend, designed to make the innovation community grow over time.

The project is worth around EUR 1 million and has a significance that goes beyond the single call. In fact, for Palermo it represents a piece of the strategy with which the city is trying to build a stable infrastructure for start-ups, skills and new investments. Not just a physical space and an acceleration programme, therefore, but an attempt to connect businesses, investors, institutions, talent and research, strengthening the capital's position as an emerging pole of innovation in southern Italy.

An Ecosystem at the Zisa Cultural Sites

"With the Palermo Technology Innovation Centre we want to create a solid and competitive ecosystem capable of retaining talent and attracting investment to Sicily. Focusing on innovation means building concrete opportunities for young people and supporting the growth of our companies in an increasingly global market," says the regional councillor for productive activities, Edy Tamajo. "The project represents a strategic step for the digital transformation of the territory. Palermo and Sicily have all the potential to become a reference point in the Mediterranean for innovation, and we are pursuing initiatives that strengthen this vision."

On the City Council's side, Innovation Councillor Fabrizio Ferrandelli links Patic to a broader vision of the Cantieri Culturali alla Zisa as a city innovation hub. "We are betting a lot on this initiative and not only, we see here at the Cantieri a great pole of innovation and we are working on a network that involves, for example, the Innovation Island platform with which we recently participated in Milan in a beautiful initiative. Patic is a fundamental reference point,' says Ferrandelli.

Sispi's strategy

For Sispi, finally, Patic also marks a change of role. In fact, the company hitherto identified mainly with the management of public IT services is trying to broaden its range of action, accrediting itself as an active player in urban and business innovation processes. "I would like to emphasise that we, with the governance of the company, have reinterpreted Sispi's role in a modern key," says president Giovanna Gaballo. "In our view, it must play an important role in attracting investment, intercepting financing, collaborating with private individuals, and creating more and more opportunities without weighing on the municipality's coffers. It is in this framework that Patic also becomes the sign of a Sispi that tries to position itself no longer just as a service structure, but as an operational lever for the development of city innovation.

The challenge now is to turn the call into a credible first test bench: to bring out start-ups with real potential and try to build around them an ecosystem capable of producing economic impact, skilled employment and new attractiveness for Palermo and Sicily.