Platforms and superapps drive the digital race

The watchword: aggregate. Which in the technological vocabulary rhymes with simplify and scale. Because today the greatest difficulty for connected users is to find their way through an infinite plurality of choices. Specific navigation options on individual products or very vertical services. And instead, for some analysts, success comes precisely from the aggregation of platforms and thus from convergence. This is what the American startup bible TechCrunch wrote about the round of MealMe, a tech platform that integrates consumer orders. It secured $8 million in funding for an inventory based on over a billion products from 1.2 million grocery stores and restaurants in the US and Canada. "Everything will be increasingly embedded. In time the user will be able to order from their car, from the TV, from existing social apps, from the AI-based virtual assistant. The key is in the infrastructure platform,' said Matthew Bouchner, co-founder of MealMe. In short, apps are no longer enough because today we are trying to think superapp on the model of China's WeChat.

The need, but also the risk, is to create smooth interactions. Kevin Roose in the New York Times called it the frictionless effect. The tendency to simplify in a single hub means that we will experience a bulimia of digital purchases, at the risk of not realising it. From America to Italy. The picture offered by Statista and Il Sole 24 Ore's ranking of the 500 Leading Companies for Growth 2025 sees the It and software component at 10.4%. Those companies that aggregate to offer value-added services dominate. Among those present is the Brescia-based Web al chilo, a partner of Amazon that simplifies the management and promotion of online sales outlets. In Genoa there is Netalia, which proposes a public cloud model to minimise data protection risks. From Abruzzo to the world: Esyen is the company set up in Avezzano thirteen years ago and committed to providing consultancy services to major European aerospace projects with a presence in Rome, Paris, Munich and Madrid. From Scarperia, in the Florentine province, comes Temera, which has become a world leader in traceability and serialisation of products in the fashion and luxury markets. Also in the ranking is FiloBlu, linked to e-commerce services: the Milan-based company develops and manages the digital business of giants in the fashion, sports, beauty and design sectors. Once again, Italy that innovates is spread far and wide across the boot, focusing on unique and distinctive services