Politecnico and Bocconi together for the start-up gigafactory

The lack of interest from venture capital funds. But also the scarcity of solid raw material in which to invest. These are structural deficiencies in the Italian innovation ecosystem, which the new initiative of Politecnico di Milano and Bocconi, which have decided to pool their activities in the field of entrepreneurial innovation, aims to remedy. The two universities are in fact contributing to the Tef (Tech Europe Foundation) Polihub (an endowment from the Politecnico di Milano) and Bocconi For Innovation (B4i).

Synergic fusion on the skills side, taking into account the union of two areas of knowledge, the technical-scientific and the managerial, which are complementary and necessary for the birth of solid entrepreneurial projects. But it is also 'powerful' in more general terms, noting that almost half of the founders of a start-up in Italy (2020-2024, Dealroom data) come from these two universities in terms of their studies. Subjects that in the same time frame have also raised almost six billion euros, 92% of the capital attracted by graduates from all national universities.

'With this operation,' explains Ferruccio Resta, President of Tech Europe Foundation, 'the two universities are sending out a clear signal: in order to compete on an international scale, critical mass is required, by pooling skills and resources. This is how to activate a virtuous circle capable of attracting new founders and new capital, supporting the birth and growth of innovative enterprises. In this direction, Tef strengthens its mission as an open project, ready to progressively involve other realities in building the partnerships needed to respond to a structural need of our country and Europe in the field of innovation and technology transfer'.

Founded 18 months ago with the very aim of making Milan one of the largest technology hubs in the EU, Tef has already raised over EUR 120 million from its members and partners, a sum that it aims to increase taking into account the new dimensions achieved. Thanks to Polihub (1300 project applications per year), which has accompanied the growth of over 5 thousand start-ups since 2013, and B4i, over 4 thousand applications from 2019 and support for over 600 entrepreneurs.

'The union of the two incubators in Tef,' adds Milan Polytechnic Rector Donatella Sciuto, 'marks a radical turning point. An operation that for us represents a decisive step in over twenty years of experience in business incubation. We go well beyond collaboration between universities: this merger generates a new entity that reasons on completely different dimensions and scales, transcending party interests. The numbers tell us that the road is the right one, now we need the energy of the people so that it can materialise into a business'.