University and enterprise

Sustainability and finance, a platform for SMEs and start-ups to grow

It is Matchmaking Platform, an initiative of the Milan Bicocca University, to support companies in alternative finance. It is part of the Musa project

by Elisabetta Moscatelli

8 December 2025

La sede dell’Università Bicocca di Milano

2' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

2' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Matchmaking Platform is the new initiative of the University of Milan-Bicocca that aims to help start-ups and SMEs navigate alternative finance. A fast-growing sector, but still little known by many Italian companies. The platform, now free of charge, offers customised training courses, mentoring and opportunities to meet potential investors. The aim is clear: to make companies more ready, competent and credible when presenting themselves to those who can support their development.

The platform and the Musa project

Matchmaking Platform was born within Musa, the large project financed by the Pnrr that brings together four Milanese universities: Bicocca, Politecnico, Statale and Bocconi. The programme aims to transform Milan into a laboratory of sustainable innovation, combining academic research, emerging technologies, business and urban policies. Musa focuses on a few specific areas: urban regeneration, ecological transition, digitalisation, new entrepreneurial skills. The aim? To create a more competitive and inclusive ecosystem. In this mosaic, alternative finance is one of the decisive pieces: without capital, even the best ideas remain stationary at the starting tape.

Matchmaking Platform

The promise of Matchmaking Platform is to simplify a complex world, often perceived as remote by SMEs and younger start-ups.

This is what it offers:

1) customised training paths, built after an initial assessment;

2) practical content, designed to prepare materials and strategies to present to investors;

3) mentoring sessions with experts in finance and innovation;

4) finally, networking opportunities to meet other companies, industrial partners and potential financiers.

Business needs

The project is a response to a real need; many Italian companies want to grow, but they do not know the tools to do so, and the platform starts from there: explaining, simplifying, guiding without wanting to be a simple course. The value lies not only in the content, but in the connections that the platform can generate; being part of Musa and supported by four universities, the platform was born with excellent institutional and technical foundations and is part of a solid ecosystem.

Like any ambitious experiment, Matchmaking Platform has some challenges to face. It will have to be able to keep the quality of content and mentoring high in order to keep the project up-to-date, dynamic and close to the real needs of companies. The platform will have to be flexible and really useful from the very first modules, so that SMEs can participate. Moreover, today the service is free of charge thanks to the NRP funds earmarked for universities. But when it becomes a tool capable of leading to concrete financing or industrial partnerships, it will be inevitable to ask how the project will continue without the initial support of the Pnrr and with what economic models.

Despite the unknowns, Matchmaking Platform has brought a simple and powerful idea to the table: bringing businesses and alternative finance closer together, making what is often perceived as complicated accessible. In a country where many innovative companies struggle to find capital, initiatives such as this can become decisive levers for growing entrepreneurship and strengthening the production system.