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Milan is truly a GREAT place to build a startup, but most of the early-stage entrepreneurs we speak to are not aware of the local resources that are available to help them.

With applications for the Milan Founder Institute now open, we are excited to release the Milan Startup Ecosystem Canvas, which is currently in Draft v1 below! It was developed by the Milan Founder Institute and local leaders Maria Matloub and Peter Lazou.

This is just a DRAFT, and while we spent many hours on this research, more input is needed. Please leave your comments on this collaborative Google document to help us complete the list. There are definitely omissions on this current version. 

Are you looking to build a startup in Milan? Then apply to the Milan Founder Institute today!

Text version included below, for ease of searching:

Startup Stages


There is no one right way to build a technology company, but for the sake of simplicity we have outlined a basic, common, sequential framework.

1. Idea Stage

This is where new entrepreneurs get inspired, learn best practices, develop skills, validate ideas, and begin to build their team and product.

A. Inspire

  • Startup Media: Centralized local information, listings, and news. (i.e. startup blogs/ publications/ lists/ FB groups/ newsletters, Startup Digest)
    1. Agenda Digitale
    2. Digital4
    3. EU Startups Milan
    4. Milano Today Startup
    5. Startup Business
    6. Startup Digest Italy
    7. Startup Digest Milan
    8. Startup Italia!
    9. StartUP News
    10. Wired Italia
    11. ZeroUno
  • Inspirational Events: Open, inclusive, beginner startup events (i.e. Startup Weekend, idea fairs, and inspirational meetups)
    1. Data Science Milan
    2. Digital design days
    3. Fintech Up
    4. FWLAB Startup Meetup Milano
    5. Girls in Tech
    6. Health 2.0 Milan Chapter
    7. Lean Startup Machine Milan
    8. Milan Startup Week
    9. Milano Entrepreneurship and Innovation Meetup Group
    10. Milano Scala Group
    11. Milano Startup Scene
    12. Non-Technical Entrepreneurs Meetup Milano
    13. R-Ladies Milan
    14. Startup Weekend Milan
    15. StartupItalia! Open Summit

B. Educate

  • Best Practices: Beginner knowledge-sharing events. (i.e. beginner events that serve to educate more than inspire, like 1 Million Cups, Startup Grind, Startup Founder 101, etc).
    1. AWS User Group Italy
    2. Branding & Brand Identity Italia
    3. DigitalOcean Milano
    4. Legal Tech Milano
    5. Log.ED Milano
    6. Machine Learning Milan
    7. Milan High Tech Meetup
    8. Milano Chatbots Meetup
    9. Milano Design Thinking Meetup
    10. Serverless Italy
    11. Startup Founder 101 Milan
    12. Startup Grind Milano
    13. yTech Milan: Hybris Technology Community
  • Training & Feedback: Skill & Idea development. (Ex. bootcamps and comprehensive training programs, like Founder Institute, General Assembly, Lean Startup Machine, code camps, etc)
    1. Agile Brewery Milano
    2. Agile Reloaded Meetup
    3. AgileIoT
    4. Crafted Software
    5. Founder Institute
    6. Le Wagon
    7. Le Wagon Milan Coding Station Meetup
    8. Lean Startup Circle Milano
    9. Milan Startup: Idea to IPO
    10. Milano Apache Kafka Meetup by Confluent
    11. Milano Scrum/Agile User's Group
    12. ProductTank Milano
    13. Startupbootcamp Smart City & IoT Program
    14. TAG Innovation School
    15. The Happy Startup School Milan Meetup
    16. The Startup Training

C. Validate

  • Team Formation: Resources for teaming up. (i.e. events or other resources that facilitate early-stage recruitment and cofounder matching)
    1. American Business Group
    2. Business e via Italy
    3. Business Networking Milan
    4. CoFoundersLab
    5. Endeavor Italy
    6. Founder2be
    7. FounderDating
    8. Hackers and Founders
    9. Milano International Business Networking
    10. Professional Women's Network Milan
    11. Startup Crash Test Milan
    12. StartupBlink Milano
    13. STEM 4 Health & AgTech Milano
    14. Tech Startup Milano
  • Build First Product: Hackathons & resources to build. (i.e. hackathons and other builder-focused events and resources)
    1. 3DiTALY Milano
    2. Cashless Milano Hack
    3. Cognitive Hack
    4. DamA Space
    5. FabLab Milano
    6. Global Legal Hackathon
    7. H-ack by H-Farm  
    8. Hacker News Milano
    9. Hacks/Hackers Milano
    10. Hash Code 2018
    11. Kotlin Night Milano 2018
    12. Makers Hub
    13. Milano Digital Week: Social Media Hackathon
    14. Opendot
    15. POLIFactory
    16. Poste Hack
    17. Space Apps Milano
    18. WeMake

2. Launch Stage

In this stage, entrepreneurs establish and formalize the company, develop the product, get feedback from customers, and prepare for the next step.

A. Start

  • Establish: Law firms & banks for startups
    1. Banca Galileo
    2. Banca IFIS
    3. Banca Popolare di Milano
    4. Banca Progetto
    5. BonelliErede
    6. CBA studio legale e tributario
    7. CMS
    8. Dentons
    9. Extrabanca
    10. FPB Legal
    11. Intesa Sanpaolo
    12. Jones Day
    13. Latham & Watkins LLP
    14. LCA Law
    15. LEXIA Avvocati
    16. McDermott Will and Emery
    17. Nctm Studio Legale
    18. Orrick
    19. Osborne Clarke
    20. Paradigma Law
    21. Pirola Pennuto Zei & Associati
    22. Portolano Cavallo Studio Legale
    23. Santander Consumer Bank
    24. Simmons & Simmons
    25. UniCredit Banca
  • Workspace: Co-working and flexible workspaces (note: “official” office space goes in 3.1.a. Infrastructure)
    1. BASE Milano
    2. Campus Coworking Milano
    3. Coffice Milano
    4. Copernico Milano
    5. Coworking Login
    6. Coworking Milano
    7. Coworking Milano Bicocca
    8. Donatello Coworking Milan
    9. Flexworking
    10. Idea Factory Milano
    11. Impact Hub Milano
    12. inCOWORK Milano
    13. LASCIA la SCIA Coworking
    14. Loft Coworking
    15. Qf
    16. Sarpi oTTo
    17. Spaces Milano
    18. Spazio Elabora
    19. StartMiUp
    20. Talent Garden
    21. YoRoom

B. Develop

  • Formalize: Accounting, development and HR for early-stage startups.  
    1. Alto Labs
    2. App'ost
    3. EU Web Agency
    4. Hara Risorse Umane
    5. IAMA Risorse Umane
    6. Iorio Associati
    7. Linuwi
    8. LU3G La Boutique del Web
    9. Moko
    10. Overbi
    11. Rawfish
    12. SiComunicaWeb
    13. Silicon Make App
    14. SinApps
    15. Studio Associato Iberati
    16. Studio Borrini
    17. Studio Natella & Bruno
    18. Studio Paci
    19. Studio Panato
    20. Talento Risorse Umane
  • Prepare for Seed: Incubators and advanced mentorship. (i.e. advanced knowledge sharing, later stage events and resources for startup TEAMS, Startup Next, etc)
    1. Alimenta2Talent
    2. Breed Reply
    3. Digital Magics
    4. Edison Pulse
    5. ENEL Startup Program
    6. Euroimpresa
    7. FabriQ
    8. Impact Hub Milano Incubator
    9. Incubatore Tecnologico Bottega di Leonardo
    10. Innovits
    11. InnoVitsLab
    12. Intesa Sanpaolo Start Up Initiative
    13. Italian Brand Factory
    14. IULM Innovation Lab
    15. KeyCapital
    16. Make a Cube
    17. Polihub
    18. PTP Science Park
    19. RQ Incubator
    20. Sanipedia
    21. Speed MI Up Incubator

C. Launch

  • Seed Accelerators: Seed funding mentor programs (Techstars-style programs that provide funding)
    1. Alimenta Accelerating Program
    2. Barcamper Acceleration Program
    3. BiovelocITA
    4. Boox
    5. DOCOMO Digital b-ventures
    6. ELITE
    7. Fashion Technology Accelerator
    8. Fondazione Filarete
    9. Future Food Ecosystem
    10. G2 Accelerator
    11. growITup
    12. iStarter
    13. Italian Brand Factory
    14. LuissEnlabs
    15. Make a Cube
    16. Nuvolab
    17. Officine Formative
    18. Open Accelerator Life Science by Z-Cube
    19. PTP Science Park
    20. Rancilio Cube
    21. Speed MI Up Accelerator
    22. TH2
    23. TIM WCap Accelerator
    24. UniCredit StartLab
    25. Wind Business Factor
    26. WithFounders
  • Pitch & Demo: Show local startups for investment (i.e. demo days for companies seeking seed investment)
    1. Awesome Foundation Milano Digital Edition Pitch Night V
    2. Demo Day Digital Magics
    3. Demo Day TIM WCap
    4. H-FARM Open Day Milano
    5. Investor Day
    6. Startup Crash Test Milan #14
    7. XChange on Tour

3. Growth Stage

Here, a startup proves their utility, receives recognition, and scales up. This usually requires funding, angels, VCs, and ways to connect them to startups.

A. Recognition

  • Investor Networking:  Connect professional investors with founders. (i.e. events or groups that facilitate connections with professional investors)
    1. Angel Investment Network
    2. Angel Partner Group
    3. Club degli Investitori
    4. Club Digitale
    5. Italian Angels for Biotech
    6. Italian Angels for Growth
    7. Italian Business Angel Network
    8. ScaleIt
    9. Siamosoci
  • Major Media: Mainstream local business press. (i.e. major local or regional publications that frequently champion local businesses)
    1. Affaritaliani
    2. Avvenire
    3. CNBC Italy
    4. Corriere della Sera
    5. Il Giornale
    6. Il Giorno
    7. Il Sole 24 Ore
    8. ItaliaOggi
    9. La Repubblica
    10. Libero Quotidiano
    11. Metro News Milano
    12. Milano Finanza
    13. Milano Today
    14. Rai News
    15. Sky TG24

B. Funding

  • Angels / Micro-VCs: Seed-stage investors
    1. Andrea Di Camillo
    2. Cristiana Francia  
    3. Domenico Laudonia
    4. Fabio Blandino  
    5. Fabio Pezzotti  
    6. Federico Colombara  
    7. Giorgio Valaguzza  
    8. Giuseppe Donvito  
    9. Giuseppe Trettenero
    10. Ivan Marandola  
    11. Jari Ognibeni  
    12. Loris Lanzellotti
    13. Martino Bagini
    14. Massimiliano Magrini
    15. Matteo Girardi  
    16. Nicola Junior Vitto
    17. Paola Bonomo
    18. Raffaele Mauro  
    19. Roberto Bonanzinga
    20. Sal Matteis
    21. Stefano Molino  
  • Venture Capitalists: Series A and beyond
    1. 21 Partners
    2. 360 Capital Partners
    3. Alto Partners
    4. Ameventures
    5. Antares Private Equity
    6. ARDIAN
    7. Augens Capital
    8. CVC Capital Partners
    9. DeA Capital Alternative Funds
    10. H.I.G. Capital
    11. Innogest Capital
    12. MGH7 Venture Capital
    13. MTS Fund
    14. Oltre Venture
    15. Oxy Capital
    16. P101
    17. PAI Partners
    18. Panakes Partners
    19. Prana Ventures
    20. Principia SGR
    21. Private Equity Partners
    22. Quadrivio SGR
    23. RedSeed Ventures
    24. REinventures
    25. Star Capital
    26. Style Capital
    27. Synergo SGR
    28. TIM Ventures
    29. UniCredit EVO
    30. United Ventures
    31. Vertis SGR
    32. Wise SGR
    33. Xandas

C. Growth

  • Infrastructure: Office space, HR, local business insurance. (i.e. office space/ HR/ insurance providers for capital-rich companies to grow and scale)
    1. Assiteca
    2. B&V Broker
    3. Bull Insurance Broker
    4. CIS Broker
    5. Idealista
    6. Immobiliare.it
    7. ISO Formazione
    8. Mida Broker
    9. Offix Space
    10. Regus
    11. Sintex Selezione Personale
    12. SKILL Risorse Umane
    13. Target Offices
    14. Tecnocasa
  • Expansion: Growth accelerators/consultants. (i.e. programs and business consultants for capital-rich companies to grow and scale)
    1. Accenture
    2. Alvarez & Marsal
    3. Aon
    4. A.T. Kearney
    5. Avanade
    6. Bain & Company
    7. Boston Consulting Group
    8. BPI Group
    9. Capgemini
    10. Deloitte
    11. Egon Zehnder
    12. EY
    13. Everis
    14. Frost & Sullivan
    15. Gartner
    16. Grant Thornton
    17. Hill+Knowlton Strategies
    18. Infosys Consulting
    19. Kantar Millward Brown
    20. KPMG
    21. McKinsey & Company
    22. Mercer
    23. Oliver Wyman
    24. Protiviti
    25. PwC
    26. Ramboll
    27. Roland Berger
    28. SAP Consulting
    29. Simon Kucher & Partners
    30. Tata Consultancy Services
    31. Towers Watson
    32. Unisys Consulting

4. Success Stories

Successful homegrown companies that have raised significant institutional funding, employ a large workforce, or have achieved liquidity.

  1. AdEspresso
  2. AppsBuilder
  3. Bauzaar
  4. Beintoo
  5. Building Energy
  6. ChatSim
  7. Chili
  8. DFLabs
  9. Fannabee
  10. Foorban
  11. Genenta
  12. GoodBuyAuto
  13. Inventia
  14. iubenda
  15. MainStreaming
  16. Moneyfarm
  17. MotorK
  18. Prestiamoci
  19. PrivateGriffe
  20. ProntoPro
  21. Robonica
  22. SHAREWOOD
  23. Spotlime
  24. Tanaza
  25. Tannico
  26. ZEHUS



Supporters


To facilitate the steps, every ecosystem needs strong supporters.

1. Evangelists

Successful local founders who lead the ecosystem & frequently mentor newbies.

  1. Andrea Roberto Bifulco
  2. Andrea Romoli
  3. Andrey Golub
  4. Antonio Ghezzi
  5. Arianna Aondio
  6. Armando Biondi
  7. Carmelo Cennamo
  8. David Casalini
  9. Domenico Gravagno
  10. Emanuele Madini
  11. Emil Abirascid
  12. Fabio Azzolina
  13. Federico Sargenti
  14. Francesco Mantegazzini
  15. Gabriele Grecchi
  16. Gaia Costantino
  17. Giandomenico Sica
  18. Gianluca Maruzzella
  19. Giusy Stanziola
  20. Jacopo Bargellini
  21. Jessica Tibaldi
  22. Julien Chiavassa
  23. Maria Matloub
  24. Marnix Groet
  25. Paola Perini
  26. Patrick Oungre
  27. Peter Lazou
  28. Riccardo Pozzoli
  29. Roberto Verganti
  30. Stefano Mainetti

2. Government

Public organizations that facilitate local economic development (ex. Start with the chamber of commerce, “Invest in XXX”, “Economic Ministry of XXX” , “Innovation”, R&D, etc)

  1. AMCHAM Italy
  2. Camera di Commercio di Milano Monza Brianza Lodi
  3. Città Metropolitana di Milano: Infrastrutture e Innovazione
  4. Invest in Lombardy
  5. Invest in Milano
  6. Milano Smart City

3. Talent

Major local business or tech universities and employers that attract and retain local talent.

  • Local Universities (universities with prominent technical or business programs)
    1. Alta Scuola Politecnica
    2. Bocconi University
    3. IULM: Università di Lingue e Comunicazione
    4. Politecnico di Milano
    5. The University of Milan
    6. Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
    7. University of Milano - Bicocca
  • Local Employers (Major technical employers, like Microsoft or Google or large local companies, with large local offices, “major technology companies in XX”)
    1. Amazon
    2. Apple
    3. BT Italia
    4. Cisco
    5. Dell
    6. Ericsson
    7. Facebook
    8. Flex
    9. Google
    10. Microsoft
    11. Motorola Solutions
    12. GE
    13. HP
    14. IBM
    15. Intel
    16. Oracle
    17. Reply
    18. Saipem
    19. Samsung
    20. Siemens
    21. STMicroelectronics
    22. Telecom Italia
    23. Verizon Enterprise Solutions
    24. Vodafone

 

*  *  *

Learn more about the Startup Ecosystem Canvas here, and leave us your thoughts on the Milan Canvas on this collaborative Google document (This is just a DRAFT, and more input is needed!)

Are you looking to build a startup in Milan? Then apply to the Milan Founder Institute today

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