Moleskine Open Innovation Program
By Moleskine & Digital Magics
Moleskine launches the Open Innovation Program with incubator Digital Magics, offering startups the chance to obtain a 6-month development contract.
https://openinnovation.moleskine.com
Milan, July 27th, 2017 – Today, Moleskine and Digital Magics announce the launch of the Moleskine Open Innovation Program: an international call for start-ups and scale-ups to submit project proposals to add to the growing Moleskine+ category; an ecosystem of tools that include digital and physical products that enhance productivity and the generation of ideas.
With a strong belief in supporting contemporary talent, Moleskine is scouting for emerging companies with whom to share expertise and professional experience, with the goal of bringing inspired ideas to a global market.
Up to four start-ups will be selected to enter into the program: a 6-month process during which time they will have the opportunity to draw on a network of professional business, marketing and product development experts, in order to bring their proposal to market around the world as part of the Moleskine+ ecosystem. During the program, each of the selected start-ups will discuss and define a strategic plan and contractual relationship with Moleskine.
The aim of the call for ideas is to identify and develop projects that fit within the Moleskine+ ecosystem: a range of interconnected smart objects and services – including smart notebooks and apps – designed to seamlessly combine physical and digital elements to boost creativity and productivity on the move. These smart tools work together to simplify the creative process, allowing users to capture inspiration wherever it strikes and effortlessly bounce ideas between page and screen.
They are aimed at the brand’s audience of knowledge workers and creative professionals: a global community of people who are highly educated, inquisitive and constantly seeking new ways of working, learning and expressing themselves on the move.
Moleskine realizes that in everyday life, people do not make distinctions between the analog and digital world: we constantly switch from notebook to smartphone and from paper to tablet. These two worlds are not mutually exclusive – a project can take shape from a set of notes or a sketch, and can then grow on screen before being shared and shaped online. Moleskine envisions a future where people use physical and digital platforms interchangeably, with the Moleskine+ ecosystem being fundamental to the brand’s journey towards this future.
Start-ups with scalable business proposals to submit must bear in mind not only this reasoning, but must also consider the overarching Moleskine Brand Territories of Culture, Imagination, Memory, Travel and Personal Identity, as well as the Brand Focus Areas – which outline users’ key needs.
All proposals should be submitted online via https://openinnovation.moleskine.com by September 24th, 2017. Following the submission deadline, 12 start-ups will be short-listed and invited to the Moleskine Innovation Day at the company’s new head office in Milan on October 26th, 2017. Here, the 12 finalists will get the chance to meet the teams from Moleskine and Digital Magics face-to-face, and to present their unique projects in person.
In order to find the best ideas from around the world, Digital Magics has also set up a network of partnerships with other business incubators and accelerators in Europe and the US who will help identify potential candidates.
“Contributing to the development and sharing of human knowledge and culture is at the core of our reason for being†states Arrigo Berni, CEO at Moleskine. “We are very excited to partner with Digital Magics for the launch of the Moleskine Open Innovation Program. By inspiring and supporting innovation, this program fully embodies the Moleskine values of recognizing talent, fostering exploration and acknowledging authentic passionâ€.
“The partnership with Moleskine honors us and fills us with pride. Moleskine is a brand of absolute excellence worldwide, a ‘lovemark’ which I personally adoreâ€, said Layla Pavone, Managing Director of Digital Magics for Industry Innovation. “The vision and the farsightedness of Moleskine’s management were the drivers of this partnership on Open Innovation, which has led us to organise and develop a concrete and targeted program, which will end with a very relevant opportunity, for the selected startups, to work closely with the Moleskine team and have a chance to see their products and services integrated into the offer Moleskine+”.
Peter H. Jensen, Director of Digital Innovation at Moleskine: “We are extremely happy to establish the Moleskine Innovation program together with Digital Magics. Moleskine is an open platform for creativity – now we open our business to evolve our footprint in digital in line with our strategy. The program is a natural next step in our evolution as a company and the continued development and success of the Moleskine+ proposition. We believe that this program can leverage on our strong culture for partnerships and the unlimited creativity of the start-up community. Without a doubt, we expect to bring products, applications and services to market that make a genuine contribution to the life of contemporary creative professionals and knowledge workers – in true partnerships with start-ups companies.â€
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Moleskine
The Moleskine brand was created in 1997, bringing back to life the legendary notebook used by artists and thinkers over the past two centuries, such as Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway, and Bruce Chatwin. Moleskine notebooks have resumed their travels, proving themselves as indispensable companions to the innovative technologies and connected world of today. Capturing reality in movement, inscribing the unique nature of experience on paper: Moleskine notebooks are batteries that store our innermost ideas and feelings, releasing their energy over time. Today, the legacy of the little black rectangle has opened up new possibilities for creativity on the move. Timeless bags, accessories, writing tools, smart notebooks, digital tools and device accessories join the original notebook. Combined they represent contemporary nomadism around the world.
Digital Magics, listed on AIM Italia (symbol: DM), is a business incubator of digital projects that provides consulting services and acceleration services to startups and enterprises, to facilitate the development of new technological businesses. Thanks to the partnership with Talent Garden and Tamburi Investment Partners, Digital Magics has created the most important national platform for innovation for DIGITAL MADE IN ITALY, by providing support to innovative startups to create successful projects, from conception to IPO, while offering services for the digital transformation and “Open Innovation†to excellent enterprises. The incubation and acceleration services offered by Digital Magics are active in the TAG co-working campuses present throughout Italy. Complementary services include investment activities, which have produced over the years a portfolio of 70 investments in startups, scaleups and digital spinoffs with high growth rates. Accelerated companies are flanked by Digital Magics’ team, a partner of enormous business and digital experience, and benefit not only from the large network of private and institutional investors that support them through “club deals”, but also from the many partner companies that support them on an industrial scale.
Bank Akros SpA acts as a Nomad and Specialist under the AIM Italia Issuers Regulations. For the transmission and storage of regulated information, Digital Magics makes use of the system of dissemination eMarket SDIR and the storage mechanism eMarket STORAGE available at the address www.emarketstorage.com managed by Spafid Connect SpA.
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For further information:
Moleskine – Press Office
Europe – Katia Nicita – media@moleskine.com | M +39 348 604 9577
Asia Pacific – Mavis Leung – mavis.leung@moleskine.com | T +852 39752408
US – Kellie Norton – kellie.norton@moleskine.com | T+1 6464612436
Global – Citizen PR – moleskine@citizenrelations.com
Digital Magics – Press Office
Giorgio Bocchieri – Mail: giorgio.bocchieri@digitalmagics.com
Tel. +39 02 52505202 – Mob. +39 334 6853078
IR Top – Investor Relations
Floriana Vitale – Mail: f.vitale@irtop.com
Tel. +39 02 45473884
Banca Akros – Nomad
Mail: ecm@bancaakros.it
Tel. +39 02 434441
