CREVAL GROUP AND DIGITAL MAGICS TOGETHER TO SUPPORT INNOVATION AND STARTUP
The banking group holds an agreement with the incubator for the funding of 2 million Euro allocated to digital startups for innovation development in the territories where the banks of the Group operate
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Milan, August 7, 2014 – The Credito Valtellinese Banking Group (Creval Group) and Digital Magics, certified incubator of innovative startups listed on the AIM Italy market of the Italian Stock Exchange (symbol DM), sign an agreement for the medium-term loan of Euro 2 million – assisted by the Guarantee Fund for SMEs.
This operation is among the first in Italy to use the simplified procedure for access to the guarantee, established by the Ministry of Economic Development on behalf of certified incubators and innovative startups.
The agreement aims to contribute to digital economic growth, investing in innovation of the areas where the banks of the Creval Group operate. Digital Magics will make available to Creval its digital know-how and incubation services, and together with the Creval Group provide financial resources to support the creation of new innovative startups in the area and develop programs of Open Innovation to assist local businesses.
The Creval Group also enters into the Digital Magics Angel Network and will participate in the selection and investment of innovative startups of the incubator along with more than 100 investors in private, institutional funds and companies that have joined the platform of Digital Magics.
Mauro Selvetti, Deputy General Manager of the Creval Group states “The support for this initiative is an important goal for those who, like us, want to be a true community bank closer to innovative individuals, organisations and businesses, characterised mainly by the presence of young and enthusiastic entrepreneurs who are born in the territory where the Group operates, pursuing the values ​​that characterise our distinctive identity: a popular group matrix, one of proximity, of relationship and shared value. Given the particularly uncertain context for companies which face difficulties in accessing credit, this deal shows a willingness to continuously improve and strengthen relations between the bank and businesses.”
Enrico Gasperini, Founder and Chairman of Digital Magics said “The partnership that we have formed with the Creval Group, always attentive to new technology, is a significant moment for our industry. The excellence of the various territories is a key factor in creating an innovation ecosystem. Citizens, young talents, universities, institutions, banks and local businesses can produce innovative and compelling benefits from the collaboration with our accelerator. Digital Magics is a national incubator who is working constantly to build real clusters of innovation throughout Italy, actively involving all stakeholders in the supply chain.”
This press release is online at www.digitalmagics.com in the section Investor Relations – Press Releases and on www.creval.it in the section Press Room.
Credito Valtellinese – www.creval.it
Credito Valtellinese popular banking group, listed on the MTA of the Italian Stock Exchange (London Stock Exchange Group), has over 160,000 members and shareholders. It is present in the national territory in 11 regions, with more than 540 branches, spread among the local banks that constitute it – Credito Valtellinese, Credito Siciliano, and Carifano – and about 4,400 employees. At the summit of the group is Credit Valtellina, founded in Sondrio in 1908 in the wake of the cultural tradition of popular Catholicism, which from the beginning has pursued a development model intrinsically linked to the socio-economic progress and development of the territories of its historical roots. Consistent with the guiding principles, banking operation is mainly oriented to families, small and medium-sized enterprises, artisans and professionals and, by tradition and vocation, to non-profit organisations: a heritage “untouchable” in the continued expansion of more than 900,000 relationships.
Digital Magics – www.digitalmagics.com
Digital Magics is a certified venture incubator of innovative digital startups that offers content and services with a high technological value. Digital Magics is quoted on AIM Italy, the Alternative Capital Market dedicated to small and medium-sized Italian enterprises with high growth potential, organised and managed by the Italian Stock Exchange. Digital Magics builds and develops internet startups, working alongside their founders, investing equity and providing acceleration services. Starting from talents and ideas, it transforms them into successful disruptive businesses in the Italian and international digital economy. The incubator promotes a culture of entrepreneurship and risk, contributing to economic growth and employment for young people. Digital Magics offers services to support the innovation, creation and development of digital startups, and it supports them in the search for new Italian or international private and public investors to fund successive stages of development. The Digital Magics model is unique in Italy and is based on the Digital Magics LAB: the team that identifies, analyses and launches new initiatives, providing innovative startups with digital business acceleration services for company development. Digital Magics has a portfolio of over 45 investments in startups. It has achieved 6 exits, and only 4 write-offs. To date, the incubator has invested approximately 13 million euro, of which 5 million is from exits. Currently, the average investment is around 300,000 euro.
Integrae SIM acts as a Nomad and a Specialist under the AIM Italy Issuers’ Regulations.
For the transmission of communications, Digital Magics makes use of the SDIR-NIS circuit, operated by BIt Market Services, a subsidiary of the London Stock Exchange Group.
For further information:Â
Creval – Investor & Media Relations
Raffaella Premoli – Email: premoli.raffaella @ creval.it
Digital Magics – Press Office
Giorgio Bocchieri – Email: giorgio.bocchieri@digitalmagics.com
IR Top – Financial and institutional communications
Floriana Vitale – Email: f.vitale@irtop.com
Dominico Gentile – Email: d.gentile@irtop.com
Integrae SIM – Nomad
Luca Di Liddo – Email: luca.diliddo@integraesim.it
