INTRODUCING THE BUSINESS ANGEL CLUB: A NETWORK OF INVESTORS CREATED TO ACCELERATE INNOVATION IN THE SOUTH OF ITALY AND BUILD RELATIONSHIPS WITH LOCAL GOVERNMENT FINANCE

INTRODUCING THE BUSINESS ANGEL CLUB: A NETWORK OF INVESTORS CREATED TO  ACCELERATE INNOVATION IN THE SOUTH OF ITALY  AND  BUILD RELATIONSHIPS WITH LOCAL GOVERNMENT FINANCE

The initiative – established by Digital Magics, 012Factory, TechHub and Città della Scienza – was presented yesterday to an audience of more than 100 entrepreneurs, business angels and investment funds at Circolo Canottieri in Naples

The Club will organize regular meeting between companies, investors and innovative startups  with high growth potential, with the aim of developing the digital economy of the local area

 

Naples, October 17, 2014 – Last night, in the beautiful setting of Circolo Canottieri in Naples, the Business Angel Club (BAC) was officially presented to an audience of more than 100 companies, investors and professionals. The Business Angel Club is a network of investors which aims to support startups and innovation in the South of Italy which enables an exchange of expertise and the creation of relationships between local government finance and the digital sector.

The promoters of this initiative are: Digital Magics, venture incubator of innovative startups listed on the AIM market of the Italian Stock Exchange (symbol: DM), 012Factory, a private incubator operating from Caserta supported by Google and Microsoft, Fondazione IDIS – Città della Scienza, an institution for the development of cultural science and an incubator for startups and innovative spinoff initiatives, and TechHub, realizing the acceleration of Banco di Napoli, Camera di Commercio di Napoli e Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II.

The purpose of BAC is to foster relationships between managers, business angels, entrepreneurs in the territory and innovative new businesses with a high growth rate – to offer high quality technology services – and as well as to arrange meetings which bring together relevant stakeholders every two months, in all regions of Southern Italy.

Building on the experience of Digital Magics Angel Network (a network of over 100 individuals, from the private sector, public institutions, industrial leaders and the financial sector, who cooperated with Digital Magics in the hiring, mentorship and co-investment in digital startups), we wanted to replicate this successful model in the South and create a solid ecosystem of innovation for the development of the territory.

Digital Magics, 012Factory, Fondazione IDIS – Città della Scienza and TechHub, thanks to the BAC, are building a real hub of connection between investors and local startups to sustain and encourage investment in original projects that contribute to economic growth and employment for young people in the South of Italy. Directly involving major players in the public and private sector in the South, the BAC wants to restore confidence in an area that no longer believes in itself, despite possessing the resources and expertise to innovate.

At each meeting a number of new digital startups will be presented. The Startups which have participated in the first meeting of BAC Naples are:

Intertwine – www.intertwine.it

Intertwine is a web platform which allows users to create, share and publish collaborate multimedia content. The idea of intertwine is based on: the plotter, who creates the plot of the work and makes it available to the wider community who continue to work and the bricker, the community that shares the text, audio, video and images i.e. the parts needed to build on the ideas implemented by the plotter. Once the process of creating the brick is finished, the plotter will choose the most suitable and create an Intertbook, a multimedia work. The objective is to create new entertainment products that combine the classic features of books, digital communication and social networks.

Cambiomerci.com – cambiomerci.com

Cambiomerci.com is a network for trade credit between enterprises: a platform of trade for modern companies that allows them buy and sell services from one another. Within 2 years the startup has 450 associate companies in all of Italy allowing the exchange through complementary currency, the products and services of more than 50 categories, from food and beverage to furniture and real estate as well as automotive, from training and consultancy to events management and publicity.  The principal that underlies Cambiomerci.com is the “Barter”, “Corporate Barter” or “Barter Trading” method: a commercial practice that enables multilateral exchange of products and services between small and medium sized enterprises.

Buzzoole – buzzoole.com

Buzzoole is the first italian IEO (influence engine optimization) platform which optimizes the online presence of users. Thanks to the development of a unique algorithm, Buzzoole allows both large and small to medium sized enterprises, Italian and international, to identify qualitative influencers of their market and enables them to generate buzz around products and services through individual trendsetters, remunerating them with offers such as discount, product testing and exclusive invites. Thanks to the technology of Buzzoole companies will be able to plan independently buzz/marketing campaigns with budget freedom and flexibility. Buzzoole has won several Italian and international business competitions: the proudest moment coming after winning the Intel Business Challenge Europe 2014 in Lithuania which was followed in November 2014 by participation in the Intel Global Challenge 2014 in Berkeley, California.

Digital Magics – www.digitalmagics.com  

Digital magics is venture incubator for digital startups offering content and services with high technological value. Digital Magics is listed on AIM Italia section of the Italian Stock Exchange, the alternative capital market or small and medium sized Italian enterprises with high growth potential. Digital Magics builds and develops alongside the founders of internet startups while investing equity and providing business acceleration services. Sharing talent and ideas, Digital Magics turns startups into disruptive businesses and brings them success in the Italian and international digital economy. The incubator promotes a culture of entrepreneurship and risk, contributing to the growth of the economy and job creation for young people. Digital Magics offers services to sustain innovation, the birth and development of digital startups and the support of new Italian and global research to help fund the next stages of development. The Digital Magics model is unique in Italy and is based on the Digital Magics LAB: a team that identifies, analyses and launches new initiatives by providing services for the acceleration of digital business development. Digital Magics has in its portfolio 39 investments in startups. It has made 6 exits and only 4 write offs. The incubator has until now invested around €14.8 million, with €5 million on exits. Currently the average investment is about €300.000.

012Factory – www.012factory.com

012Factory is a multidisciplinary contamination centre based in Caserta founded by experienced entrepreneurs backed by innovative companies. 012Factory is a contamination centre in the sense that it provides a dynamic space for entrepreneurs where ideas, knowledge, skills and cultural intelligence can flow freely and influence all actors within that environment’. 012Factory is at the hub of 012Factory activities providing five different programmers covering everything from training (012Academy, 012Training) to collaboration and business networks (012Incubator, 012Coworking, 012Network). )012Factory is dedicated to producing sustainable, high-growth businesses and spreading a culture of entrepreneurship. Within the training programmer is 012Academy, which provides 6 months of free training for promising wannabe entrepreneurs over 12 different modules. 012Factory has an extensive network of business partners who support the training course (Google, Microsoft, Ferrarelle) and international level speakers  (Maria Segrebondi, Co-Founder and  Vice President of brand equity and communication at Moleskine, Vito Margiotta, Ex-Biz Dev Manager at Google Enterprise, Davide Tizzano,  Kaori Ito, Director Carpigiani University, Massimiliano Caruso, Managing Partner Singulance, Fabrizio Capobianco, Founder e CEO of Funambol). These speakers and partners support the share the concept of contamination and assist 012Factory in spreading its entrepreneurial values with a focus upon the importance of the exchange of experiences, mindsets and know-how in diverse sectors (contamination). 012Factory offers its innovative incubator products and services alongside a multi-disciplinary international supply chain and access to affordable lines of credit, thus distinguishing it from its competitors. This unique model has been recognized at the Expo delle Startup and has enabled 012Factory to become an executive member of the network of Campania regional incubators and possessor of the TEDx license for Caserta. 

IDIS Foundation – Città della Scienza
Area BIC – Business Innovation Centre – www.cittadellascienza.it/incubatore-e-imprese/

The BIC – Business Innovation Centre of the Città della Scienza is an instrument through which the IDIS Foundation works to promote entrepreneurship and support new processes of innovation and business development in Naples and the Campania region.In particular the BIC offers space and specialist services for information, training, tutoring, access to finance, networking and communication in order to support the creation and the development of innovative business, participating in the entire life cycle of startups and covering all relevant aspects including the development of ideas at the time they are ready to face the market independently. BIC is a member of the European EBN an Innovation Network which operates in strategic productive sectors of the Campania economy, promoting a logical cluster, in which each company develops and settles to use their skills in a particular segment of the industry. In a space of about 4,000 square meters, entirely dedicated to innovative companies the BIC houses a Smart Lab, an area of preincubation dedicated to creating and fostering business ideas with active tutoring. The Smart Lab has more than 10 years of experience focusing on the following sector: Smart Cities and Green Economy, Bio Economy, Creative Industries, new ICT technologies and Manufacturing 2.0. It is a space of co-working and industrial knowledge exchange, dedicated to the most advanced companies and research centres pursuing development projects in partnership with the incubator and more generally the Città della Scienza. Soon to open the Fab Lab Research Centre, Workshop / Laboratory design and digital fabrication, which is engaged in the research, development, higher education, education on technologies and methodologies “maker” to develop new products and services for business creation and innovation of production processes. The forthcoming Fab Lab Research Centre is a Workshop / Laboratory for design and digital fabrication, which is active in the research, development and tuition of  “maker” technologies and methodologies “maker” in order to develop new products and services for business creation and innovation of production processes.

 

For further information

Digital Magics – Press Office

Giorgio Bocchieri – Mail: giorgio.bocchieri@digitalmagics.com

012Factory – Press Office

Città della Scienza – Press Office
Cristina Basso – Mail: ufficiostampa@cittadellascienza.it