MAGIC WAND RETAIL REVOLUTION: NEW PARTNER AND EXTENDED DEADLINE FOR THE CALL FOR DIGITAL MAGICS’ ACCELERATION PROGRAM DEDICATED TO THE RETAIL SECTOR
Do different is the new partner of the startup accelerator and joins Auchan Retail Italy, Cisco, Nava Design, Nexi, RDS 100% GRANDI SUCCESSI, SisalPay and UBI Banca
The deadline of the Call created to apply for the program has been extended to January 20 2019; the aim of the program is to innovate the relationship  with omnichannel consumers and to create the store of the future. Applicants may submit their ideas on http://magicwand.digitalmagics.com
Milan, January 14 2019 – “Magic Wand Retail Revolutionâ€, the first startup accelerator in Italy dedicated to the retail sector, announces the entry of a new partner: Do different that is added to Auchan Retail Italia, Cisco, Nava Design, Nexi, RDS 100% GRANDI SUCCESSI, SisalPay and UBI Banca.
The deadline of the Call has been extended by a week: all the Italian early stage startups, which are developing innovative products and services for the retail market, may submit their application on http://magicwand.digitalmagics.com by January 20 2019.
“Magic Wand Retail Revolution†is an initiative of Digital Magics, the most important incubator of digital startups “Made in Italyâ€, which is active throughout Italy.
FEBRUARY-MARCH 2019: FIRST STAGE
Among all the projects submitted to http://magicwand.digitalmagics.com, 10 startups will be selected, which will immediately receive EUR 5,000 and will access the program at Digital Magics’ Headquarters in Milan: over 300 hours of qualified training with experts in marketing and growth hacking, creatives and developers, heads of departments in stores, managers, CEOs of large companies and successful startups.
APRIL-JUNE 2019: SECOND STAGE
After the first two months, Digital Magics and the partners of “Magic Wand Retail Revolution†will choose 6 startups that will receive a cash investment of EUR 15,000, in addition to the investment of Digital Magics in incubation services worth EUR 75,000, thus entering the portfolio.
They will also have the opportunity to give a presentation of their project to a parterre of selected investors in London and will conclude the process of acceleration, developing products and services and improving their business models.
In June they will take part in a dedicated Investor Day in Milan and will launch an investment round. Digital Magics will participate in the round by investing up to EUR 150,000 in each finalist startup. In partnership with the equity crowdfunding platform ‘200 Crowd’ (https://200crowd.com), an investment vehicle will be created to collect the financial resources to be invested in the round of the 6 “Magic Wand Retail Revolution†startups. The vehicle may invest up to EUR 150,000 in each startup.
The program partners will actively participate in the phases of selection, mentorship and development of the selected projects, in order to accelerate the best startups with scalable models able to compete internationally.
The aim is to innovate the sectors of retail, trade and retail services, thus improving consumers’ online and offline experience by creating an increasingly connected and omnichannel store of the future, through the most advanced technologies (digital tools and infrastructures, AI, smart stores, product digital customisation, logistics, payments, blockchain, etc…).
THE RETAIL MARKET
In 2017 online and offline retail sales of products are up 10.1% in China, +3.8% in the US, +2.5% in the UK, +2,2% in Germany, +1.4% in France and +1.2% in Italy. The e-commerce product market only is worth €670 billion in China, €400 billion in the US, €70 billion in the UK, €50 billion in Germany, €45 billion in France and €12 billion in Italy (Source: 2017, Research conducted by the Digital Innovation Observatory in the Retail of the School of Management of the Polytechnic of Milan –  www.osservatori.net).
Today there are more than 1,600 innovative Italian startups that potentially deal with ‘Retail’, about 17% of the over 9,700 currently registered in the appropriate Register (43.5% e-commerce, 16.3% AI, 11.3% IoT, 10.9% Big Data, 9.7% logistics, 3.7% retail and GDO, 2.7% Bot and Chatbot and 1.9% fidelity and loyalty programs (Source: Analysis of InfoCamere, Atoka, CERVED, performed by Digital Magics).
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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.
For further information:
Digital Magics – Press Office
Giorgio Bocchieri – Mail: giorgio.bocchieri@digitalmagics.com
Tel. 02 52505202 – Mob. 334 6853078
