A 54-hour marathon, 17 mentors, 8 finalist teams and the presentation of a new prize worth 80,000 euros, these are the numbers of Startup Weekend 2022. The event that took place July 7-9 in Palermo, organized by the ARCA Consortium as part of the international Aller project.
It was an exciting and intense weekend away from the sea, but close to the students, PhD students, researchers, professionals, who participated in Startup Weekend 2022.
power2Cloud, as a partner in this initiative, wanted to support the startups that promoted in the three-day event entrepreneurial ideas and plans.
Our Marketing Director, Ignazio Morici, along with seventeen other mentors, engaged with students, doctoral students, researchers and professionals, on topics such as digital technologies and inbound marketing, to provide new insights and add value to their projects.
There was no shortage of training, corporate testimonials and speeches by successful professionals and startuppers. Participants enthusiastically presented their startups to a jury of industry experts such as managers, accelerators, incubators and investment funds.
The awards ceremony was held in the Gregotti Theater at the University of Palermo on Saturday, July 9 at the end of the 54-hour marathon that began on Thursday and saw WastEst take the podium.
WastEat wins Startup Weekend 2022.
The event's winning startup for the best business idea was WastEat, with the team led by Giorgio Maida and composed of Giuseppe Alosi, Emanuele Benigno, Jessica Bonura, Dario Li Vigni and Vittoria Ullo.
WastEat's proposal is to study a solution based on the use of bacterial strains capable of breaking down plastic polymers into simple monomers.
Now the whole team will have access to ARCA's coworking and a pre-incubation pathway with free training activities to deepen technical, scientific and commercial feasibility analysis.
"WastEat," explains Giorgio Maida, " is a startup that deals with the management and disposal of plastic waste. Our solution is based on the use of bacterial strains capable of breaking down plastic polymers into simple monomers.
This allows companies and all waste management agencies to simplify the life cycle of plastic, which without our solution would be significantly longer: in nature it takes about two hundred years to dispose of a plastic bottle, while with our solution in one day already the plastic is broken down."
Second place was awarded to Park2Future, whose proposal is to reclaim parking space by installing photovoltaic panels to supply points and charging stations powered by totally green energy. Now Park2Future will enjoy the space, benefits and training provided by ARCA Consortium for 3 months.
While third place on the podium was earned by Co-Family, an all-female coworking space designed to help and encourage new mothers to get back to work.
Special awards were also given out at the end of Startup Week, such as the Pandemia Award, sponsored by the web agency of the same name, which went to WastEat and Park2Future, while the Keplera Award, offered by the legal tech startup of the same name, was won by Ri-Scatola. WastEat also won the Audience Award, while the Palm for Best Mentor went to Marcello Di Vita.
For sustainability in the Mediterranean Business Plan competition, 80,000 euros up for grabs.
Also presented during the awards ceremony was Aller's Business Plan competition, which provides 80,000 euros and consulting services for the best ideas with a high sustainability impact in the Mediterranean.
Both groups of aspiring entrepreneurs and established startups can enter the competition, which will take entries until Sept. 1, 2022. All will compete in the implementation of a business plan.
The best 20 proposals will gain access to an acceleration course and business and know-how exchanges with Tunisia.
In addition, three winners will be selected in Italy and Tunisia to receive prizes worth the equivalent of 30,000 euros in funds and services to be divided according to ranking:
- 15,000 euros to the first;
- 10,000 euros to the second;
- 5,000 euros to the third.
Lastly, there is also a 20,000 euro super prize to be awarded to the idea with the greatest impact for the Mediterranean region. The ARCA Consortium will offer its coworking spaces and access to a large network of mentors and entrepreneurs with projections throughout Sicily, Italy and the Mediterranean region.
"The project was created to create shared development opportunities in the territories of Sicily and Tunisia through entrepreneurial action," explains Luca Leonardi, project manager of the Aller project. We have planned a structured path of exchanges with local stakeholders who will be called upon to support the growth of these young people. The project started a year ago.
We expect to involve as many creatives and innovators as possible who want to work with and in their territories. I am very happy with this three-day event, I saw a lot of energy and motivation in both the young people and the mentors. But, although the ideas presented are very interesting, they need further stages of development that can be activated precisely through the Aller project and the stages of the new call opened today."