Italgas, the leading operator in Italy in the distribution of natural gas and the third in Europe, opens an Innovation Antenna in Silicon Valley, as part of the "Mind the Bridge” Innovation Center in San Francisco.

The initiative is part of the "Ideas 4 Italgas" program launched in 2020, which aims to contact the best US startups. The ultimate goal is enhancing research activities and strengthening the innovation efforts to contribute towards continuous improvement of the Group's performance.

The goal of this collaboration with Mind the Bridge, an international platform advising and supporting ortganizations in the field of open innovation, is to create the ideal conditions for Italgas to get in touch with the most interesting startups and scaleups in the United States. In the first phase, the focus will be on identifying conditions and projects able to strengthen the digital transformation of Italgas.

The Italgas Innovation Antenna will officially make its debut at the Mind the Bridge Scaleup Summit in San Francisco, 17-21 October 2022. A Bootcamp will be organized to meet the startups that can work with Italgas to contribute to its digitization plans, operational efficiency, and sustainability goals, according to the company’s 2022-2028 Strategic Plan.

"We acted as pioneers in terms of technological innovation by leveraging our digital factory, open innovation, and venture capital. Through continuous scouting, we encountered important trends that allowed us to grow, innovate and enhance our contribution to the ecological transition. Therefore, we are happy to strengthen our presence in the world’s largest innovation cluster. This will give new impetus to our transformation journey”, says Paolo Gallo, CEO of Italgas.

“Over the past few years Italgas has been investing in shaping a new digital mindset by mapping the digital skills within the company and involving its team in new innovation processes. The next challenge is to scale up the collaboration with startups in quality and quantity. Opening an Innovation Antenna in San Francisco is a key step in this direction. This will give Italgas direct access to the world’s largest source of innovation: Silicon Valley”, adds Alberto Onetti, Chairman of Mind the Bridge.