London is the second global innovation capital alongside New York City and after Silicon Valley. From 2 to 4 May, Smau, international aggregator of opportunities for the innovation ecosystem, in collaboration with ITA - Italian Trade Agency, will stop here together with 46 Italian startups passing through The Old Truman Brewery, a former brewery of Truman's Brewery located in the London borough of Tower Hamlets.

New models of Open Innovation will facilitate the meeting between startups and companies of the Italian ecosystem with the major players of the international market - large companies, incubators, accelerators and investors - with the aim of enhancing the best innovative ideas from the worlds of ' artificial intelligence, fintech, energy efficiency, welfare, electric mobility, Web3, cybersecurity and more capable of responding to the greatest challenges of our time.

The event takes place in a context in which Italy, according to the latest Observatory on Venture Capital in Italy drawn up by Growth Capital in collaboration with the Italian Tech Alliance, has seen investments in its startups grow by +48% against a contraction at the European level of -16%. A dynamic that has led Italy to approach the international market also linked to the increase in the participation of international investors in Italian startups (26% of the €1M+ rounds in 2022 have at least 1 foreign investor).

“In recent years, through our tour beyond national borders, we have witnessed a growing interest from corporates, but also from international investors in Italian startups. Reading these data today is further proof of the fact that our ecosystem is beginning to have an important weight on the international scene and we will be happy to be able to present ourselves in what is the second largest innovation hub worldwide with the awareness that we can win this match thanks to the talent and ideas that have always distinguished Italian companies - says Pierantonio Macola, President of Smau".

Which Italian startups will be in London

At Smau London it will be possible to meet, among others, the Roman E-GAP, creator of an urban, mobile and on-demand rapid electric charging service; the Milan-based Safetecom which developed Mine Crime, software that collects data on events such as robberies, usury, homicides, frauds, and counterfeiting to create urban risk maps that can be used by companies and PAs for risk assessment and management plans; the Piceno Cyber ​​Evolution which built LECS, a plug & play computer security device, an unassailable black-box which implements immediate and effective hacker-proof countermeasures; the capitoline Touch and Contact with TAC, its green and digital business card; the Milan-based DVERSO which offers companies a task force of people specialized in Web3; the Roman VMP created to facilitate payments to the PA and avoid queues with EasyPol and with a new personal finance management service; the Bologna-based Pack which with its HR platform for Gen Z fights major resignations, promotes training, development, diversity and inclusion through cross-company mentoring; the Roman Helios Domotics who built adomestic and commercial electricity consumption monitoring system against waste, translating them in terms of kw used, money spent and quantity of CO2 emitted for each individual device.

And then there will be 5 startups among those that are following the Personal acceleration program, the welfare accelerator of the CDP National Network created with SocialFare and a|cube with the support of the Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation: Parentsmile, Nephew in Rent, Genius4U, Svolta and BeFancyFit .

But there are also many realities that want to innovate in the aerospace, health, construction, food, industry 4.0, logistics sectors, and who will present their proposals to an audience of Italian and international companies and innovators.

SMAU London from 2 to 4 May: the program

The program of the event will start on May 2 at the Italian Embassy in London, where the delegation of Italian startups, companies and operators involved will participate in the evening networking reception with the Italian ambassador in London. The following day, at The Old Truman Brewery, a panel of thematic meetings open to the public will touch on topics related to innovation in strategic sectors, such as agrifood and the environment, mobility and industry, the world of work and smart communities.

In the dedicated area, the 46 startups will have the opportunity to meet the public of innovators present interested in building relationships and commercial partnerships. The third day will be dedicated totour of the places of innovation in London, where the Italian delegation will meet and explore the symbolic places of the British capital: from Huckletree, an ecosystem of 7 physical spaces made up of more than 3,000 members and over 300 companies, to LMarks, which for nine years supports the corporate innovation of companies such as BMW, Lloyd's of London and Sodexo, up to Wayra UK, Telefónica's Open Innovation Hub which since 2011 has supported the business development of startups by offering them access to its customer network.

Among the international corporates involved there will be ARUP, BNP Paribas Real Estate, Farfetch, Financial Times, Sony innovation Fund, TFL - Transport for London who will meet the delegation of Italian startups and the innovation teams of large Italian companies such as Agos, Edison, Enel, Eni , FNM, Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center, Siram Veolia, Trenord with the intention of starting collaborations in the name of Open Innovation.

Together with corporates and startups, six Italian Regions also participate directly in the work, each of them present with its own delegation of innovative companies: Abruzzo, Campania, Emilia-Romagna, Lazio, Marche and Valle D'Aosta.