EpiCura, the first digital home care provider in Italy that aims to simplify and innovate the personal care sector, and Young Platform, the Italian fintech platform that simplifies access to the world of cryptocurrencies, are the ex-aequo winners of the “Start-up of the Year I3P” 2022 award, assigned by the Innovative Companies Incubator of Politecnico di Torino to the young companies that have most distinguished themselves for their achievements after three years of incubation.

The awards were presented during the annual “Festa delle Startup I3P” event, held in its 23^rd edition, which provided an opportunity to present the case histories, innovative products and services of the 25 new start-ups that joined the incubation program during 2022 and to launch those who have “graduated”, ready to face the market having successfully completed their path of entrepreneurial growth at I3P.

The winning start-ups

Founded in 2017 by Gianluca Manitto and Alessandro Ambrosio initially to offer physiotherapy services, epiCura‘s project later focused on home care, through on-call service, to support the clients for short periods or specific needs, and full service for long periods. EpiCura takes care of the entire placement process, along with the contracts and any in-person replacements, while also providing psychological support to the family of the assisted person. There are more than 70,000 contacts of carers throughout Italy on the platform, and more than 80,000 hours of assistance are provided on average in a month.

Investors are also believing in the project: in 2021, with a major funding round worth a total of €5 million, EpiCura closed its third capital raising operation and reached a total of €11 million. Thanks to these resources, the start-up has been able to work on its strategy to simplify a long-standing industry such as the health and social care sector, which, even today, is not very flexible and responsive to the needs of patients and family caregivers. Finally, in 2022, EpiCura inaugurated its new headquarters in Turin and its first two “epiStores” in Milan and Turin, strategically placed to facilitate contact from potential customers about the services offered and to optimise the recruiting processes of professionals.

Young Platform, founded in 2018, aims to simplify access to the world of cryptocurrencies through a platform of digital products and intense educational activity and awareness of blockchain technology and its applications. Among the top three cryptocurrency trading platforms in Italy with 36% market share, the company had over 1 million users at the end of the first quarter of 2022, 11 times last year’s figures, and aims to become a smart digital bank with a focus on new digital services.

After raising €3.5 million in 2021, in 2022 Young Platform closed a €16 million investment led by Azimut, in which a pool of investors including Banca Sella and United Ventures took part. With the new raised capital, Young Platform intends to support its development plans, which include expanding its team – from 41 units to 110 by the end of 2022 – and expanding into new markets such as Spain and France.

“EpiCura and Young Platform deserve this recognition as they have been able to invent and reinvent themselves over time, also in line with the needs of the market,” commented Giuseppe Scellato, President of I3P. “For example, with its solutions epiCura is positioning itself at the centre of the healthcare innovation process, while Young Platform, with its crypto exchange features, is operating in a sector that is constantly evolving and is thus able to address the new generation of investors. At I3P,” Scellato concludes, “we are proud to have supported these start-ups on their path to growth: our goal is to continue to be a point of reference for innovation in Italy, supporting and promoting ideas and projects with high technological potential that work on services with a direct impact on the lives of citizens.”

The festive season, as we know, is a time of great turmoil for businesses and all organisations.
Deadlines, closures and preparation management lead us to have to review our priorities in the run-up to the Christmas break.

It is precisely for this reason that the Cottino Social Impact Campus and the partners of the Impact Prototypes Labs programme have decided to postpone the deadline for applications to 31 January 2023 in order to give companies and all representatives of organisations interested in the route more time to submit their sustainable project ideas.

We believe that the festive season, with the serenity and spirit of change it brings, can be an opportunity for reflection and inspiration for all those who want to make their companies more sustainable.

All information is always available on the dedicated page Impact Prototypes Labs 2022/2023 and it will be possible to arrange a direct, no-obligation interview with one of our tutors by emailing iplabs@cottinoimpact.org no later than Tuesday 24 January.

Find out more about IP Labs

Following the success of the previous editions, the University Course for Professional Advancement (CUAP) “Social Impact Assessment” is back. Pre-registration is open from 5 December 2022 to 13 January 2023.

The course, supported by the Turin Chamber of Commerce as part of the Turin Social Impact Strategic Plan, is being delivered by the Department of Management of the University of Turin with the Turin Polytechnic University (members of the Social Entrepreneurship Committee), the Ordine dei Dottori Commercialisti e degli Esperti Contabili di Torino, the Piccatti Milanese Foundation, Cottino Social Impact Campus, Tiresia, the training organisations of the Centrali Cooperative (Consorzio Il Nodo for Confcooperative Piemonte Nord and Inforcoop Ecipaa Piemonte for Legacoop Piemonte) and the Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation.

CUAP is among the activities proposed by the Centre of Competence for Social Impact Assessment based at the Turin Chamber of Commerce.

The course will start on 6 February 2023 and foresees weekly appointments of 4 hours on Monday afternoons for a total of 40 hours of frontal lessons (the remaining 85 hours are individual and group activities and preparation of project work).

The lessons will be delivered exclusively online, with live teaching. At the end of the course a certificate of competences “Social Impact Assessor” will be issued, after verification of the same and in addition the OPEN BADGE digital certificate issued by Bestr.

The objective of this course is to develop Impact Management strategies and cognitive processes necessary for social impact assessment and NRP-related projects. The CUAP is aimed at organisations and all those who wish to enhance and deepen their knowledge on this topic.

More information on the structure can be found on the relevant page on the Department of Management website > Continuing Education > A.A. Courses 2022-2023 > University Professional Development Course > Social Impact Assessment 4th edition and at the following e-mail address: socialimpact.management@unito.it

Réseau Entreprendre is an international network present in 11 countries and counting more than 14,500 entrepreneurs, socially committed to supporting of new entrepreneurs and the creation of new jobs.

In Piedmont the association is active throughout the region with local sections in Turin, Alessandria, Alba and Cuneo, Biella and Ivrea.

In the last 2022 episode of Bench-Mark, we find out with Lisa Orefice, director of Réseau Entreprendre Piemonte, about the impact of this project on the region.

Interview by Francesco Antonioli.

Watch previous episodes here.