This free seminar will cover the fundamentals of how to approach a venture capital fund, how to structure a funding round and how to build a solid partnership with the investor after the investment.

Too often, the fundraising process is approached by founders without the necessary preparation, which makes the communication between start-ups and investors harder while reducing the chances of getting funded. Hence, a better understanding of an investor’s expectation and an improved knowledge of a fund’s investment rationale are essential for an optimal fundraising process.

A special focus of the event will be on deep tech start-ups, which face specific challenges such as technological risk, capital requirements and the need for skilled talent.

The seminar will be presented by Leo Italiano, Senior Consultant at I3P and Program Manager of ESA BIC Turin, and led by Federico Cuppoloni, Senior Associate at Primo Ventures.

How to participate

The event, free of charge, will be held on April 18, 2023 at 17:00 CEST in presence at I3P‘s headquarters – located in Corso Castelfidardo 30/a, 10129 Turin, Italy – in English language.

In order to attend in person, registration is required on Eventbrite.

About the organizers

Primo Ventures is an asset management company specialized in seed and early-stage venture capital investments. The firm is currently managing seven funds across the digital and space investment domains. In particular, Primo Space is focused on start-ups of the New Space Economy, ranging from upstream solutions and downstream applications to enabling technologies such as cybersecurity, advanced materials, additive manufacturing, power systems and robotics. For more information here

ESA BIC Turin supports entrepreneurs and start-ups in transforming their space-related projects into successful enterprises, offering financial incentives, strategic business consulting, scientific and technological support for the development of products and services, and direct access to a wide network of highly qualified industrial, financial and scientific partners. ESA BIC Turin is managed by I3P with the technological support of Politecnico di Torino and LINKS Foundation. For more information here

I3P, the Innovative Companies Incubator of Politecnico di Torino, supports the creation and development of innovative start-ups with high technological intensity and growth potential, founded both by university researchers and students, and by external entrepreneurs, providing strategic consulting services, coaching, mentoring, fundraising support and workspaces.

After a first interview about the Iranian protests, the project Voci | Parole senza barriere (Voices | Words without barriers) by Amapola returns to a dramatic current event: the earthquake in Syria. Alex Moscetta, communication manager of Comunità di Sant’Egidio, an international movement that takes care of the poorest and works for peace, talks about this land and its people. Here is the summary of the video interview.

The project

Voci is a project about stories, people and words without barriers. An initiative which, at the time of the infodemic and extreme background noise, aims to keep attention high on major social issues, giving a voice to the protagonists who experience them up close.

There is an Italian startup committed to spreading impact culture through a sustainable digital, deposit-free reusable packaging service. Their main goal is to eliminate waste in an innovative, affordable and accessible way.

We discover more about this reality with Alberto Garuccio, cofounder and strategist of Around.

Interview by Francesco Antonioli.

Watch previous episodes here.

Experimenting with new languages, or adopting old but powerful ones, such as theater, to explain and convey social impact: on March 24 we were at Teatro Gobetti for Biennale Democrazia with “Communities Free to Respond to the Future,” the event curated by Torino Social Impact as part of the RESPONDET project, in which the City of Turin is a partner together with the Turin Chamber of Commerce, in collaboration with Torino Creative City UNESCO for Design and Mercato Circolare Benefit Society.

The magic of the Little Prince opened the way for a dialogue on social economy and sustainability, and what is happening in the city on these issues.

Simona De Giorgio and Valeria Vacchiano spoke, with moderation by Nadia Lambiase.
Theater interventions by Antonella Delli Gatti, visual design by Stefano Giorgi.

Review the show here

We turn to students: do you know the study rooms near the Turin universities? They are not the height of beauty, let’s face it… they tend to be overcrowded, hot in summer and chilly in winter. And if instead of sitting among the tables of some “urban” study room we set ourselves to reviewing the last lesson of law or a chapter of contemporary history in the middle of the greenery in a mountain resort?

Let’s imagine that this was more or less the question that the association of Groscavallo, in Val Grande di Lanzo, Al Cicapui asked itself when, after the pandemic, it thought of participating in an Edisu tender to open an affiliated study room with the institution for the right to study. “The institution really liked the idea of ​​an outdoor study room – Chiara Ferraris of Al Cicapui tells us – because we had been told that, after the pandemic, students tended to look for outdoor spaces in which to study. We have participated in the tender in February 2022 and we were also selected for the courage of the initiative”.

The idea is certainly to bring students to the Valli di Lanzo, but not only: “We have decided – continues Chiara – that for this year we will launch a call for foreign students of English mother tongue, in order to be able to organize a summer camp and in Groscavallo Italian students and English-speaking students. It is also an action of inclusion”. From a lawn to a study room, therefore. Where did the idea come from? “By organizing the summer camp for the children here and doing their homework with them – explains Chiara – we saw that in the midst of nature they concentrated better and that they were less distracted, and older kids also arrived with them”.

To tell the truth, the study room has already existed since last year, and already in the summer of 2022 it had been quite successful. And in itself, looking at it, it seems more than inviting: in addition to the tables for studying, there are also spaces for having fun: swimming pool, basketball court and soccer field.

Now, however, the service will be enriched more and more. It will kick off in the summer period, even if the time “contours” are not yet defined. What is certain is that the classroom will also be easily accessible from Turin.  The student will in fact be able to arrive in Ceres by bus and there will find a shuttle to Groscavallo. Furthermore, if he wants to stop for a few days, he can do so by staying in Groscavallo. In short, the project aims to bring people to the mountains, and to take them there by letting them spend quality time, which is productive but also aimed at experiencing the places and territories.

“The main purpose of our association – explains Antonio Convertino of Al Cicapui – is to try to avoid the desertification of the territories where we lived our childhood, and therefore we think that even the idea of ​​letting them live some experiences in safety will allow guys to come back here and get attached to these places”.

(Art. by Francesco Munafò)

The initiative is by the Groscavallo association Al Cicapui, which is setting up a coworking space in Turin.

The name is suggestive: “circular building”. It indicates a process of building tools and spaces from waste materials that are “rescued” from landfills. And this is exactly the goal that the Groscavallo association Al Cicapui has been pursuing for some time, building a coworking space in Turin step by step.

The creation of the space is made possible, among other things, by the partnership with AICS Turin, the project leader body together with other third sector bodies. All together they participated in the tender that the City of Turin published in the framework of the Social Inclusion Plan with the project “Nourishing community for new life-generating trajectories”. Since it was born, Al Cicapui has always been the spokesperson and architect of projects with a view to circular building and, thanks to its internal skills and the network of donor companies, it will support some interventions for the regeneration of interiors in the field of social housing.

Chiara Ferraris, who represents the association, answers us right from the Coworking space in Piazza Vetta d’Italia in Turin, which Al Cicapui manages with two other cooperatives. A constantly moving space, animated by the shapes and colors of the furnishings built by those who will live in that space to work or study. “It is our workhorse – says Chiara – which we care a lot about. Now we are here in Turin, but the idea of ​​furnishing the spaces with reused materials comes from Groscavallo, precisely from the Migliere hamlet”. That is, the hamlet in which the Al Cicapui event was born.

“We had taken over the sports field of the hamlet – continues Chiara – but there was nothing, and therefore we had to furnish it. We didn’t have the funds to furnish everything from top to bottom, and so we decided to try our hand at regenerating the spaces using reused materials”. The idea worked and the space under management gradually took shape, became welcoming and on a human scale. But mind one thing: this is not just a matter of pure and simple recycling of materials destined for landfills.

Behind the furnishing of a space, as urban planning teaches, there is much more: “From the point of view of social housing – explains Chiara – it is certainly important to regenerate spaces, but what really matters is starting a process of education to beauty”.

A process that cannot ignore the involvement of those who will use those furnishings once built. “Making people participate in the construction of the spaces they will live in – explains Chiara – considerably reduces the possibility that the furnishings can be vandalized or mistreated”. In short, vandalism is read as a phenomenon connected to the extraneousness of the spaces that each of us experiences every day. To avoid this, users need to make them their own. And what better way to make them your own than by making them?

Getting your hands dirty, building your own spaces and reusing recycled materials therefore becomes an opportunity to trigger an educational and sustainable process. “We also focus a lot on training – explains Chiara -. For example, the Biosphere cooperative has started an internship in our spaces for an Egyptian boy who is not yet of age”.

The cooperatives, according to Chiara, “have understood that it is much better to teach Italian to young people through an educational and engaging internship, through which the young person can feel part of a creative project, than by sending them to take traditional courses”. We take a tour of the Coworking with Chiara: there are joelettes, chairs, mirrors, works of art and many other objects that furnish the space. All produced with reused materials. “We have a two-year contract with Decathlon which supplies us with the materials – explains Chiara – with which we then make the furnishings and tools”.

For her, it is also a matter of launching a message of awareness, and not just to ordinary citizens. “We would also like to sensitize companies – he says – by showing them that functional and socially useful objects can also be reproduced with waste pieces”.

But the coworking in Piazza Vetta d’Italia is much more. For example, since 2020 Al Cicapui has been holding circular building courses here as part of the Bottega Scuola Piemonte project.

Also within this project is the work of the designer Rebecca Ferrari, graduated from Polito with the thesis “Out-Feel: sensoriality in autism”. Rebecca is responsible for creating self-constructed social furnishings with Decathlon products and end-of-life glass transport.

In planning there is also a study room, always made with waste materials and always inside the Turin Coworking. Here too, the perspective is to combine the need to inhabit spaces with the possibility of starting a path of self-education in beauty and respect for shared places.

For the World Water Day, all of the media dedicated insights to this preciuos and endangered resource. But what do citizens really know? And how muche do they know about who manages the water service?

On March 16 and 17, more than 750 participants from all over Europe will meet at the OGR – Officine Grandi Riparazioni in Turin for the fifth edition of the Cities Forum.

The Forum is a biannual event, organized by the European Commission’s Directorate General for Regional and Urban Policy, which will bring together key urban actors, including mayors and representatives of large, medium and small cities to discuss policies, actions and initiatives that will lead to addressing the urban challenges of ecological transition and social inclusion.

The City of Turin was chosen as the venue for the event, among 19 European candidates, due to its long experience in deploying community resources to support urban regeneration and social inclusion processes, as well as the availability of a unique location such as the OGR that emblematically represents Turin’s profound transformation.

Two intense days of work and appointments that will offer high-level debates, participatory sessions and interactive workshops on city cohesion and recovery.

The Forum will offer participants a unique opportunity to network and discuss recent developments in various EU initiatives and policies, as well as to explore the host city through several site visits planned for the morning of March 16, which will take 400 people to discover the sites of major urban transformations in Turin that have been financed over the past 20 years by European funds.

The forum will shine a spotlight on recent developments in key policies and initiatives involving cities, such as the EU Urban Agenda, the EU Mission for 100 Climate Neutral Cities and the New European Bauhaus applied as a paradigm for inclusive, sustainable and beautiful development.

You can find out the schedule of sessions and following the webstreaming, starting tomorrow at 1:15 p.m. at the following link.

The I3S Project accelerates awareness and skills of Third Sector organisations in driving digital transformation

Are new skills needed to contribute to the digital transformation of the third sector? Apparently so!

Thanks to the I3S project, the Fondazione Piemonte Innova has identified the professional figures, with business and social skills, that are increasingly indispensable for third sector organisations interested in activating a strategic path to increase the digital skills of their organisation, including through the acquisition of young and ‘smart’ figures.

There are ten job descriptions identified by the study, which belong to four areas of specialisation:

• Operations and Service Delivery
• Knowledge & Expertise
• Communication
• Sustainability

Let’s find out what they are:

Operations and Service Delivery

Reverse Mentors

They are young people, possibly digital natives, with a good general command of digital technologies and specifically of the company’s enabling digital tools (PCs, Macs, Office 365, Google Workspaces, MS Teams, etc.).

Work alongside a senior figure with extensive experience, so as to encourage cross-fertilisation during daily work. They help colleagues to make better use of the available tools, gradually modifying work processes and solving the simplest problems, providing services such as proximity IT support.

Innovation Manager

Works as an employee or consultant of the organisation. He/she interfaces with the managers of all the organisation’s sectors in order to identify the innovations considered strategic for the organisation, acknowledging the needs of the reference context and identifying functional development processes to set up the progressive advancement of technological and digital transformation.

The Innovation manager promotes solutions and methodologies that foster cultural change in the company. He initiates paths of transformation in transversal areas, capable of bringing out new perspectives and opportunities for the organisation. He does not merely learn about new technologies, but builds competitive innovation projects that take into account the integration of technologies with other relevant factors: sustainable innovative technological solutions, the organisation’s digital maturity, strategic objectives and constant updating.

UX Designer

He is primarily concerned with designing, drawing and implementing the graphical interface of digital products, such as applications, software, social profiles or websites. His aim is to ensure the best possible user experience: intuitive, easy and accessible.

The UX Designer is concerned with studying the motivations that drive users to use that particular product/service, analysing their expectations and searching for appealing and efficient graphical solutions.

He studies the behaviour, the needs of the users and the objective of the product/service and of the organisation, always using a people-centred design approach (human-centred design), helping to provide products that are functional, with a high level of usability and aesthetically pleasing. In addition to collaborating with engineers to implement the tool, the UX Designer continues to gather feedback on the final product, working on its improvement and continuing to identify new solutions to optimise user experience and user satisfaction.

Service Designer

Expert in the design and improvement of sustainable processes, resources and services. He/she always keeps people’s needs in mind, considering both the end users and the staff and organisation delivering the service.

The service designer must be able to analyse the context in which he intervenes from different points of view, optimising it as a whole. Points of particular attention may be the definition of the touchpoints, both physical and digital, the systems, infrastructures and processes on which the service relies.

He has similar characteristics to those of the UX designer, but intervenes when a long-term strategic vision is needed in projects, and integration with other services and processes. For this reason, it is essential that he can understand the context in a holistic manner.

Knowledge & Expertise

Digital Educators and Psychologists

They are figures with digital knowledge and skills, able to use current technologies in the specific professional activities of Educators and Psychologists such as E-Therapy, E-learning, virtual reality as functional support (education, meditation, etc.).

They know and are able to use technological tools in prevention, treatment and rehabilitation activities of individuals, including fragile targets and communities, and neuromarketing. They understand the dynamics related to social media, video and serious games, digital learning (blended teaching), biofeedback and neurofeedback.

Digital educators and psychologists are experts who are able to use innovative tools and new forms of technology in educational, clinical-therapeutic and rehabilitation settings. They are able to orientate themselves in the digital and social networking world; they have knowledge useful for a new educational setting of e-learning, and therapeutic setting of e-therapy, individual or group.

Researcher Digital / Humanities

A student or doctoral candidate in ‘humanities informatics’, the science that deals with the connection between the humanities and information technology. More precisely, he applies information technologies in the humanities.

Designs and implements basic or applied research activities in order to investigate specific areas of expertise. Conducts systematic and rigorous experimentation of innovations, both in the laboratory and in the field, while advancing the ETSs’ awareness of technology and the quality of their activities. Analyses qualitative-quantitative data and documents activities and results with scientific dissemination and communication activities. Maintains relations and facilitates exchange between experts and academics and the Third Sector.

Communication

Communication, digital relations and social media

Handles the management of social and other communication channels used by the organisation. In particular, it monitors, moderates and responds to audience comments, manages partnerships within social, creates or posts shareable videos and images, sends newsletters, updates the website.

He is also in charge of the overall communication strategy, executing digital marketing and digital fundraising campaigns and collecting and analysing data and results. He also deals with digital communications with volunteers and supporters.

People & Community Manager

Is responsible for managing the organisation’s communities, both online and offline, in order to stimulate dialogue and interactions between the organisation and all its stakeholders, increasing the engagement and satisfaction of volunteers, employees and service users. Has an excellent knowledge of digital communication channels useful to the organisation and identifies the most suitable tools and systems to succeed in creating a comfortable environment of contact and dialogue between all stakeholders.

He manages all aspects of the relationship with staff and volunteers. In particular, it is responsible for recruiting, coordinating and enhancing the value of resources by stimulating and retaining all those who work with the organisation. It plans staff training with a view to increasing the organisation’s skills and culture over the long term, enhancing their abilities, and creating a healthy and pleasant working environment.

Sustainability

Data Analyst for impact assessment

He is in charge of designing and setting up all the tools for the collection of data relevant to the organisation along the different areas, processes and services of the ETS, their correct storage and processing from a strategic perspective in order to extract value from them.

Defines KPIs to measure the organisation’s impact and creates the respective data collection flows useful for the preparation of dashboards and automated reports, useful for the drafting of the social report and to support reporting activities.

It acts in support of all other figures and activities to optimise an effective and efficient processing and correct exploitation of the resulting data and information.

Grant Manager (Planning + Fundraising)

Is responsible for the management and diversification of funding sources, whether from design activities on funded initiatives or from fundraising activities, using all available digital tools to identify the best opportunities for the organisation and maximise the results of such initiatives.

It takes care of the processes that regulate the organisation’s interaction and relations with private and institutional donors, as well as with public administrations of reference for the co-design of services that meet the needs of the relevant territorial communities, supporting the organisation’s mission.

Job profiles

For each of these profiles, Piemonte Innova has drawn up a detailed job profile, which describes the specific skills to be possessed, what ETS needs the profile meets and the degree of social or technological orientation. An indication of the level of seniority to be sought completes the profiles.

The forms have been shared with the representative bodies that are part of the project and can be requested by writing to info@piemonteinnova.it.

What is I3S

The I3S Project promotes digital transformation and the adoption of new business models for the third sector. It is supported by the Turin Chamber of Commerce and is part of the Tech4Good programme of the Turin Social Impact strategic plan, which also acts as director. It is led by Piemonte Innova, which also coordinates and enables the network of enterprises and experts. It is conceived and realised in collaboration with the representative bodies that adhere to the Social Entrepreneurship Committee: Confcooperative Piemonte Nord, Legacoop Piemonte and VOL.TO Volontariato Torino.

Biennale Democrazia, an international event dedicated to spreading the culture of democracy, now in its 8th edition, is back.

This new edition will be structured in three sections: Biennale Democrazia, Democrazia Futura and Democrazia Diffusa, realized in synergy with the cultural realities of the territory and with Torino Social Impact, which has involved some partners in the programming, as well as expressing an event within the RESPONDET project, in collaboration with Torino Creative City UNESCO for Design and Mercato Circolare, and a presentation curated by Euricse.

Events curated by the TSI partners

THURSDAY, MARCH 23 – 2:30 P.M.

The New Boundaries of Business Freedom. Between ecology and sustainability
Palazzo Ceriana-Mayeri – Sala Toniolo corso Stati Uniti, 27, Turin
curated by Assoetica

THURSDAY 23
March 23 – 5:30 pm
Freedom is participation. The “I decide” project
Vol.To via Giolitti, 21, Turin
curated by Vol.To ETS

THURSDAY 23
March 23 – 7 p.m.
Freedom and Community. Open debate
Central Library of the Einaudi University College via Maria Vittoria, 39, Turin
Organized by Renato Einaudi University College of Turin Foundation

FRIDAY 24
March 24 – 3:00 p.m.
Expressions of Freedom
Open Incet piazza Teresa Noce, 17, Torino
curated by Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini

FRIDAY 24
March 24 – 4:00 p.m.
Doing Responsible and Sustainable Business. New paradigms of freedom
Fondazione Educatorio della Provvidenza corso Trento, 13, Turin
Organized by Maurizio Maggiora Academy Foundation, LabNet, SAA – School of Management

SATURDAY 25
March 25 – 12:00 p.m.
Freedom is written
Giardino Sambuy piazza Carlo Felice, Turin
curated by Giardino Forbito

SUNDAY 26
March 26 – 12:00 p.m.
Freedom is written
Giardino Sambuy piazza Carlo Felice, Turin
curated by Giardino Forbito

Various events curated by Arci (with 12 Associations present)

The TSI Ecosystem Events

FRIDAY 24

March 24 – 6 p.m.
Enterprising Communities. New models of participation and local development
Central Civic Library – Conference Room via della Cittadella, 5, Turin
Organized by Euricse

March 24 – 21:00
Teatro Gobetti, curated by Torino Social Impact as part of the RESPONDET project, in collaboration with Torino Creative City UNESCO for Design and Mercato Circolare

 

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20.06.22 / Biennale Democrazia 2023

Biennale Democrazia

Biennale Democrazia, an international event dedicated to spreading the culture of democracy, now in its 8th edition, is back.

This new edition will be structured in three sections: the Biennale Democrazia, Democrazia Futura and Democrazia Diffusa, realized in synergy with the cultural realities of the territory and with Torino Social Impact, which has involved some partners in the programming, as well as expressing an event within the RESPONDET project, in collaboration with Torino Creative City UNESCO for Design, and a presentation curated by Euricse.

Events curated by TSI partners.

THURSDAY, MARCH 23 – 2:30 P.M.

The New Boundaries of Business Freedom. Between ecology and sustainability
Palazzo Ceriana-Mayeri – Sala Toniolo corso Stati Uniti, 27, Turin
curated by Assoetica

THURSDAY 23
March 23 – 5:30 pm
Freedom is participation. The “I decide” project
Vol.To via Giolitti, 21, Turin
curated by Vol.To ETS

THURSDAY 23
March 23 – 7 p.m.
Freedom and Community. Open debate
Central Library of the Einaudi University College via Maria Vittoria, 39, Torino
Organized by Renato Einaudi University College of Turin Foundation

FRIDAY 24
March 24 – 3:00 p.m.
Expressions of Freedom
Open Incet piazza Teresa Noce, 17, Torino
curated by Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini

FRIDAY 24
March 24 – 4:00 p.m.
Doing Responsible and Sustainable Business. New paradigms of freedom
Fondazione Educatorio della Provvidenza corso Trento, 13, Turin
Organized by Maurizio Maggiora Academy Foundation, LabNet, SAA – School of Management

SATURDAY 25
March 25 – 12:00 p.m.
Freedom is written
Giardino Sambuy piazza Carlo Felice, Turin
curated by Giardino Forbito

SUNDAY 26
March 26 – 12:00 p.m.
Freedom is written
Giardino Sambuy piazza Carlo Felice, Turin
curated by Giardino Forbito

Various events curated by Arci (with 12 Associations present)

The TSI Ecosystem Events

FRIDAY 24

March 24 – 6 p.m.
Enterprising Communities. New models of participation and local development
Central Civic Library – Conference Room via della Cittadella, 5, Turin
Organized by Euricse

March 24 – 21:00
Teatro Gobetti, curated by Torino Social Impact as part of the RESPONDET project, in collaboration with Torino Creative City UNESCO for Design

From Wednesday, March 22 to Sunday, March 26, Biennale Democrazia, a cultural event promoted by the City of Turin, conceived and chaired by Gustavo Zagrebelsky, returns to Turin and has been held under the High Patronage of the President of the Republic since 2009. Now in its eighth edition this year, whose title is ‘At the Boundaries of Freedom’, its goal is to return to a reflection on the complex relationship between freedom and democracy, inside and outside the borders of our society. The event welcomes more than one hundred meetings, more than two hundred and twenty Italian and international guests, five exhibitions and the contribution of about one hundred and fifty volunteers. The events will be recorded and made available on the event website every year.

In five days, a reflection starting from four thematic itineraries, four different perspectives to discuss and reason together around the significant issues concerning freedom, to which this year will be added the sections Democrazia Futura, dedicated to young people and schools of all levels, and Democrazia Diffusa, realized in synergy with the cultural realities of the territory and with Torino Social Impact, which has involved some partners in the programming, as well as expressing an event within the RESPONDET project, in collaboration with Torino Creative City UNESCO for Design and a presentation by Euricse.

Find out more:

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Biennale Democrazia