Legacoop Piemonte and Coopfond presented the first edition of Coopstartup Piemonte, starting on 25 February 2022. The project, realised with the operational collaboration of the I3P incubator, the 2i3T incubator, the University of Turin, the Polytechnic of Turin, Nova Coop and Inforcoop Ecipa Piemonte, aims to promote the birth of new cooperative startups and foster youth employment, as well as bringing benefits to the territory in terms of increased employment and economic, social and cultural growth.

Legacoop Piemonte is the representative association of the cooperative companies that are members of the National League of Cooperatives and Mutual Societies with registered office in Piemonte. Coopfond is Legacoop’s mutual fund for promotion and development: its aim is to promote, strengthen and extend the cooperative presence within the national economic system, with over 450 million euros of net assets invested to date.

The prizes

All applicants will participate in a free training course on the principles of cooperative start-ups. The selected projects will be admitted to a one-to-one course to develop their idea and draw up a Business Plan, at the end of which the winners will be able to set up a cooperative enterprise.

In addition, the winning teams will receive a non-repayable prize of €6,500 for start-up and development costs and vouchers for training, assistance, tutorship and mentoring services.

How to participate

Groups of at least three people, most of whom are under 40 and have a business idea to be transformed into a cooperative enterprise, or cooperatives established no earlier than 1 January 2021, may participate in the call.

To apply, send your application on the official website of the initiative by April 30, 2022.

“Intergenerationality is a distinctive feature and a pillar of cooperation and as Legacoop Piemonte in recent years we have focused our attention on encouraging and helping the emergence of new generations of cooperators,” said Dimitri Buzio, president of Legacoop Piemonte. “The Coopstartup call represents another step in our commitment to create new members and contribute to the creation of a new managerial class both through the generational change in existing cooperatives and the creation of new enterprises that represent for young people the possibility of guaranteeing themselves a good and stable job, also considering that cooperatives are a more durable form of enterprise and better able to resist the crisis than others”.

“Cooperation is a tool that allows many people, especially young people, to transform their dreams into a business, enriching our economic fabric with new people and new skills, an even more strategic objective in this recovery phase. Coopstartup, which in Italy has already involved 7,000 people, is the programme through which Coopfond seeks to achieve this goal”, explained Simone Gamberini, general manager of Coopfond. “This is why we are particularly pleased that this possibility is arriving today also in Piedmont, a region where cooperation has always been strongly rooted, in different sectors, with significant experiences for the whole country, from social cooperation to workers buyout”.

For further information please visit www.piemonte.coopstartup.it or write to piemonte@coopstartup.it.