CDP Venture Capital is an asset management company (70% CDP Equity and 30% Invitalia) with €2 billion in resources under management. It aims to make Venture Capital a backbone of the country's economic development and innovation, creating the conditions for the overall and sustainable growth of the Venture Capital ecosystem. It operates with a series of funds that aspire to support startups at all stages of their life, through both direct and indirect investments.
"The ARGO Accelerator is part of CDP Venture Capital's strategy to create a National Network of Italian-wide physical Accelerators, focused on high-tech districts, with the aim of supporting the development of skills and entrepreneurship for growing and becoming Italian champions of innovation."
The Ministry, as part of its innovation projects, aims to strengthen the digitalization of the tourism sector. To achieve this, it has planned the creation of the Tourism Digital Hub, a platform designed to integrate the entire tourism ecosystem to enrich, expand, and enhance the national tourism offering and related digital services.
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The Ministry’s Tourism Digital Hub is being developed along three strategic directions: the Hub as a bridge between tourists and the ecosystem; the Hub as a center for data aggregation and enhancement; and the Hub as an integrated system for the digitalization of the tourism offering.
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As a co-promoter of the ARGO Program, the Ministry of Tourism supports - also through financial contributions - the validation projects for solutions, technologies, and business models proposed by the startups admitted to the Program, with the aim of boosting innovation in tourism and advancing the strategic directions of the Tourism Digital Hub.
"The Ministry of Tourism, as a co-promoter of the Program, aims to support startups with high-impact potential in the sector by fostering their interaction with the Ministry’s Tourism Digital Hub and facilitating the validation of innovative solutions, emerging technologies, and business models, including through financial contributions."
Zest is one of the leading players in Europe dedicated to fostering the growth of the innovation ecosystem. ​Zest is the market leader in Italy for pre-seed and seed Venture Capital investments, startup acceleration and scale-up support. It offers a wide range of services with high technological and entrepreneurial value, providing a complete 360-degree experience. ​
Zest is the strategic partner to enable Italian companies and institutions to move into the 5.0 era, through Open Innovation & Corporate Venturing projects. With offices in Rome, Milan and Turin, Zest was born from the merger between Digital Magics and LVenture Group, pioneers of Italian Venture Capital with over 20 years of experience in the market.
"With a solid track record of investing in startups in the tourism sector, leading major investment rounds all the way to exit, Zest strives to select the most innovative traveltech solutions, backing the best founders to redefine, through innovation, a crucial sector for the Italian economy and create value by tapping into its hidden reserves of opportunity."
VeniSIA, Venice Sustainability Innovation Accelerator, is the sustainable innovation ecosystem of Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, created to address the city’s structural fragility while identifying and developing entrepreneurial ideas and technological solutions to tackle climate change and other environmental challenges for the benefit of the entire planet.
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The project, conceived and directed by Prof. Carlo Bagnoli, aspires to make Venice “the oldest city of the future,” restoring it to the role of innovative force it has had for centuries thanks to the convergence, in the fertile environment of Ca' Foscari, of institutions, large companies, SMEs, professionals and innovative startups.
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Among the environmental, social, and economic challenges VeniSIA tackles are overtourism and the impacts of traditional mass tourism on Venice’s territory and social fabric. VeniSIA promotes solutions, technologies, and alternative business models for more sustainable tourism integrated into a circular economy framework.
“VeniSIA will bring its know-how in incubation, acceleration and strategic innovation on climate change and circular economy to Argo to identify and develop startups in the tourism field to foster new opportunities for growth in the sector that are sustainable and offer added value to the local area and communities.”
Intesa Sanpaolo is the largest banking group in Italy, serving as a reference point for families, businesses, and the real economy, with a significant international presence. Its distinctive business model makes Intesa Sanpaolo a European leader in Wealth Management, Protection & Advisory, and underlines its strong focus on digitalization and fintech. An efficient and resilient bank, it leads product factories in asset management and insurance.
With a strong commitment to ESG, Intesa Sanpaolo aims to provide €115 billion in impact financing by 2025, dedicated to communities and the green transition, along with €500 million in contributions to support those in need, positioning the bank among the global leaders in social impact. Intesa Sanpaolo has committed to achieving Net Zero emissions by 2030 for its own operations and by 2050 for its loan and investment portfolios, asset management, and insurance activities. A firm supporter of Italian culture, it has developed a museum network, Gallerie d’Italia, a venue showcasing the bank's artistic heritage and recognized art projects.
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Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center is the Intesa Sanpaolo Group company dedicated to pioneering innovation. It explores future scenarios and trends, develops multidisciplinary applied research projects, supports startups, accelerates business transformation for companies based on Open Innovation and Circular Economy principles, fosters the development of innovative ecosystems, and promotes a culture of innovation to make Intesa Sanpaolo the driving force behind a more aware, inclusive, and sustainable economy.
Located on the 31st floor of the Intesa Sanpaolo skyscraper, with a national and international network of hubs and laboratories, the Innovation Center acts as an enabler of relationships with other stakeholders in the innovation ecosystem - such as businesses, startups, incubators, research centers, universities, and national and international entities - and as a promoter of new forms of entrepreneurship in venture capital access, supported by venture capital funds, including through its subsidiary Neva SGR.
"For Intesa Sanpaolo, supporting the growth of startups by facilitating their access to investors, client companies, and banking products and services is essential. This goal is pursued with the support of the expertise developed by Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center and through direct initiatives aimed at value creation. The support for the Argo program, which invests in innovative solutions in a sector as critical as tourism, fully aligns with Intesa Sanpaolo's broad and structured focus on accelerators designed to develop high-potential areas."
Human Company, the largest Italian-owned company in the open-air segment, active in hospitality and catering, currently operates nine outdoor structures in Italy (located in Tuscany, Veneto, and Lazio) and one in Luxembourg. In addition, it includes Plus Hostels & Hotels, modern hostels in Florence and Prague, and Villa La Palagina, a rural estate overlooking the Chianti hills.
To uniquely showcase the ecosystem of its outdoor facilities and attract new target audiences, Human Company has launched the new brand hu openair. Born from a process of simplification that turns "Human" into "hu" (pronounced “you”), the brand puts the guest at the center, with a stay and vacation experience enhanced by personalized offers and services.
Over the years, the Group has diversified its business, expanding beyond hospitality into the restaurant sector. Among its initiatives, it has contributed to the development of the innovative Mercato Centrale format, focused on food culture and gastronomy. Starting in 2014 at the San Lorenzo market in Florence, the concept has expanded to Rome in 2016 at Termini station, to Turin in April 2019 at the Palatino Center in Porta Palazzo, and to Milan in September 2021 at Central Station.
"Human Company believes in the development of an ecosystem of innovative new businesses at the national level to foster the growth of sustainable tourism, ready to tackle the challenges of a rapidly transforming industry. New demands from tourists, new technologies, new opportunities. Human Company aims to showcase its leadership by promoting tourism innovation and supporting new entrepreneurs who can seize the opportunities our time presents."
La Scuola Italiana di Ospitalità is the first hotel school in Italy, founded in 2019 thanks to the commitment of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti and TH Resorts, Italy's leading hospitality leisure company.
The school was established with the goal of bridging the gap between the skills of workers and the needs of businesses in the tourism sector, while promoting the growth of professionalism and management in the industry. The tourism sector, a driving force of the Italian economy, holds significant potential for global job growth.
This is achieved through the development of the winning "hotel-school" training model, which integrates classroom learning with hands-on experience. It’s a school where students learn by working directly with clients and real-world situations, guided by teachers and industry experts.
La Scuola Italiana di Ospitalità, as a technical partner of ARGO, contributes its expertise both in the Hospitality and Tourism sector and in the selection and training of human capital. By developing an environment that encourages innovation, technology transfer, and disruptive thinking, it maximizes networking opportunities between startups, students, teachers, industry experts, and companies.