MtB Italy Tour: 150 people attended the first date in Varese

Yesterday, in Varese, over 150 people (students, Ph.ds, research fellows, entrepreneurs, local incubators, …) crowded the Aula 12 at CrESIT -Insubria University for the first date of the Mind The Bridge Italy Tour 2010. A promising start for our Tour!


I drove them into start-up world, presenting the Silicon Valley eco-system and the 2010 MtB Business Plan Competition. Roberto Accolla and Massimo Caccia, respectively Pro-Rector for Research and Director of Technology Transfer Unit at Insubria University, discussed about the issues and opportunities for academic spin-offs. Roberta Profeta, Intesa Sanpaolo, announced the upcoming partnership between their Startup Initiative and Mind the Bridge Foundation.
A really good debate followed the presentation. Great way for beginning our 2010 Tour!
In the next days we will make available for download the slides deck and the video of the speeches. Stay tuned.

Mind the Bridge Italy Tour 2010: first date is Varese

Varese is the first date of the Mind the Bridge Italy Tour 2010, a series of roadshows hosted by universities and incubators across Italy where Mind the Bridge Foundation presents its 2010 MtB Business Plan Competition.

On February 24th, Mind the Bridge will touch base in Varese, at CrESIT, the Centre for Innovation and Life Science Management (CrESIT) of Insubria University (Faculty of Economics, via Monte Generoso 71). The roadshow starts at 2.15pm. During this first event it will be discussed how scientists can turn into entrepreneurs and spin-off business from university labs. The workshop will be introduced by Roberto Accolla, Prorector for Research of Insubria University. During the workshop, Alberto Onetti, CrESIT Director and Chairman of Mind the Bridge Foundation, will dialogue with Ph.ds, researchers, proto-entrepreneurs, students. He will introduce them to the start-up world (for business planning to fund raising) and describe the unique characteristics of the Silicon Valley entrepreneurial eco-system. At the end are scheduled snapshots from Massimo Caccia, Director of SiSRIT, the technology transfer center of Insubria University, and Roberta Profeta, Intesa Sanpaolo Startup Initiative. Local incubators and clusters, such as ComoNext and Asse del Ticino, confirmed their participation. Click here to see the complete agenda.
Next date is February 25, in Milan, starting at 10.30am. The roadshow will be hosted by Luciano Pilotti, Professor of Management at University of Milan. Stay tuned for learning about the next dates of Mind the Bridge Italy Tour 2010.

MtB Italy Tour is about to start

On Feb 24 the MtB Italy Tour 2010 hits the road. We organize roadshows hosted by universities and incubators for presenting the MtB Business Plan Competition across Italy.

We aim at opening a dialogue with Ph.ds, researchers, proto-entrepreneurs, students. During the roadshow we present to them the start-up world (from business planning to fund raising) and describe the unique characteristics of the Silicon Valley entrepreneurial eco-system.
The MtB Italy Tour 2010 starts in Varese on February 24th (at 2.15pm). The location is the Faculty of Economics in Varese (via Monte Generoso 71). The host is CrESIT, the Centre for Innovation and Life Science Management (CrESIT) of Insubria University (Varese).


During this first event we will discuss how scientists can turn into entrepreneurs and spin-off business from a university lab. We got a enthusiastic response from Insubria University (3 pro-rectors on the stage) and local incubators and clusters (ComoNext and Asse del Ticino confirmed their partecipation).
We invite you to join us in Varese for a lively discussion of the challenges and opportunities facing entrepreneurs and innovators. The participation to this event is free of charge. For more deatails about the Varese evernt please refer to www.cresit.it.
Stay tuned for knowing the next dates and locations of the MtB Italy Tour 2010.
Feel free to contact us if you are interested to host a Mind The Bridge roadshow information@mindthebridge.org).

Mind The Bridge awarded grant from Cariplo Foundation

A great news for celebrating Christmas!

The Centre for Innovation and Life Science Management (CrESIT) of Insubria University (Varese) has successfully received over half a million dollar in funding from Cariplo Foundation. The money is for promoting international entrepreneurship in Italy. The Project actively involves Mind The Bridge as main partner.


The goal of the grant is to provide the most promising start-ups and young tecno- and bio-entrepreneurs from Lombardy and West Piedmont areas with in-depth training and mentoring.
For the 2 most promising start-ups (selected through the 2010 Mind The Bridge Business Plan Competition) the Project will sponsor the participation to the Mind The Bridge Gym in Silicon Valley, while the 2 university and Ph.D. students with the most innovative business ideas will be admitted to an intensive internship program organized by a top university in Silicon Valley.
Roadshows for presenting the Project and the Mind The Bridge Business Plan Competition will be organized in the first quarter of 2010. We target to present in all universities (both scientific and business faculties) and incubators. The target area (for the purpose of the grant) is Lombardy and West Piedmont, but we are obviously open to organize presentations all over Italy.
Please contact us if you are interested to host a Mind The Bridge roadshow (information@mindthebridge.org).
For this Project CrESIT and Mind the Bridge partner with the Foundation of Politecnico of Milan and CIBIE (the Centre for International Business and the International Economy of University of Pavia).