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.