Innovative Startups - Q1 2021

There are 12,561 innovative startups registered in Italy from 2001 to 2021.

Over the years, governments have made efforts to allocate various incentives and help these entrepreneurial realities, considered a source of growth and innovation for the country and the real economy.

Data from the quarterly monitoring report of the Ministry of Labour and InfoCamere, with the support of Unioncamere are updated to 1 April 2021 and reveal that 3.4% of the total sees newly established companies, and that the number has grown by 5.6% compared to the previous quarter. This is an indication of an entrepreneurial strength and perseverance that do not stop, populating the Italian innovation ecosystem with new players.

Where are the most innovative startups born?

In terms of territorial distribution, Lombardy is the queen, in fact it hosts almost 27% of all Italian Innovative Startups; 70% of Lombard startups are located in Milan. The Province of Milan represents 18.8% of the total, surpassing in absolute values all the other regions, thanks to its 2,363 companies. Only Lazio with 1,443, Campania with 1,115 and Veneto with 1,034 companies exceed 1,000. Trentino-Alto Adige boasts the highest density of innovative companies, while only 24.2% are found in the regions of Southern Italy.

Composition of Innovative Startups

Compared to the previous quarter, there has been a significant increase in the representation of companies founded by young people under 35 (17.4%), while there are few women's businesses: 12.9%, compared to 21.2% of the total number of companies.

Three startups out of four provide services rather than products, in particular 36.9% specialize in software production and IT consulting, 14.2% in research and development, 17% operate in the manufacturing sector and only 3% in commerce.

Turnover data

In terms of turnover, innovative startups are mainly microenterprises with an average production value of just over €182,600. This is partly due to the fact that best-performing companies typically lose their innovative startup status after a few years, when they exceed 5 million euros in turnover.

Investment and profitability

Compared to the last quarter of 2020, moreover, the company's equity partners have increased (+6.9%): they are at over 60 thousand.

The high risk and high incidence of loss-making companies are factors inherent in the nature of the innovative startup. However, profitable companies manage to reach particularly positive values in terms of profitability (ROI, ROE) and added value.

Innovative startups and SMEs are a precious asset for the real economy and for the restart and even venture capital funds, often composed of personalities with great expertise in finance, choose to invest in this type of company.

An example of a fund that has decided to dedicate 25 million euros to innovative companies is Alicrowdthe new Venture Capital fund of Azimut Investments that will invest in the best Startups and innovative SMEs Made in Italy. You can access the selections of Alicrowd through the call for action Mama Fund & Crowd.

Do you have an innovative Startup or SME ready to scale and want to start an equity crowdfunding campaign?

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