Incubation and acceleration program for startups

From this vision comes a history of more than 10 years of Open Innovation programs that, progressively, have been adapted to the needs of the Italian and international ecosystem. An innovation path that has evolved from internal Intrapreunification programs to incubation and acceleration programs managed with significant partnerships, up to the current five-year Corporate Venture Building commitment, aimed at creating and investing in innovative startups.

History of Fastweb Open Innovation

Starting in 2011, Fastweb created a structured innovation process that started with a contest and, over the years, has led to investments in startups with the following programs:

2021 2019 2015 2012 2011

2021

WeSportUp

Fastweb, has always had a vocation for sport and health, manifested through the choice of its testimonials and in 2021 it was the first corporate to join WeSportUP, the acceleration vehicle of Sport and Health, CDP Ventures and WyLab, as a premium partner. The partnership saw the Fastweb team directly involved in scouting and supporting Startups in the field of Sport and Wellness, to identify potential synergies useful for the business.

2019

OpenInnovation Program

After almost 10 years of education, innovation has become a corporate cultural heritage, fueling a continuous funnel for receiving ideas. In the meantime, in line with the evolution of the Open Innovation approach, the collection of ideas has been conveyed in waves dedicated to specific themes, transforming the InnovationLab into an OpenInnovation program. In collaboration with Cariplo Factory, two cycles of collection, analysis, evaluation, and prototyping of ideas from employees or startups in the Pre Seed and Seed investment phase were managed, with the aim of creating or investing in data driven and digital solutions. From the Open Innovation Waves, the AnyOps startup was incubated, which developed a robot, which works alongside technicians specialized in technological sites, to optimize the maintenance of the Telco Fastweb network.

2015

InnovationLAB

The innovation Team created a community of innovators with more than 500 employees who proposed ideas, evaluated them using the “democratic voting” method, analyzed them and introduced them into business lines for development and commercialization. In the same period, the InnovationLab began to analyze startups with the crowdfunding programs FastUp and FastUp School. In the meantime, the entire company has become aware of the new design methodologies that open Innovation uses, such as the Agile methodology and Design Thinking.

2012

Innovation Team

the 20 winners of the InnovAction contest proposed to CEO Alberto Calcagno a method for managing the innovation process (Innovation Funnel), in which to convey all the ideas that come “from the company to the company” in the form of “Bottom — Up” or “Top — Down” to improve processes, products and organization. In the meantime, the Innovation Team has contributed to the dissemination of the culture of innovation according to Henry Chesbrough's Open Innovation paradigm.

2011

InnovAction

Open Innovation contest where employees proposed business ideas to improve processes, products and business organization.

Open Innovation Today: Fastweb NeXXt Ventures — The Corporate Venture Building by Fastweb

In 2023, Fastweb NeXXt Ventures was created to coordinate and manage the Corporate Venture Building program aimed at generating and investing in startups that create value in Italy, highlighting Italian entrepreneurial excellence and attracting them from the entire global ecosystem of startups and innovative entrepreneurs.

Unlike Venture Capital, which aim to finance startups in exchange for equity, the corporate venture builder adopts a much more practical approach. Innovative strategic business needs for the corporate are explored. We identify the most promising startups and the innovative ideas that allow the creation of new business realities (venture studios) that meet these needs. The identified realities are supported, financing and providing strategic support, ensuring rapid and focused growth. It also supports their access to investment funds useful for 'scale up'.

With this approach, Fastweb enhances existing resources and skills to create or accelerate innovative activities that allow the Italian ecosystem to remain competitive in today's rapidly evolving international landscape

The Partnership

Through a joint venture with Founders Factory, a unique player of its kind for its personalized approach to startups, innovative national and international digital businesses will be created, financed and developed over five years that will operate in Italy. The goal is to invest in a portfolio of more than 30 business ideas operating in the Italian market and beyond.

The investment program (Acceleration), which will focus on assisting companies to promote their development, will also be accompanied by the activity of a business incubator (Studio Business) that will design and implement new business ideas.

Investment Radar

Artificial Intelligence

Cyber Security Advisory

Energy & Connectivity

Industrial IoT

Smart Home

Climate

eHealth

Digital Identity

Investment Portfolio

The investment portfolio of startups reflects the combination of innovative strategic areas of investment for Fastweb and innovative market trends that are growing for the near future.

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