Startup Thinking

Startup Thinking Observatory activities include:

• Research: Six research cycles concerning six specific fields of enquiry chosen each year. Each study is developed by specialized Digital Innovation Observatory Researchers (45 active Observatories), leveraging their long-term specific expertise to identify and analyse the most interesting startups in each specific field. For every defined research field (six per edition), the process consists of carrying out a survey, mapping and analysing start-ups founded over the past five years in Italy and internationally that have been financed in the past 2 years, and then closely examine the most significant start-ups, preparing a detailed data sheet for each, as well as producing a detailed database and analysis booklet. In addition, a detailed Database, an analysis booklet, and infographic summary are produced for each census. Over 16.500 startups have been surveyed in the first 7 years. Every research cycle (six per edition) ends with a Pitch Workshop on the innovation opportunities analysed, with presentations by some startups (approximately ten at each meeting) chosen with the partner. The partners are actively involved in pre and post-Workshop phases through moments of comparison with Researchers. Twenty or more researchers are involved in each edition.

• Scouting: in the first six editions over 1100 in-depth assessments of very important Italian and International startups have been completed, together with meetings with more than 380 startups at 48 workshops, following direct discussions with our researchers. Support is provided to Partner companies in organizing one2one meetings with startups of interest so that our researchers can explain and discuss the material covered on a regular basis.

• Informing: the project also includes annual advanced training events (four workshops in the 2022-2023 edition) covering typical Open Innovation related processes and the relationship between companies and start-ups, in order to share best practices through the participation of professors from the Politecnico and other Universities, experts, guest speaker presentations and direct experience sharing between partners, open discussions, and experience sharing round tables. A weekly Newsletter is added to Research reports and Workshops covering the most important news on Italian and international startups and on open innovation, to deliver broad and extended knowledge of the opportunities provided by this sector and the most promising organizations.

• Collaboration and discussion round tables: these can be organized between partners, conducted directly by them, focused on topics related to cultural transformation and revising innovation processes, or topics of interest to partners. The discussion tables are supported by Politecnico experts from a methodological and operative perspective.

• Community: Startup Thinking aggregates the leading and most active Community of Innovation Managers in Italy, that every month meet and debate on the most important innovation topics, aiming to share experiences, projects, successes, and issues. The Community is supported and enlivened through specific instruments handled by a dedicated Community Manager: group work, social platform dedicated to the project, Team Building activities. The eighth edition of the project counted over 600 participants from Partner companies at project meetings. Furthermore, Startup Thinking provides the opportunity of conducting projects with students of the Politecnico di Milano based on briefs that are considered relevant by the partners, of visiting the over 200 laboratories of the Politecnico di Milano, and granting privileged access to startups hosted by Polihub Innovation Park and Startup Accelerator of the Politecnico di Milano.

• Visibility: the project helps to promote the visibility of partner organisations undertaking their process of cultural transformation towards open innovation, with positive implications for their brand awareness and attractiveness, with the additional goal of livening up and stimulating Italy’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Visibility is supported by participating at collaboration and comparison discussions, round tables, Workshops and Digital Innovation Observatory Conferences as guest speakers at Mip Politecnico di Milano classes, as well as through collaborations with newspapers and press outlets (EconomyUp, Startup business, Digital4Executives, over 60 editorial publications in the eighth edition), which regularly publish material agreed with us that relates to our partners’ initiatives and projects.
• Conference: furthermore, an open Conference is held every year addressed to everyone who “deals with” innovation, to which Partners participate at round tables as spokespersons. The event is organized jointly by the Startup Hi-tech Observatory and the Digital Transformation Academy Observatory. Last year 30 speakers and an audience of over 500 people attended the Conference.

Now in its ninth edition, Startup Thinking has enabled to take a census and analyse over 16.500 Italian and international startups and to meet over 380 of them, involving 100 of the leading Italian companies and some PS authorities, and has published 48 Research Reports ad 21 Takeaway Booklets.