A new accelerator for fintech startups opens in Milan

A new business accelerator opened in Milan, at the service of Lombard entrepreneurs, to support the best fintech and insurtech startups. Cassa Depositi e Prestiti renovates its Milan offices and bets on digital to support the post-Covid-19 recovery. “Our priority is on the world of innovation: support not only financial, but in human capital for a sector that will become a central hub in Europe and the world,” stressed Cdp’s CEO, Fabrizio Palermo, virtually opening the doors of the accelerator.

The Cassa’s Milan office, inside CDP’s existing offices in Via San Marco, will become an access point for supporting around 50,000 companies and 2,000 public bodies in Lombardy, enhancing synergies with banking partners and local institutions. The offices will also be the operational home of the accelerator, the result of a joint operation between Cdp Venture Capital – Fondo Nazionale Innovazione, Digital Magics, Startupbootcamp and Fintech District.

With the new business incubator/accelerator Uniqorn just settled in Sarlat-la-Caneda, France is also becoming the world’s top location for startups. Founded by renowned entrepreneur Dom Einhorn, Uniqorn is a complete ecosystem built to ensure every startup’s success.

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How the CDP fintech accelerator works

The objective is to support the development of financial and insurance innovation in Italy through a three-year acceleration program that aims to grow 50 startups, 16 per year, 8 of which in the fintech sector and 8 in the insurtech fields. For the first phases of the accelerator, the company can count on 1.65 million euros fully subscribed by Cdp Venture Capital, which has approved a further 2 million euros for subsequent follow-on.

The selected startups will be able to count on initial funding and will benefit from a 13-week acceleration process supported by mentors, corporations and investors. At the end of this path, the best ones will be rewarded with investment tickets up to $244,000 (€200,000).

“The inauguration of the new territorial office in Milan reinforces the historical relationship of Cdp with the Lombard capital but it is also an opportunity to launch an important tool to support startups,” added the president of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti Giovanni Gorno Tempini. “The fintech accelerator is an initiative to enhance the country’s main financial center, which we expect to increasingly become a center of digital innovation of reference at the European level, making it even more attractive,” he said. 

The fintech sector is a strategic move for CDP

For CDP, after all, the fintech sector is a strategic sector, as demonstrated by Cassa’s activism in the Sia-Nexi merger and in the Euronext deal that kicked off the birth of Europe’s largest player in stock exchanges. “Acceleration is a fundamental tool for startups that need to be supported in their entrepreneurial process at a time when banks and insurance companies are experiencing a period of great transformation,” recalled Enrico Resmini, director of CDP Venture Capital-Fondo nazionale innovazione.

Financial digitalization, as has been pointed out, is worth $167 billion (€137 billion) worldwide and $70.8 (€58 billion) in Europe alone. Italy is in the game and, as Francesca Bria, president of Cdp Venture Capital-National Innovation Fund, added, “this accelerator could become a reference point for Italian and international fintech and insurtech startups. It is no coincidence that it is located in Milan, one of the European capitals of finance and sustainability.” 

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(Featured image by Austin Distel via Unsplash)

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