This important initiative, launched by the Puglia Region and among the most innovative in the country, aims to adequately capitalize on the extraordinary wealth of talent and skills, especially among our young people, providing them with concrete tools to develop their entrepreneurial ideas and thus secure significant employment opportunities.
Among the 25 selected FACTORIES there is “LET’S UP Lean Startup for NPR Manufacturing”, our FACTORY, led by the national CONFASSOCIAZIONI, plus a balanced mix of universities, research and training centers, incubators and accelerators, clusters, production districts, and investors, associations, and businesses. Over 60 industry professionals (senior consultants), including mentors, coaches, and tutors, assist the selected teams throughout the process of supporting the creation and acceleration of innovative businesses and their business development.
In fact, on the afternoon of the presentation and launch of the Measure, we met with the first interested teams to carry out the necessary in-depth analyses.
“These 25 FACTORIES are the places where the culture of innovation will be transmitted. We must not be afraid of the future and we are preparing ourselves as best we can to welcome it. Our successes, as well as our failures, will depend on us, which is why the Puglia Region strongly supports young people with innovative ideas. I wish them the best of luck,” said the President of the Puglia Region, Michele Emiliano, who then added: “Businesses need technological innovation, but sometimes they cannot find a partner capable of addressing all the issues that concern them. This is why the Puglia Region has asked the entire country, and even outside Italy, to establish FACTORIES, or factories of new ideas, that would help Apulian entrepreneurs transform their business into a solid reality and improve it in terms of technological innovation, communication, and product. These 25 aggregations include universities, polytechnics, companies, research centers, and investors. They are themselves companies because the Puglia Region provides entrepreneurs with vouchers that can be invested in them. 25 FACTORY to obtain in exchange services, consultancy, market access opportunities and an increase in their business”.
Business is built in Puglia, from the business idea to the creation and development of an innovative startup. Introduced by Stefano Marastoni, responsible for the Talent Extraction initiative for ARTI, the 25 FACTORIES selected to provide personalized entrepreneurial support to teams of aspiring innovative entrepreneurs were presented, aiming to enhance their skills and give their business ideas a greater chance of success.
The Puglia Region, through ARTI – Regional Agency for Technology and Innovation, has invested €10 million in approximately 400 personalized support programs aimed at promoting innovative entrepreneurial ideas and helping them transform into new businesses. These programs will be delivered by 25 selected FACTORIES, made up of groups of 255 public and private entities, including universities, public research institutions, incubators, business accelerators, investors, manufacturing and technology districts, accredited training organizations, and technical institutes (ITS). Of these entities, 7 are foreign and 248 are Italian, including 124 from Puglia. Of the selected entities, 111 belong to the business system; 40 to the research system; 38 to the education and training system; 40 are accelerators or incubators; and 26 are investors. For a total of 811 experts are available to support and promote the ideas of Puglian teams.
The Talent Extraction program in the Puglia regional strategy integrates perfectly with other measures, such as Nidi and Tecno Nidi, which already fund business initiatives.
"Returning to business is key to the development of our region," explained ARTI President Vito Albino. "We must return to investing in research, as is happening in Asian countries, which account for 66% of the 3.3 million patents registered worldwide. Factories will be the hubs between our region and the rest of the world."
"The opportunity for many self-employed entrepreneurs to have a partner to start growing and launch a business without the risk of being trapped in the valley of business death," explains Domenico Laforgia, director of the Puglia Region's Department of Economic Development.
In the afternoon, the registered Teams had individual interviews and met directly with the individual FACTORIES – divided into 3 thematic areas of interest: "Human and Environmental Health", "Creative and Inclusive Digital Communities", "Sustainable Manufacturing" – and received information on support programs.
“Talent Extraction” is an intervention co-financed by the European Union under the Puglia Regional Operational Programme (ROP) ERDF-ESF 2014-2020; Priority Axis OT VIII “Promoting the sustainability and quality of employment and supporting professional mobility” and Priority Axis OT X “Investing in education, training and vocational training for skills and lifelong learning”.
How to apply
Informal groups of aspiring entrepreneurs and/or potential startuppers (minimum three people) who share a knowledge-intensive business idea can apply for the programs offered by the FACTORYs. The "Team Selection" call is open and organized on a one-stop basis: applications are evaluated every two months until available resources are exhausted. To participate in the selection process, teams wishing to receive support and tutoring services provided by the FACTORYs must submit a business project within one of the three priority innovation areas identified by the Regional Strategy for Research and Innovation (Sustainable Manufacturing – Human and Environmental Health – Digital, Creative, and Inclusive Communities) and commit to establishing their business in Puglia. The results of the eligibility and merit assessments are published on the website. estrazionedeitalenti.arti.puglia.it e sul BUR Puglia.
The route
Each team, selected by the evaluation team, will choose the FACTORY best suited to their needs and consistent with the priority innovation area identified for their business project. The support program for the creation and acceleration of innovative businesses and their related business development will last 300 hours.
The teams will have to present an entrepreneurial project within one of the three priority innovation areas of the regional strategy "SMART Puglia 2020", namely "Sustainable manufacturing", "Human and environmental health" and "Digital, creative and inclusive communities".
The duration of the support courses for the creation of innovative businesses and related business development is maximum 300 hours, to be completed within a maximum of six months from the date of signing the unilateral obligation deed. The hours must be divided between common sessions (maximum 40 ore for the framing of the fundamental themes, case studies and pitch sessions) and sessions dedicated to individual teams (maximum 260 hour per tutoring, mentoring, networking e business case).
Each Team, selected by the Evaluation Committee appointed by ARTI, will choose the FACTORY deemed to best meet their needs and be consistent with the innovation area identified for their scope of intervention. Once their selection is made, the Teams will share a customized activity plan with the FACTORY based on their support needs and their stage of entrepreneurial maturity. Specifically, the FACTORY's activity will be preceded by a screening phase, conducted through dedicated interviews with individual Teams. Only after this phase will it be possible to develop the activity plan that will define the support paths.
The individuals making up the Team must apply as a team; a Team Leader must initiate the process by inviting the other members to join.
Only one application per individual may be submitted as a member of a team. In the application, candidates must develop and define a business project according to the procedures set out in the online application platform made available and available at https://estrazionedeitalenti.arti.puglia.it.
The notice is "open to the public," meaning there is no deadline for submitting applications, but it is open until the available resources for each category of recipients (employed and unemployed) are exhausted.
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