It is called “Sud innovation champions” and is the largest startup competition in Southern Italy, promoted with the aim of identifying the best innovation projects in the eight regions of Southern Italy: Sardinia , Sicily, Calabria, Campania, Puglia, Basilicata, Molise and Abruzzo. The initiative – now in its second edition – was born within the Sud innovation ecosystem , together with the Innovation partners PwC and Factory accademia, and aims to «strengthen the culture of innovation in Southern Italy through a high-profile competition between territories».
In the first edition of “Sud innovation champions” there were over 200 applications . The formula is that of the traveling roadshow: each regional stop will select 5 finalist projects, including startups, scaleups, innovative SMEs and research projects, which will compete in local events starting from May 30th.
The winner of each stage will then access the final that will be held on October 16 and 17, in Messina, within the Sud innovation summit-AI for future 2025.
"Champions - explains Roberto Ruggeri, founder of Sud Innovation - was created to bring out what truly unites the South: distributed intelligence, submerged energies, projects that deserve to be recognized and connected . If we want the South to become a system capable of generating innovation on a scale - continues Ruggeri - we must start thinking of it as an interdependent network: made up of strong nodes, but even stronger when connected. The real challenge is not to produce isolated initiatives, but to generate continuity, vision and shared impact".