12 European impact companies selected: 7 Italian, 5 foreign

The operational phase of the innovative acceleration program launched by Fondazione CRT and OGR Torino with Microsoft to grow businesses with social and environmental purposes is kicking off.

Twelve European social and environmental impact companies have been selected to enter tomorrow the operational phase of Impact Deal, the first acceleration program based on the use of Big Data promoted by Fondazione CRT and OGR Torino with Microsoft.

The project, which will be developed in OGR’s international hub for innovation and research, sees the collaboration of TOP-IX, The Data Science for Social Good Center, Impact Hub, Ashoka and The Data Appeal Company. Through the application of Data Science, the growth of entrepreneurial activities with social and environmental purposes will be stimulated, while also fostering the evolution of more traditional ones through the integration of existing models and new business plans.

Impact Deal received more than 40 applications from across Europe. Among them 12 impact enterprises were identified with business focuses ranging from Smart Environment to Medical Care, via Smart Cities, IoT, Logistic/Supply Chain, Digital Consciousness, Human Resources Services, Open Innovation, AI, Cultural Heritage, Food, Health, Agriculture, Augmented Mobility, Vehicles and Energy solutions.

Among the 12 companies selected, 7 are Italian (4 from Milan, 1 from Turin, 1 from Rome and 1 from Corato in the province of Bari); the 5 foreign companies are from the United Kingdom (2), Denmark (1), Portugal (1) and Switzerland (1).

“With Impact Deal we mark a European turning point in the world of Big Data for the public good, continuing on the path taken of hybridization between for-profit and nonprofit,” says Massimo Lapucci, Secretary General of Fondazione CRT and CEO of OGR Torino. “The strategic partnership between Microsoft and Fondazione CRT allows OGR Torino to concretely experience the potential of Data, used in a responsible and shared way to grow social and environmental impact businesses: we open a new path to more effectively address some of the most important challenges of the contemporary world and generate a more sustainable, equitable, widespread change”.

The Impact Deal pathway will be divided into two phases: the first, lasting about two months, will provide specific skills in Data Science, Artificial Intelligence and entrepreneurship; the second, lasting about 3 months, will target a subset of businesses and focus on business acceleration through the development of real projects and solutions enabled by Data through mentorship programs and strategic collaborations.

This last step will conclude with a Demo Day where companies will show their progress to an audience of potential investors with a particular vocation for impact investing.

THE SELECTED ENTERPRISES

Here are the 12 selected companies and their mission

• Alba Robot (Italy, Torino): to increase the independence of people with reduced mobility, reduce transportation costs and improve quality of life.
• Aroundrs (Italy, Milano): to encourage and to inspire a circular lifestyle reducing the use of single-use packaging in the food industry and building a reuse ecosystem that eliminates waste in an innovative and accessible way for all.
• Open Impact (Italy, Roma): enhancing organizations’ impact data, making it a priority variable in decision-making processes.
• Optimiz Claims (United Kingdom): to enable remote inspection of the handling (packaging and transportation) of containerized cargo and the automation of claims, thus reducing damage to fruits and vegetables, promoting their availability and improving the food supply chain.
• Pin Bike (Italy, Corato, BA): accelerating the transition to a more sustainable mobility through the monitoring and gamification system of urban bicycle rides.
• SBP (Italy, Milano): help companies position themselves in the growing market of sustainable brands by supporting them in analyzing critical areas in their supply chain to improve their practices.
• Sorair Technologies (United Kingdom): making same-day deliveries more affordable and accessible by providing companies with an autonomous delivery system via drones, either for hire or after licensing the technology with the goal of decreasing carbon emissions produced in the last stage of the supply chain.
• The Newsroom AI (Portugal): countering misinformation and promoting online plurality, through two solutions: a free search engine extension and a membership-based application.
• Virtuosis (Switzerland): to improve collaboration in teams and well-being in the workplace. Their tool (patented EPFL) analyzes voice during video calls to predict to dramatically reduce stress, anxiety and burnout at work.
• WeSolve Aps (Denmark): promoting social, economic and political inclusion through Internet of Things technology and Machine Learning to automate decision-making and problem-solving processes.
• Whitelibra (Italy, Milano): innovating forms of work and organization, including the social impact of work models (gender equality, birth rates, active aging, inclusion, etc.) and digital technology (remote work, in the cloud, with collaborative systems).
• Wiseair (Italy, Milano): fostering action through information: guiding decision makers to promote new development models to achieve clean air and strengthening connections within local communities, training them to be part of the solution.

At the core of the Impact Deal program is the Data Club, a group of companies and organizations, public and private entities, that will make it possible for businesses to accelerate by sharing their databases in a collaborative perspective. The initial core of the Data Club consists of Banca Sella, Snam Foundation, City of Turin and TIM.