The two Turin-based Foundations and the country's leading Bank will put together their respective skills, ideas and technologies with the commitment to creating new opportunities for Italian and non-Italian entrepreneurs, by planning a series of initiatives in the 2019-2021 three-year period. The purpose of the partnership is to attract new start-ups and new investments in start-ups and Tech funds, especially those operating in the artificial intelligence and blockchain domains. The companies will also define the methods of joint participation in initiatives for investments in funds specialised in acceleration programmes aimed at entering key markets and sectors with reference to the innovation trends of the circular economy and the data-driven economy.

The partnership will enhance the “common spaces for innovation”, Officine Grandi Ri-parazioni (OGR) of Turin, a historic building recently transformed by Fondazione CRT into a centre of excellence for contemporary culture and innovation, the “venture capital finance”, Neva Finventures, the Corporate Venture Capital headed by Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center and the “skills to accompany innovation”, LIFTT, the hi-tech elevator born out of the public-private alliance between Politecnico di Torino and Compagnia di San Paolo to bring investment opportunities closer to research results. All creating a “hub for innovation in Turin”, unique in Italy and competitive with those of the “most innovative cities” in Europe.

Thanks to this strategic partnership, international operators specialised in business acceleration, startups and scale-ups will contribute to the development of an innovation hub centred around the new spaces of Officine Grandi Riparazioni (OGR), next to the Bank's skyscraper, Politecnico di Torino, Fondazione LINKS and along the so-called "Miglio dell'Innovazione di Torino” (Turin Innovation Mile).


The parties have already launched a feasibility study for the definition of the action plan which will see its first operational implementation as early as in the first half of 2019.

“The commitment made by Compagnia di San Paolo on Turin's innovation, begun in 2016 with the project aimed at creating the Fondazione Links and, recently, Liftt Srl, takes on further substance. The partnership entered into today with Fondazione CRT and Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center is aimed at launching the creation of an international hub to support the city's hi-tech reorganisation. Only by pooling together our skills and knowledge can we achieve outstanding results: it is recent news that our city has moved from the second to the fourth position in the national ranking by number of innovative startups. Thanks to the work performed in synergy between the two Turin-based Founda-tions and the country's leading Bank, we will endeavour to carry out structural actions that allow us to recover, slowly but surely, the innovative gap accumulated over the years with the other countries. Today we confirm our commitment to ensuring that the innovation chain of the research institutions of the city of Turin and its innovative technological industry earn themselves a leading role in tomorrow's economy", says Francesco Profumo, Chairman of Compagnia di San Paolo.

“For the first time, Fondazione CRT, Compagnia di San Paolo and Intesa Sanpaolo Inno-vation Center join forces for the creation of an international innovation hub in Turin. The initiative, the scope of which is in many ways of historic proportions, aims to generate a strong impact in terms of growth and development for the city and for the international communities that will connect with Turin at the OGR, one of the largest venture philanthropy investments made in Europe. The synergy of skills, investment capacities and support to the territory between the two Turin-based foundations and the Intesa Sanpaolo Group is a tangible demonstration of how it is now possible to combine the world of advanced institutional philanthropy and the corporate world for the synergistic development of innovative entrepreneurial projects capable of supporting the country's growth", declares the Secretary General of Fondazione CRT and OGR Managing Director, Massimo Lapucci.

"Innovation is a key element for supporting the country's economy”, underlines Carlo Messina, Intesa Sanpaolo's CEO. “Intesa Sanpaolo has long been committed to promoting the growth of this ecosystem, which is increasingly central to the development of Italian businesses. The countries with a focus on innovation show greater GDP growth, while in Italy the annual capital requirement per startup is estimated at around one billion euro, 75% of which is not covered by specialised operators and by the financial segment. This memorandum, which is the result of the careful and strategic vision typical of banking foundations, pursues the dual objective of making the city of Turin an international inno-vation hub and acting as a stimulus for the new economy of the country, thereby increas-ing networking between universities and businesses, young people and investors”.