Innovate with Enel for a sustainable future. This was the message from the Enel Group to the many promising, high-tech young startups that gathered in Milan on 27 November to discuss the progress made on projects developed together. The “Leading the Energy Revolution” event at Le Village, a 15th century convent building that houses a startup hub, also extended an invitation to potential new partners to take part in the Open Innovation process that Enel has been promoting for several years.
“Our business model focuses on helping startups to scale up. And we put ourselves forward as their first clients,” explained Carlo Tamburi, Enel Head of Country Italy. “We have purchased 20 million euros of goods and services from them in a very short period of time.” “I tell startups to look for funding, at home and abroad, without however becoming obsessed by it. It’s more important to find an industrial partner, like Enel,” Ernesto Ciorra, Chief Innovability® Officer, told those present.
Fabio Tentori, Head of Enel Innovation Hubs and Startup initiatives, reported on the positive results that have been obtained in recent years: 6,500 startups (of which 850 in Italy) have been analysed, 250 projects have been launched (85 in Italy) and 50 have reached the international market (including 17 in Italy).
The 13 startups presenting their projects in Milan are proof of the continual exchange of ideas and advice with Enel and the opportunity to test products immediately in working environments.
Marco Gazzino (Head of Innovation and Product Lab at Enel X), together with Enel managers Marina Lombardi (Head of New Technologies and Innovation - Network of Technology and Innovation), Nicola Rossi (Head of Innovation at Global Power Generation) and Marco Moretti (Head of Innovation at Global Digital Solutions), discussed the challenges for the future in their respective sectors. They also invited startups to tackle them and to continue to combine innovation and sustainability, a pillar of the Enel philosophy.