Great interest for the Canton Startup Day

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The third edition of the Canton Startup Day took place today, organised by the Economic Division of the Department of Finance and Economy (DFE) with Fondazione Agire, in collaboration with USI Startup Centre, Impact Hub Ticino, and TiVentures, with the support of BancaStato and the City of Locarno. The event attracted approximately 300 people to the PalaCinema in Locarno and was an opportunity to address the issue of bridging the gender gap in the startup world, supporting female founders.

 

Adapted from the press release by the Department of Finance and Economy, photo Repubblica e Cantone Ticino

 

Approximately 300 people participated today at the PalaCinema in Locarno in the third edition of the Canton Startup Day, an event aimed at facilitating meetings between startups and investors, fostering a culture of innovation in Ticino. This year, the event focused on addressing the gender gap in the startup world, supporting female founders.

The afternoon, organised by the Economic Division of the DFE with Fondazione Agire, in collaboration with USI Startup Centre, Impact Hub Ticino, and TiVentures, and with the support of BancaStato and the City of Locarno, was opened by State Councillor Christian Vitta. In his speech, he emphasised - after recalling that the Canton supports startups in their growth journey through a specific strategy developed in 2017 - that the integration of female skills in the workforce addresses the challenges of the cantonal economy and that female potential is a valuable resource, to be further enhanced also in terms of the job market. The President of Fondazione Agire, Luca Bolzani, and the Municipal Councillor of the City of Locarno, Nicola Pini, also spoke.

The theme of the event was further explored with a keynote speech by the Co-founder and President of Fe+Male Think Tank, Patricia M. Montesinos, who illustrated how understanding unconscious bias in investment decisions can lead to greater gender diversity in entrepreneurship. This was followed by a panel discussion featuring Marco Nannini, CEO of Impact Hub Milano and Vice President of A4W, Angels for Women, Valentina Venturi, Co-founder of Effetto Venturi, Jacqueline Ruedin Rüsch, Founder and CEO of Privilège Ventures SA, and Patricia M. Montesinos. During the discussion, it emerged that startups founded by women often face a series of cultural biases, often unconscious, that make the path to success more challenging, especially in terms of securing investments. According to recent studies, investments in female-led startups are less than half of those allocated to projects launched by men. However, the issue is well-known, and there are increasing initiatives aiming to address this situation. Examples include projects such as Angels for Women by Impact Hub, or the investment fund with a target collection of 50 million Swiss francs, currently open to new investors, launched by Privilège Ventures SA in support of startups co-founded by women, presented during the event.

During the afternoon, approximately twenty startups from Ticino had the opportunity to present their innovative entrepreneurial projects ("pitch") to the public, as well as interact with event participants at their stands during networking moments.

In conclusion, the third edition of the Canton Startup Day was a valuable opportunity for interaction among the various actors in the innovation support system, further strengthening networking between potential investors and the startup world. It also highlighted the ongoing efforts to bridge the gender gap in the startup world by supporting female founders.