Start Cup Piemonte Valle d'Aosta 2026
Date of the event:
The Start Cup Piemonte Valle d'Aosta 2026 is the 22nd edition of the business plan competition promoted by Piedmont's universities, whose award ceremony was held on Tuesday 3 November 2026 at the Energy Center of the Politecnico di Torino. The competition, run by the I3P and 2i3T incubators, is part of the National Innovation Award (Premio Nazionale per l'Innovazione, PNI) and supports the creation of startups in the Life Sciences, ICT, Cleantech & Energy, Industrial, Tourism and Cultural and Creative Industry sectors [1][2].
The finalists
The competition's ten finalists were selected from around 180 business plans submitted [1][2]. First prize, worth 7,500 euros, went to Exajoint, a Life Sciences startup backed by the I3P incubator, which develops the exAC system, made up of a camera and sensors to measure in real time the orientation of hip prosthesis components during surgery [1].
Second prize, worth 5,000 euros, was awarded to SelSkin, which develops three-dimensional in vitro models of human skin to test cosmetics, drugs and medical devices. Third prize, worth 2,500 euros, went to Sense-maiking, an artificial intelligence platform based on semiotics for image and text analysis. Fourth place, tied, went to Licon, active in lightweight concrete, Q-Audion, working on anti-deepfake encryption, and Anypath, in industrial robot programming [1].
Special prizes and prize pool
The event's total prize pool, including cash and services, reached 60,000 euros [1]. Among the special awards, the 10,000-euro prize from Fondazione Crc went to Zycon.io, a data infrastructure for industrial artificial intelligence, while the Valle d'Aosta Region's prize, worth 7,500 euros, went to Oleovita, a circular bioeconomy project for processing oilseeds [1].
The top six will go on to the 2026 National Innovation Award, to be held in Bari on 3 and 4 December [1].
Promoters
The Start Cup Piemonte Valle d'Aosta is promoted by the Politecnico di Torino, the University of Turin and the University of Eastern Piedmont, with operational management by the I3P and 2i3T incubators [1][2]. According to Gianmario Pellegrino, delegate of the Politecnico di Torino's rector, the event was launched in 2005 as a pathway for turning ideas into new businesses [2].
Related articles: Politecnico di Torino
Sources
- ANSA Piemonte — 4 November 2026
- TorinoOggi — 4 November 2026