Takeoff accelerator launched in Turin:
over 21 million investments in aerospace and advanced hardware

An initiative by CDP Venture Capital, Fondazione CRT, UniCredit with Plug and Play Tech Center and OGR Torino to boost the country's competitiveness

The call for the selection of the first 10 start-ups is open until 25 May 2022 at takeoffaccelerator.com: Italian and international start-ups wishing to open a registered office in Italy may apply.

Takeoff, the acceleration programme dedicated to start-ups developing solutions and services in the aerospace and advanced hardware sectors, has been set up in OGR Turin to boost the competitiveness of the entire country, starting with the academic and entrepreneurial excellence represented by Piedmont in these fields.

Part of the Rete Nazionale Acceleratori CDP (CDP National Accelerators Network), a network is present throughout the country to help the growth of young companies specialising in high-potential markets, Takeoff is a joint initiative of promoters and investors CDP Venture Capital, through the Fondo Acceleratori, Fondazione CRT, through its operating arm Sviluppo e Crescita, and UniCredit. The project also involves Plug and Play Tech Center, as co-investor and operational manager of the acceleration programme, and OGR Torino, in the role of innovation & networking partner. The Unione Industriali Torino is an institutional partner, the Leonardo Group and Avio as corporate partners.

With an initial endowment of more than EUR 21 million (of which EUR 10 million allocated by the Accelerators Fund of CDP Venture Capital Sgr, a total of EUR 10 million made available by Fondazione CRT and UniCredit, and EUR 1.35 million by Plug and Play Tech Center) for investments in acceleration and for the subsequent growth steps of the start-ups, Takeoff will support the implementation and development of companies operating in aerospace, aeronautics, vertical mobility and advanced hardware, characterised by the application of artificial intelligence and Big Data to manufacturing.

There are numerous possible project declinations, including the technological development of satellites and related software applications, space launchers, drones, supersonic and self-driving travel solutions, aircraft and solutions for self-driving travel, as well as sensors, batteries, semiconductors, computing technologies, robotics and data centres.

The programme will select each year, for three years, up to 10 start-ups in seed and pre-seed stage who will have access to a five-month acceleration programme structured by the project partners, who will guide them towards the definition of their business model, helping them to correctly identify their target market and the most suitable business strategy to achieve their objectives.

The best teams selected by the accelerator will also have access to further investments already allocated by the promoters of the initiative, in order to integrate themselves into the industrial fabric of the area and to strengthen the ecosystem in which the excellences in the sectors on which Takeoff focuses operate.

Takeoff will be based at OGR Tech, a hub dedicated to innovation and business acceleration in which 11 paths dedicated to supporting start-ups, scale-ups and SMEs in collaboration with national and international corporations and investors are already active, and can be followed by participating start-ups in hybrid mode, both physical and digital.