Italy

Turin

#71-80

Emerging Startup Ecosystem
Members: Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center / Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo

Top 35

Europe Ecosystem in Performance
Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center has helped transform Turin into a global innovation hub by fostering public-private collaboration, attracting startups, and cultivating a vibrant ecosystem where talent, technology, and entrepreneurship drive sustainable growth and solutions to global challenges.
Viviana Bacigalupo
Viviana Bacigalupo
General Manager Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center

Highlights

Turin, the heart of Italy’s Piedmont region, is shifting gears from its automotive legacy to become a thriving tech powerhouse. With a deep industrial heritage, world-class research institutions, and strong focus on innovation, Turin’s startup ecosystem shines.

As a testament to this transformation, during the latest Web Summit, Turin was awarded the European Capital of Innovation 2024-2025 (iCapital) award, the European Commission’s annual recognition prize celebrating European cities with dynamic, inclusive, and sustainable innovation ecosystems.

In May 2024, the Italian government established the Italian Institute of Artificial Intelligence for Industry (AI4I) in Turin, aiming to drive transformative, application-oriented research in AI, particularly in sectors like Manufacturing, Aerospace, and Automotive.

Newcleo is revolutionizing nuclear energy with a $144.4 million investment in Italy (2025-2027), including a cutting-edge R&D center in Turin. Partnering with the Italian Institute of Technology, this move strengthens Turin’s position as a hub for advanced tech innovation.

In 2024, Neva SGR launched two new funds: Neva II and Neva II Italia. The new funds, dedicated to investments in companies committed to providing business solutions to global problems, will have a final investment capacity of $565 million. Both funds have a mandate to focus their attention on companies operating in priority sectors for the future of the planet, such as Life Sciences, energy transition, digital transformation, next-generation manufacturing, and aerospace.

In October 2025, Turin will host Italian Tech Week, a leading tech conference where founders, investors, and global industry leaders come together to connect and grow. The event will reach new heights as Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and Blue Origin, headlines the conference.

Ecosystem by the Numbers

ECOSYSTEM VALUE

A measure of economic impact, calculated as the value of exits and startup valuations from H2 2022–2024.
(H2 2022 - 2024)
$3 BN
GLOBAL AVG. $20.4 bn

NUMBER OF UNICORNS 

The number of startups that meet our definition and have been valued at more than $1 billion and have not exited.
(ACTIVE UNICORNS)
1
GLOBAL AVG. 4

SOFT. ENGINEER SALARY

Average software engineer salary informed by data from Glassdoor, Salary.com, and PayScale, as well as local sources when available.
(2024)
$42.5 K
GLOBAL AVG. $52 K

TIME TO EXIT

The average age at the time of exit in the ecosystem in 2020–2024.
(2020 - 2024)
13.8 YEARS
GLOBAL AVG. 11.2 years

TOTAL EARLY–STAGE FUNDING

The total seed and Series A funding in tech startups in H2 2022–2024.
(H2 2022 - 2024)
$309 M
GLOBAL AVG. $514.8 m

MEDIAN SEED ROUND

The median of seed rounds in tech startups in the ecosystem in H2 2022–2024.
(H2 2022 - 2024)
$423 K
GLOBAL AVG. $889 k

EARLY-STAGE FUNDING
GROWTH

Early-stage funding growth is based on number of seed and Series A rounds raised between 2021-20222 vs. 2023-2024 and calculated on a scale of 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest).
(2021 - 22 VS. 2023 - 24)
8
Scale of 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest)

EXIT AMOUNT

The total value of exits from the ecosystem.
(2020 - 2024)
$978 M
GLOBAL AVG. $8 bn

ECOSYSTEM VALUE GROWTH

Ecosystem Value growth (CAGR) is calculated based on companies founded in the ecosystem in H2 2020–H2 2022 vs. H2 2022–H2 2024.
(H2 2020 - H2 2022 VS H2 2022 - H2 2024)
19%
GLOBAL AVG. -14%

MEDIAN SERIES A ROUND 

The median of Series A rounds in tech startups in the ecosystem in H2 2022–2024.
(H2 2022 – 2024)
$3.5 M
GLOBAL AVG. $6.8 m

TOTAL VC FUNDING

The total VC funding (seed, Series A, Series B+) in tech startups in H2 2022–2024.
(2020 - 2024)
$662 M
GLOBAL AVG. $5.2 bn

EXIT COUNT (#)

The number of exits from the ecosystem.
(2020 - 2024)
63
13
2020
10
2021
14
2022
14
2023
12
2024
GLOBAL AVG. 86

Sub-Sector Strengths

Smart Cities
Smart Cities

As part of Turin’s bold steps towards achieving net zero by 2030 under the EU Mission for Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities, the Municipality of Turin crafted its Climate City Contract in 2024. Following its formal approval by the European Commission, Turin was awarded the EU Mission Label. Additionally, Turin was designated as the European Capital of Smart Tourism 2025, highlighting the city's achievements in accessibility, sustainability, digitalization, and cultural heritage enhancement.

AI, Big Data & Analytics
AI, Big Data & Analytics

The strategic partnership between Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo and AI4I resulted in the creation of the CSP Institute for Advanced Study, a flagship center dedicated to AI-related frontier research and industrial innovation aimed at attracting top global talent and expertise. The International Training Centre of the International Labour Organization, based in Turin and part of the UN system, hosts an array of exploratory events and training courses focused on integrating advanced AI technologies into next-generation educational frameworks.

Spacetech
Spacetech

ESA BIC Turin, the European Space Agency’s Business Incubation Center based in Turin, is strengthening its leadership thanks to the hands-on support provided to 27 European startups so far. In 2025, Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center, through the SEI Fund of Neva SGR, and Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo invested in Galaxia, a National Aerospace Technology Transfer Hub. This investment aims to transform the most revolutionary innovations developed by Italian scientists into global market leaders in the Space Economy.

Reasons to Move Your Startup to Turin

Access to Talent

Italy’s demand for skilled professionals, particularly in IT and engineering, presents a significant opportunity for Turin. This growth is fueled by two top universities: Università degli Studi di Torino, with a 600-year legacy and 15,000 graduates annually, and Politecnico di Torino, recognized among Europe’s top engineering institutions. World-class business school ESCP’s new Turin campus, opened in October 2024, spans over 8,000 square meters and hosts nearly 1,500 international students.

International Startup Programs

Torino Tech Map (ToTeM) remains the go-to outlet for mapping Turin’s accelerators, incubators, and startup studios. In February 2025, the Techstars Transformative World Torino accelerator launched its sixth edition, welcoming 12 startups from across Europe, highlighting Turin's global entrepreneurial appeal. Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center and Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo, together with other partners, offer a wide variety of settlement services for international startups planning to move to Turin.

Testing Infrastructure

In June 2024, Aixtron SE, a leading manufacturer of deposition equipment for the semiconductor industry, acquired a production site near Turin. In November 2024, satellite manufacturer Argotec inaugurated SpacePark, a new production facility in Turin covering more than 11,000 square meters, with a capacity to manufacture 50+ satellites per year. The A&T Automation and Testing trade show took place at Oval Lingotto in Turin in February 2025, bringing together automotive and industrial engineering professionals.

Selected Startup Organizations

Startup Genome Members

MEMBER

Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center is the Intesa Sanpaolo Group company dedicated to the frontiers of innovation. It explores future scenarios and trends, develops multidisciplinary applied research projects, supports startups also through Neva SGR fully owned by Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center, accelerates the business transformation of companies according to the criteria of open innovation and circular economy, favors the development of innovative ecosystems and spreads the culture of innovation, to make of Intesa Sanpaolo the driving force of a more aware, inclusive and sustainable economy.

MEMBER

Established in Turin in 1563, Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo is a banking foundation acting as the major shareholder of Intesa Sanpaolo. It is one of the largest private foundations in Europe, as evidenced by its 1.5+ billion euros of philanthropic grants in the last decade. As part of its mission to promote cultural, social, and economic development, the Foundation is today one of the leading ecosystem developers in the Italian landscape.

Key Ecosystem Players

Work with us

If you are interested in working with us to drive global attention to your ecosystem, please get in touch with Marina Krizman, Director of Business Development.

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