Jan. 23 – The “Mind the bridge” Italian-American Foundation based in San Francisco and set up in 2008 by Marco Marinucci has been chosen, alongside the British Nesta Foundation, by the European Commission to guide the Startup Europe Partnership (Sep). SEP is the first pan-European platform dedicated to supporting European start-ups grow at the global level. The program was officially announced this morning at the Davos World Economic Forum by Neelie Kroes, vice president of the Commission and head of the Digital Agenda. The program will be further detailed in March, in Brussels, during an ad hoc event. “The SEP – says in Davos Alberto Onetti, Chairman of Mind the Bridge – is a central action program for the Commission; and it seeks to support start-up development and growth in Europe, especially those active in new technologies able of competing at the global level. The hope is that national borders will be overcome, so as to create a common benchmark for competition. The end goal is to set up a platform to coordinate our start-ups. These need to overcome the barriers that prevent them from graduating from their local environments into a more international and intercontinental one. There needs to be a shift in thinking patterns: the Commission seeks today to send a strong political message via SEP, which will try to bridge the gap between the typical start-up environment and that of large corporations and investors.” “We are happy to be part of this project – says Marco Marinucci, founder e executive director of Mind the Bridge – as the sharing of knowledge and experiences has always been a core value of ours. We did it with Job Creator Tour, Venture Camp Italia, our Startup School in San Francisco, and, as of this year, with the Executive Management program and Angel School for investors in the Silicon Valley. It is thus the right moment for us to share our experience and put it to good use for European companies seeking an international leadership position.”
