Italgas opens a brand-new Innovation Antenna in Silicon Valley

• The main distributor of natural gas in Italy and the third in Europe, inaugurates a privileged access point to the world of innovation in the United States within the "Mind the Bridge Innovation Center" in San Francisco.
• This strategic move of collaboration with Mind the Bridge aims at getting in touch with the most interesting US startups, intercepting emerging technological trends in specific areas of interest, and strengthening positioning and scouting skills at an international level.
• Italgas will be officially debuting at the "Scaleup Summit" in San Francisco, scheduled from 17th to 21st October, with a Bootcamp dedicated to meeting the most interesting startups.

Milan, San Francisco, 13 September 2022 - Italgas, the first distributor of natural gas in Italy and third in Europe, opens an Innovation Antenna in Silicon Valley, as part of the "Mind the Bridge Innovation Center" in San Francisco.

The initiative is part of the "Ideas 4 Italgas" program launched in 2020, which aims to find the best US startups. The ultimate goal is enhancing research activities and strengthening the innovation efforts to contribute towards continuous improvement of the Group's performance.

The goal of this collaboration with Mind the Bridge, an international platform that advises and supports companies and government organizations in the field of open innovation, is to create the ideal conditions for Italgas to get in touch with the most interesting startups and scaleups in the United States. Furthermore, to spot and intercept upcoming technological trends and finally strengthen the scouting capabilities both in Silicon Valley and internationally.

Initially, the focus will be on identifying conditions and projects that are able to strengthen the digital transformation of Italgas. The Italgas Innovation Antenna will officially debut at the Mind the Bridge Scaleup Summit in San Francisco, 17-21 October. A Bootcamp will be organized to meet the startups that can work with Italgas to contribute to its digitization plans, operational efficiency, and sustainability goals, according to the company’s 2022-2028 Strategic Plan.

"Gas distribution sector is historically very traditional - commented the CEO of Italgas Paolo Gallo – we acted as pioneers in terms of technological innovation by leveraging our digital factory, open innovation, and venture capital. Through continuous scouting, we encountered important trends that allowed us to grow, innovate and enhance our contribution to the ecological transition. Therefore, we are happy to strengthen our presence in the world’s largest innovation cluster. This will give new impetus to our journey of transformation.” 

“Over the past few years Italgas has been investing in shaping a new digital mindset by capillary mapping the digital skills within the company and involving its team in new innovation processes - commented Alberto Onetti, Chairman of Mind the Bridge - The next challenge is to scale up the collaboration with startups in quality and quantity. Opening an Innovation Antenna in San Francisco is a decisive step in this direction. This will give Italgas direct access to the world’s largest source of innovation: Silicon Valley.”

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Italgas

Italgas is the first operator in Italy in the distribution of gas and the third in Europe: it manages a distribution network that extends for a total of over 75,000 kilometers through which, over the last year, it has distributed approximately 9 billion cubic meters of gas to 7.8 million users.

The Group holds 1,899 concessions, with a historical presence in the country's major cities including Turin, Venice, Florence, and Rome.

For more info: www.italgas.it

Mind the Bridge

Mind the Bridge is a global organization that provides innovation advisory services for corporate and government organizations. With HQs in San Francisco (CA) and offices in Barcelona, London, Milan, Los Angeles and Seoul, Mind the Bridge has been working as an international bridge at the intersection between Startups and Corporates since 2007. It scouts, filters, and works with 10,000+ startups a year supporting global corporations in their innovation quest with open innovation initiatives that translate into curated deals with startups (licensing, investments, and/or acquisitions). It also provides advisory services and benchmarking on innovation strategy and structure. In collaboration with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the 100 y.o. Institution representing more than 45M businesses worldwide, it annually elaborates the “Corporate Startup Stars” Awards – the ranking of the most ‘startup-friendly’ global corporates.

Finally, Mind the Bridge developed an AI-powered platform that enables business matching for startups and corporations, and portfolio promotion for Innovation Agencies and Investors (MTB Ecosystem).

For more info: http://mindthebridge.com  | @mindthebridge