NEW YORK (ITALPRESS) – New York: the dream of many Italian entrepreneurs who wish to bring their products to the world’s largest market, the American market. Thanks to Atlas, the Transatlantic Association for the Internationalization of Start-Ups created in partnership with Confindustria, the dream is becoming a reality for several small companies.
“Atlas Next” is a three-day event aimed at educating the leaders of Italy’s most innovative startups to successfully enter the U.S. market by bypassing regulatory and cultural obstacles. This Tuesday, companies were welcomed at the Italian Cultural Institute on Park Avenue for one of the initiative’s central events, filled with valuable advice from representatives of Italian business institutions.
Tommaso D’Onofrio, president of Atlas, opened the event with a welcome address to the 15 or so executives in attendance. D’Onofrio invited the founders to see the United States as “a place where our startups can find an important place” and assured them that “when the project works, the money comes.”
Afterwards, Davide Ippolito, one of the event organizers and founder of the local Italian-language newspaper ilNewYorkese, spoke with prominent representatives of Italian business for the benefit of the participants.
Vittoria Carli, Vice President for Digital Transition and Internationalization of Confindustria, expressed her enthusiasm for supporting Atlas startups. “The theme of innovation is at the heart of our project. What is done here reflects so much in Europe as well,” Carli said, urging a simplification of bureaucratic processes to better support startups in their journey abroad.
“You always have to contact institutions when you go to a different market,” recommended Erica Di Giovancarlo, Commissioner for Trade at ITA.
The Ministry of Business and Made in Italy estimates that there are about 15,000 Italian startups leveraging unique and innovative technologies. These companies face regulatory and cultural challenges during the internationalization process. ITA, Giovancarlo explained, can help companies navigate through this complex process.
“We Italians are very proud of what we do … you can’t do it. You absolutely have to respect the rules…but also the way of posing toward other cultures,” Giovancarlo advised. However, this must be done “without having to submit,” he pointed out. While working for ITA in the Middle East, Giovancarlo encountered incidents of sexism in the workplace and had to make it clear to his co-workers, “I am the boss,” he told them.
Riccardo Forlenza has immigrated to New York since the 1980s. Starting from humble beginnings, he became Global Managing Director of Financial Services at IBM, where he manages investments of more than $1 billion a year in innovative startups.
“You have to be maniacally focused on your business,” Forlenza told startup owners. “We are often not willing to nurture our [entrepreneurial] idea for three years, but we are happy to work for someone else for 40 years,” he added. IBM acquires between 3 and 15 startups each year, which Forlenza considers “critical to [the company’s] development.”
When asked what mistakes Italian startups trying to succeed in the United States should avoid, Forlenza warned against “poor product differentiation.”
The last guest speaker was Mascia Ferrari, a visiting professor of finance at NYU. Ferrari explained to participants the need to adapt their financial statements to U.S. standards to attract local investors.
Ippolito concluded the event by inviting each startup representative to present their thirty-second pitch to the room. The startups in attendance represented sectors such as robotics, clean technologies, and artificial intelligence.
There is no shortage of support and opportunities for Italian startups that dream of expandingis a abroad. Confindustria has 22 industry associations and 33 territorial sections. ITA has 5 different offices in the U.S. and offers strategic consulting, market analysis, and low-cost trade shows.
“We believe in the territory because it is from the territory that ideas are born,” said Carli.
-President Tommaso D’Onofrio on view with startups at the School of Italy – photo ilNewyorker
(ITALPRESS).
Italy’s most innovative startups show up in New York, invited by Atlas
