Winning ideas: drones and safety, AI and culture, ruminant welfare, seed improvement, improved composting, AI for secure chats, educational board games, microbes for healthy vine shoots
Argos, a surveillance system based on fleets of autonomous drones for smarter, more sustainable, and risk-free security, is available in the “Industrial” category (industrial production from a technological and market perspective). Artify, a platform that transforms museum visits into personalized, interactive, and accessible experiences thanks to artificial intelligence, is available in the “ICT” category (information and new media technologies). Fungi Fiber Digest, enzymes extracted from mushrooms that improve the degradability of ruminant forage fiber, increasing animal welfare and reducing costs, is available in the “Cleantech & Energy” category (environmental sustainability, agricultural production, and energy management).
These are the three winning projects of the €4,000 category prize at Start Cup Udine, the competition for entrepreneurial ideas and innovative startups organized by the University of Udine. The awards ceremony took place today in the auditorium of the University’s Scientific Library.
Eleven finalist groups, with a €19,000 prize pool, attracted 40 participants, including students, researchers, and faculty. The competition is part of the National Innovation Award (Pni) and is promoted with the support of the Friuli Foundation, in synergy with the INEST and Across projects.
Two projects in the “Cleantech & Energy” category, given their quality, were awarded joint second place with a prize of €2,000. Agrichange is developing a machine with magnetic fields to treat seeds, increasing germination and tolerance to environmental stress. Grel has developed “Polvar,” a patented blend that accelerates the composting of organic waste while eliminating odors and insects. No awards were given in the “Life Sciences and Medtech” category.
Three Honorable Mentions
Start Cup also included three honorable mentions, each with a prize of €1,000. For the “Female Entrepreneurship” section, dedicated to a group composed of a majority of women, the honorable mention went to Higher Education Games Generation (hEGGs). These are physical and digital educational board games for STEM education, corporate training, and experiential marketing, with a game-based learning approach. The “Climate Change” mention, intended for a project impacting climate change, was awarded to Grel for its solution that promotes the production of fertile soil from organic waste. The “Social Innovation” mention was won by the Pem.Chat project: the artificial intelligence Pem creates authentic profiles to foster encounters, translating language into living identities.
Across and Inest, two awards for services and opportunities
Two awards were also presented, allowing the winners to take advantage of services and opportunities to transform a project idea into a business. Specifically, this will be achieved through a personalized acceleration program with an expert.
The Across Award, the European cross-border university program, was awarded to the Microbes to the Rescue project. The project’s goal is to commercialize a microbial consortium capable of improving various aspects of the health of vine shoots. The winners will also receive a study visit to the University of Perpignan in France.
The Inest Award, the Triveneto ecosystem for green and digital innovation, was awarded to the Fungi Fiber Digest, Microbes to the Rescue, and hEGGs projects. This award will allow three projects to access a personalized acceleration program with an expert.
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