Starting (up) from ROMA

On April 15th we held the 1st Mind the Bridge workshop in Rome.

The event took place in one of the endless wonderful palaces in Rome, now base of the Center for Italian-American Studies.

Getting back to Rome after a few years, mostly spent in the "new world", kind of made an impression on me. We need a constant memory refresh to remind the beauties that surround us in Italy.
The same applies for the event we had. I was extremely pleased that in such a short time we were able to put together likely the best of the current Italian entrepreneurship ecosystem.
On one side, in the morning we had presentations from the best of breed of Italian seed and VC investors (here's the list of participants).
Their presentations were very practical, informational and down-to-earth.
In the afternoon, the ball moved into the start-up field. We participated to parallel presentations of 28 start-ups, most of them participants of the first edition of the MtB business plan competition.
Here's a list of the presenting start-ups, and a short description.

Now, it goes without saying that we have some margins for improvement, in selecting, presenting and receiving the new great business ideas our country is producing.
But it was refreshing to see gathered a smart group of prospective entrepreneurs on one side and a growing group of local investors on the other, talking the same language, try to build critical mass, sharing information candidly.
I had the impression that a new wave is just starting, and it's just thrilling that Mind the Bridge is among the drivers of such a change.