One hundred and fifty-six applications were completed (out of 244 received, compared to 170 in the first edition) for the second international call of the Business Innovation Factory (BIF). In 2023, Leonardo’s startup accelerator aims to select up to ten startups capable of developing innovative solutions to help expand the company’s digital service offering. Sixty-one per cent of the applications were from abroad (95), compared to 40% in the first edition. Geographically, after Italy (61 completed applications), the countries from which the most proposals were received were Israel (30), the UK (12) and the United States (10).
“The numbers recorded testify to the consolidation of Leonardo’s BIF as the leading startup accelerator in the Aerospace Defence & Security sector,” explains Paolo Salvato, Senior Vice President Strategic Innovative Projects at Leonardo. “The Founders’ awareness of the value of a Corporate Accelerator has increased. This allows them to accelerate startups exponentially faster thanks to the Group’s skills, knowledge and assets, and to obtain business and technology deals and access to investments,” stresses Salvato. With the first BIF in 2022, Leonardo invested in the capital of two startups and continues to support the other eight in setting up partnership agreements with the Group and Leonardo’s partners.
The international roadshow - with stopovers in Naples, Milan, London, Munich and Tel Aviv, all innovation ecosystems of excellence for the themes of the 2023 call (Simulation & Gamification, Networking & Cybersecurity) - was another element in ensuring the success and quality of the second BIF. About 80 applications came from the five roadshow dates, representing about 50% of the total, with some 30 applications received during the last stopover in Tel Aviv. “The organisational effort and investment incurred alongside the partners LVenture, University of Naples Federico II, Campania Region, Accenture, Imperial College, Hensoldt Venture and SOSA with the Israeli Innovation Authority,” explains Salvato, “produced a final result of the highest quality that has rewarded us with applications of a high overall quality level and, above all, has enabled us to position Leonardo even more solidly and credibly in the innovation ecosystems of our home countries.”
Leonardo and LVenture teams are working on selecting the Top 20 who will be invited to the Selection Day, which will choose the ten best proposals admitted to the acceleration programme starting at the end of May and closing in November with a Demo Day also open to investors. “Compared to the first BIF, we have brought forward the identification of Leonardo’s use cases of interest that the Proof of Concept will validate. This is crucial to understand the industrial value of the proposed solutions,” explains Salvato, “so as to accelerate the deployment of innovative solutions with Leonardo’s Business Units and Divisions.” To this end, Leonardo has strengthened its mentorship programme, from which it will select ten internal Leonardo resources possessing the qualities to effectively make the best match between the start-ups and Leonardo’s interests. The mentors will act as a ‘transmission belt’ between Leonardo’s industrial value and the startups’ innovation value, supporting them during acceleration and both business and technology validation, as well as during the post-acceleration investment and partnership stage.
The new elements introduced in BIF 2023 seek to achieve the accelerator’s two primary goals, in line with the objectives of the Be Tomorrow 2030 strategic plan. “The first is significant in business terms and aims to create value for Leonardo’s ecosystem through accelerated startups,” Salvato concludes. “With the second, instead, we intend to support the Group’s cultural change, so as to help manage the world of open innovation to the best of our ability, giving Leonardo’s structure the agility needed to respond more competitively to the fast-changing AD&S market.”