ANCONA What do Civitanavi and Tecnofilm, the companies from the Marche region that have been the subject of the latest acquisitions by large groups, have in common? The first, destined with a takeover bid to enter the orbit of the American giant Honeywell, specialized in inertial navigation and stabilization systems in aerospace and defense. The other (100% acquired by Versalis, Eni’s chemical arm) produces thermoplastic compounds for the footwear industry. Aside from the territory of origin, both from the Fermo area, the two companies that changed hands were born and grew in the name of innovation.
The Civitanavi case
Civitanavi Systems of Pedaso, without its origins as a start-up (as companies with a high innovation content are called) founded in 2012 would not have become, in little more than a decade, that planetary competitor now valued, in the offer takeover bid from the USA, 200 million euros, 6.30 per share. And Tecnofilm of Sant’Elpidio a Mare has developed and registered several patents so much so that in 2015 it was recognized as an “Innovative SME” in the special section of the Business Register and the following year it became a member of Elite, an international platform created by the Italian Stock Exchange to support the growth of companies with excellence. They are the tip of the iceberg of a world, that of companies with a high innovation content, which in our region, according to data from the Chamber of Commerce, currently has 296 start-ups and 80 innovative SMEs. To help start-ups grow, three business incubators and accelerators are active in the Marche region which act as tutors and offer support services for product development: the BP Cube of Pesaro, and the Ancona-based The Hive and Ac 75 of Ancona.
Regional contributions
A fertile ground that makes the Marche the fifth innovative region in Italy and the fourth for the birth of innovative start-ups, as the Marche Region explained recently by launching a 5 million tender (expiring next Monday) to encourage the birth of new start-ups. up, providing 40 thousand euros as a non-repayable grant to graduates and undergraduates for the creation of innovative start-ups. The sectors of excellence with specialized research infrastructures are above all mechatronics, sustainable manufacturing, technologies for living environments, health and well-being and the silver economy, the economy of the elderly. In this world of business innovation, the most disparate ideas flourish, from the app invented by the Macerata start-up Be My Hero, which organizes parties by bringing children entertainers dressed like their favorite superheroes home, up to Ascolana HP Composites, active in the automotive sector, which creates carbon bodies for four-wheeled racing cars destined for brands such as Lamborghini and Maserati and Formula One teams.
Niche numbers
A sector in turmoil, with peaks of absolute excellence, that of highly innovative Marche companies, but which still represent a niche, as noted in yesterday’s edition of Corriere Adriatico in the editorial by Professor Donato Iacobucci, professor of Economics at the Polytechnic of the Marche, underlining how the number of start-ups (285 at the end of 2023, now up to 296) is still “very small if you consider that every year the registrations of new businesses in the region are around 8,000”. Even with limited numbers, start-ups and innovative SMEs are expected to play a driving role in supporting the innovative capacity of the entire Marche production system, playing a cutting-edge role in the digital and ecological transition with their skills and products. But to carry out this function, start-ups need a favorable context, nourished by entities such as incubators and venture capital companies, capable of supporting their growth, as underlined by Professor Iacobucci himself and with him another professor of the Polytechnic, Michele Germani, director of the Department of Industrial Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, who in last Monday’s editorial drew attention to the role of business incubators and accelerators for the growth of start-ups. Companies that engage in activities that require huge investments to develop products and attack the markets. «The possibility of raising risk capital – underlines Professor Iacobucci – is fundamental and is currently the weak link in the Italian system and even more so in the regional one»
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