UnicornQuest | Regional kick-off in Liguria

On December 12th 2023, Liguria Region held the first Regional Key Group meeting with the stakeholders of the region. The meeting started with a short introduction by Francesco Caso and by Marco Rolandi, who presented the Interreg Europe Programme and the role of Liguria Region in the framework of the UnicornQuest Project.

Silvia Pedemonte described in more detail to the stakeholders the project's main activities and the method of involvement of territorial start-ups that will be adopted by Liguria Region to achieve UnicornQuest's objectives. The participant stakeholders to be part of the project will be involved in two different ways: (1) to participate in regional key group meetings, to allow the exchange of best practices and experiences; (2) to have the opportunity to visit another partner in the interregional events, and get to know the partners and other region’s stakeholders and promote exchange of experiences inter-regions.

Silvia Pedemonte then spoke about the definition of the unicorn and about the global and European competition; she spoke specifically about the Italian and Liguria. She spoke about the best practices in other countries. After the analysis of the competition, she actively involved the participants to discuss about good practices, challenges and suggestions regarding the initiatives in the territory, in order to find possible innovative start-ups interesting for the project. All the stakeholders presented themselves and their initiatives. 

In Liguria Region there are different and innovative PMI/startup with different goals and initiatives, on several innovative and sustainable topics/projects:

• projects aimed at genomic screening;
• projects aimed at identifying a therapeutic vaccine for cancer patients;
• initiatives to promote the social economy;
• Blue Economy;
• initiatives to promote student exchanges and master's degrees in innovation to make Liguria a place of encounter and innovation;
• innovative projects dedicated to people with disabilities, so as to link the concept of innovation to that of inclusion;
• projects with scientific initiatives, e.g. related to earth testing using sustainable drones; 
• initiatives concerning innovation and sustainability in the world of textiles and fashion.

Moving forward, stakeholders will share documents via Google Drive, nominate startups, and plan the next meeting for Semester 3. They'll also circulate details about upcoming interregional events.

With this inaugural meeting, Liguria Region kickstarts its journey in UNICORNQUEST, poised to foster high-impact startups and drive regional innovation.