Castellanza, 10 July 2026 – The national "Grower – Innovation Network" project by the Confindustria Young Entrepreneurs has reached Castellanza (Va), hosted at the LIUC University campus.

The meeting, organised by Confindustria Young Entrepreneurs, Confindustria Lombardia Young Entrepreneurs and Confindustria Varese Young Entrepreneurs as part of the "Pitch Day - Startups and businesses: a meeting to discover innovative ideas" event, provided an opportunity to present the Grower call to local entrepreneurs. The aim is to create connections between companies within the Confindustria system and scale-ups selected by Intesa Sanpaolo to match the supply and demand for technological applications.

Opening the meeting, the President of Confindustria Lombardia Young Entrepreneurs, Stefano Rossi, emphasised that "with this initiative, we aim to offer Lombardy-based companies a concrete opportunity to accelerate their innovation and growth paths. We believe that connecting companies, expertise and new ideas is essential to strengthening the competitiveness of our production system. As Confindustria Lombardia Young Entrepreneurs, we are convinced that supporting innovation means investing in the future of our businesses and our region."

For Jacopo Moschini, Expert Panel Open Innovation for Confindustria Young Entrepreneurs and promoter of the initiative, "with Grower, we want to help change the way Italian companies view innovation. For years, industrial innovation was associated with closed logic: protected laboratories, defended patents and competitive advantage built on isolation. Today, that model is no longer sufficient. The companies that grow are those capable of cross-pollination, opening up to dialogue and pooling different skills, technologies and visions. Grower was born from this very conviction: to create a concrete, six-month journey in which SMEs within the Confindustria system and scale-ups from the Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center can work together to transform industrial needs and ideas into real projects. We are truly enthusiastic about the support from Confindustria Lombardia, which I thank, and about bringing Grower to this region, which has always been the engine of our country."

For Daniele Pastore, Regional Director for North Lombardy at Intesa Sanpaolo's Banca dei Territori, "young talent and innovative startups are at the heart of the strategy of Intesa Sanpaolo's Banca dei Territori Division, with initiatives dedicated to innovation, applied research and the competitiveness of the production system. Lombardy remains one of the most dynamic regions in the country, with a large presence of startups that we also want to support through specific programmes like Up2Stars: since 2022, we have supported 120 entities nationwide, a fifth of which are in Lombardy, by offering specialist expertise, networking opportunities and international development prospects. Furthermore, the experience and specialist preparation provided by our Group, with the fundamental role of the Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center, have proven essential in the growth path of these innovative entities. This commitment is also reflected in experiences such as the mission to Silicon Valley, which allowed 12 young companies to engage with one of the most advanced innovation ecosystems in the world."

Pietro Conti, President of the Confindustria Varese Young Entrepreneurs Group, representing the region's under-40 entrepreneurs, highlighted that "open innovation represents a fundamental lever today for strengthening the competitiveness of our companies, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises that are increasingly called upon to face complex challenges in terms of technological innovation, scaling up and the ability to enter new markets. Fostering dialogue between high-potential scale-ups and local companies means creating cross-pollination, knowledge transfer and the development of new collaborations. As a Young Entrepreneurs Group, we strongly believe in this approach: innovating does not just mean introducing new technologies, but also opening up to dialogue, building networks and transforming relationships into projects capable of generating value for the entire Lombardy production system."

The meeting was attended by: Stefano Rossi, President of Confindustria Lombardia Young Entrepreneurs, Andrea Giuseppe Gorla, Innovation Specialist at Intesa Sanpaolo, North Lombardy Regional Directorate, Jacopo Moschini, Expert Panel Open Innovation for Confindustria Young Entrepreneurs, Valerio Fusar Imperatore, Senior Expert Business Development at Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center, Vittorio Cavani and Giuseppe Arturo, Grower.