ENEL LAB: SEVEN WINNING START-UPS FOR 2012 COMPETITION SELECTED

The seven young companies, six Italian and one Spanish, selected from among more than 200 applicants, will join the first clean technology business incubator created by Enel and will be able to count on a grant of up to 650,000 euros as well as the support of Enel Group’s skills and services.
Fulvio Conti, Enel CEO: "The future of our countries depends on young people and enterprises. We want to revive entrepreneurship and innovative ideas, the key elements of any recovery in the real economy”.
The project was launched to celebrate the Company’s 50th anniversary and will involve an investment of up to 15 million euros over three years.

Rome, May 9th, 2013 – Six young Italian companies and one Spanish company, for a total of seven companies, one more than expected, will join the first clean technology business incubator established by Enel.

The seven start-ups announced today as the winners of the Enel Lab project are: Atea (from La Spezia, Italy), for vertical-axis wind turbines able to generate energy thanks to the air moved by vehicles in transit; Athonet (from Trieste-Vicenza, Italy), for the creation of a data traffic network for smart grids; Calbatt (from Rende-Cosenza, Italy) for the development of a technology allowing to optimize battery recharging cycle; Green Lab Engineering, from Italy, for the solution allowing proactive management of the low-voltage network; i-EM, from Italy, for the system for simulation and support to energy management decisions; the Spanish Mirubee (from Madrid-Barcelona) for the household consumption monitoring system; Smart-I (from Rome, Italy), for the management system improving efficiency and control of public lighting.

“To promote economic and social development we need to revive the real economy”, stated Enel CEO Fulvio Conti, “and this is why we want to support new ideas. Innovation and the entrepreneurial spirit can make a major contribution to generating employment and boosting the economy, especially in the current economic scenario.”
“These start-ups”, continued CEO Conti, “will enter a process of industrial growth within our Group, helping to build a system and drive the research sector in creating innovation”.

The seven companies selected by Enel and Endesa have proposed projects involving renewables, smart grids, energy storage, automation, digital culture and communication systems as well as energy efficiency.

The winning start-ups were chosen from a list of 13 Italian and Spanish finalists following a selection process that started in July 2012, with the participation of 215 companies.

The winning companies, in addition to receiving financial assistance of up to 650,000 euros to help develop their projects, will be able to grow within the Enel Group, which will support them with the engineering, technological, legal and market skills that only a leading industry corporation can offer. After an initial stage of development, the most promising companies can bring their projects to full maturity and possibly become part of the Enel world.

Enel Lab, launched last year on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Group, envisages a financial commitment of about 15 million euros over the next 3 years. With this initiative, Enel is seeking to promote the development of new businesses, encouraging entrepreneurship and technological innovation as tools for leveraging excellence and reviving the economy.

The seven companies that will join Enel Lab were selected by a jury composed of representatives of Enel management and the business and scientific communities. For Enel, these included: Luigi Ferraris, CFO and president of the jury; Gianluca Comin, Head of External Relations; Simone Mori, Head of Regulatory, Environmental and Innovation Affairs; Livio Vido, Head of the Engineering and Research Division; Gianfilippo Mancini, Head of the Generation and Energy Management and Market-Italy Divisions; Livio Gallo, Head of the Infrastructure and Networks Division; Andrea Brentan, Head of the Iberia and Latin America Division, Francesco Starace, Head of the Renewable Energy Division, and Carlo Tamburi, Head of the International Division. They were joined by: Aurelio Regina, Vice President for Economic Development of Confindustria; Giulio Ballio, Emeritus Professor from the Politecnico di Milano; Efraim Centeno, director of IIT-Institute for Research in Technology of the University of Comillas, and Bill Barber, the CEO of Incube.

 

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