Call For Ideas: the final

Thought it was just another contest? No, Next Energy is far more! This is the final of a competition amongst innovative projects that may have an enormous impact on how we understand energy, its management and its transport.

Next Energy is an initiative promoted by Terna with the Cariplo Foundation, realised by Cariplo Factory in collaboration with the Terna Campus, to support new projects of particular interest in the energy sector, focused on environmental sustainability, innovation and the relationship between grid and territory.

In addition to incubation and economic support programmes such as “Call for talent” and “Call for growth”, there is the final stage of the “Call for Ideas”, the entrepreneurial empowerment programme in which innovative projects and start-ups selected have access to a three-month incubation process, through a national platform. The moment of truth has arrived: the Next Energy jury will select the project with the greatest potential, that will be awarded a € 50,000 voucher to be used on further services aimed at the entrepreneurial development of the project.

Who are the finalists? Let’s take a look at their projects and ideas!

Creon Ind. aims to create energy generation systems using bacteria in the soil, that translate into products such as equipment for external lighting for public and private use which are energy self-sufficient.

Their team brings together a range of know-how in pursuit of a common objective: Giulia studied architecture, and Alessandro, biotechnology, while Federico has several years experience in the commercial fruit sector, skills which combine with a focus on sustainability and redefinition of what an energy source is

Cryptolab proposes an encrypted search engine: Crypto-Search-Engine is capable of searching data without revealing the data itself. It is currently the only system of its kind in the world and is protected as an industrial secret, in addition to a selection of patents.

CSE will make a fundamental contribution to our electricity system, in the context of protecting infrastructures. In order to do so, CEO Massimo Bertaccini, who divides his time between Imola and Silicon Valley, has put together a team composed of developers and experts in cyber security.

The product on offer from Nexus TLC is Qubee, a lamp/ecological sensor, which uses a multicolour design in full IoT style, developed and designed in 3D to monitor indoor air quality. The colour of the LED changes automatically based on the concentration of CO₂ and VOC (volatile organic compounds) present in the air.

The winning approach for Francesco Serino and his team is without doubt a love for technology: this group of “nerds” work with team spirit and passion, to demonstrate that their ideas can help and support the community.

The fluid-dynamic filter from Preinvel represents a new arrival on the environmental scene, allowing reduction of dusts, pollutants and even CO₂, thus meeting the requirements of industry and protecting the environment at the same time.

The Preinvel team is made up of widely varying figures: the roles of Angelo di Noi(CEO), Francesco Ribezzo (COO) and Roberto Demurtas (CFO) in fact mix technical/scientific skills, but also economic, administrative, management and legal know-how, representing all the key ingredients for a successful business.

The product from Solqube is a portable 3D solar plant of the same name, offering 1 KW from one cubic metre to power apartments using double-face solar panels. These panels are positioned vertically rather than horizontally, thus capturing more light and saving more than 80% on space compared to 2D solar systems.

Solqube comes from the know-how of Antonio and Floriana Boezio. Characterised by a strongly forward-thinking approach in addition of new figures within their team, their strength lies in an open-minded outlook to constantly changing possibilities, allowing greater sharing of ideas and vision of the product from various perspectives, including design, use and marketing.

VT Energy Innovation aims to use a new technology for solar panels: their CPV technology uses optics to concentrate solar radiation on triple-junction solar cells only half of the half of the size of traditional cells and capable of converting far more energy compared to traditional technology.

The company was born out of a passion for the environment and alternative energies of the two founders and is developing thanks to their complementary capabilities: Lorenzo Chiavarino has professional experience in the field of energy management and design of energy systems, while Paolo Valente has strong talent in the area of logistics and supply chain.

Weedea is developing the Secure Shelter, a system for structural monitoring of buildings and infrastructure based on artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms.

The combined efforts of Tommaso Vicarelli's team are fundamental: Weedea boasts multidisciplinary skills in the field of engineering and robotics with highly developed marketing strategies.

Windcity has developed and produced V-Stream, a variable-geometry turbine. The technology is composed of auto-adaptive mini-turbines able to generate energy from wind and water.

Windcity began with the dream of Tommaso Morbiato, CEO and R&D Manager: for its realisation, he surrounded himself with young figures, specialised in design and urban integration, engineering, aerodynamics and fluid dynamics.

Wiseair is founded on the mission to create highly detailed maps of air quality thanks to a distributed network of sensors, in order to combat the problem of pollution.

CEO, Paolo Barbato, and the other members of the Wiseair team met during their studies at the Politecnico di Milano university. Wiseair is more than just a start-up to combat air pollution: it represents a life project in which the participants grow together as people, as professionals and as entrepreneurs.