(Finance) – I am nine startups selected to participate in the first edition of HabiSmart, the acceleration program aimed at the most innovative startups in the proptech and smart buildings sector. The program – lasting three years and with a total budget of 5.75 million euros – was born from the initiative of CDP Venture Capital which, through its Accelerator Fund, has allocated an investment of 3.75 million for the acceleration and post-acceleration phase.
The program is handled by digital magic, an Italian startup incubator, and MassChallenge, a US operator with over 10 years of experience and a track record of over 3000 accelerated realities. I am also co-investors and promoters of the COIMA operation, a group specializing in the investment, development and management of Italian real estate assets on behalf of institutional investors, the Qatar Investment Authority sovereign wealth fund, Ariston Groupone of the global leaders in sustainable thermal comfort, and Novacapital, a holding company active in the technology.
HabiSmart startups, which will be hosted in the COIMA headquarters of Porta Nuova in Milan, will be able to count on an initial investment of 115,000 euros which can grow in follow-on, for the most deserving startups, up to around 300,000 euros at the end of the programme. 94 applications were received during the opening phase of the call to participate in the programme, and of these, 38% consisted of foreign startups with an interest in establishing an operational headquarters on the national territory.
Selected startups include: At the (software for understanding and modeling new smart energy services for customers); Houseplus (predictive analytics software designed for real estate); Dometics (IoT products and services in the Smart Home sector); Sunspeker (technology to create a customizable sticker to wrap around solar panels); Newarc (simplifies and improves the way people buy and sell homes thanks to an algorithm).
The list continues with: Homsai (automated system based on artificial intelligence that maximizes self-consumption of energy and comfort); Ekore (Cloud platform where BIM models, 2D plans, documents are collected and virtualised); dataArrows (solution for smart buildings that optimizes its operation); Sensgreen (solutions for the digital transformation of real estate with optimization models based on machine learning).