Start Plast: an engine to revive the Italian industry

The satellite show Start Plast - founded on the idea of creating a space dedicated to new and innovative enterprises paralleling the main fair populated by established, historical firms - will be held during Plast 2015 on May 5-9 in the Fiera Milano fairgrounds in Rho, near Milan, coinciding with the inaugural week of Expo 2015. Start Plast has the objective of providing a seedbed for new projects in a venue where all the players necessary for launching a start up can be found and a very positive message can be sent out: it is still possible to do business in Italy.

“Given the way the recession is dragging on and the serious difficulties that continue to plague all of Italian business, including the plastics and rubber industry,” stated Mario Maggiani, managing director of the organizer, Promaplast, “we feel it is our duty to find a way to facilitate young entrepreneurs and the companies that represent our future. The decision was thus taken, together with the technology incubator Comonext, to select up to a maximum of 50 start ups working in the field of plastics. Not just manufacturers, but also converters, creators of machine and process management software etc.”.

The selected companies will have the advantage of exhibiting their projects free of charge in a clearly recognizable dedicated area under the logo Start Plast.

“Since capital is also necessary, in additional to ideas, in creating a company”, continued Maggiani, “the other important partner in this project is AIFI, the Italian private equity and venture capital association. All those businesses and organizations - such as venture capitalists, business angels and others - that can provide financing for the new enterprises, will be enlisted in the initiative to support these start ups”.