WISE and NanoSpun win Nanochallenge and Polymerchallenge 2011

On Friday November 11, after an intense week of coaching, ten startups gathered for the 2011 edition of the Intesa Sanpaolo Start-up Initiative / Nanochallenge & Polymerchallenge (organized in collaboration with Veneto Nanotech and IMAST). Over a hundred attendees (representing investors, corporations and institutions) joined in the historical venue of Palazzo Bo in Padova, to be pitched by the competing startups.

An international jury of experts was in charge of selecting the best project in the nanotechnologies and polymer technologies categories. The two winners will receive an investment of €300.000, granted respectively by Veneto Nanotech and IMAST. The Nanochallenge prize was assigned to WISE, an Italian team who developed a new generation of elastic leads for the treatment of chronic pain and Parkinson. The innovative leads are unbreakable, less invasive and cheaper. The Polymerchallenge prize was assigned to NanoSpun Technologies, an Israeli team who implements nano-spinning techniques to develop the key building blocks for several applications such as next-generation filtration, absorption and slow-release products.

The day ended with a Round Table moderated by economic journalist Oscar Giannino. Among the speakers: Gaetano Miccichè, General Manager of Intesa Sanpaolo; Lorenzo Fiori, CTO of Finmeccanica; TizianoToschi, Senior Vice President Global R&D of Electrolux; and Riccardo Varldo, President of the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna.