The 2024 edition of the report on social and environmental impact start-ups

Social innovation monitor presents the new edition of the research on innovative start-ups with a significant social and environmental impact. The report analyses 10,692 of the 12,953 innovative start-ups in the business register at the end of 2023 . Sono state escluse dal campione le startup con più di cinque anni di età, in liquidazione o enti non a scopo di lucro, o che superavano le soglie previste sul valore della produzione oppure non rispettano nessuno dei requisiti di innovatività previsti dalla normativa di riferimento.

Among them, 640 start-ups with a significant social and environmental impact were identified, i.e. start-ups with at least one qualification among those of Benefit Corporation, B Corp or Innovative Startup with Social Vocation (SIaVS). In 2023, the number of innovative start-ups in the sample dropped by 9.2%, the second consecutive drop after 2022 (-5.7%). The research group, which is part of the Department of Management and Production Engineering at the Politecnico di Torino, estimates a further drop by the end of 2024 of -5.6%. “This trend reflects an economic and geopolitical context that has not been favourable for companies in recent years,’ comments the deputy director of research, Alessandro Laspia, in a note. – Our analysis shows that newly established start-ups have gone from being 16.8% of the total in 2020 to just 8.0% in 2023. This is reflected in an average age that has risen, with more than 50 per cent of innovative start-ups now at least three years old.

Despite the overall negative picture, a remarkable fact emerges: while traditional start-ups decline by 12.1 per cent, social impact companies show growth of 9.0 per cent. “The growth in the number of start-ups with a significant social and environmental impact, in sharp contrast to the decline in other innovative start-ups, testifies to the fact that values linked to sustainability and social issues are not only an ethical choice, but also a winning business model,” says Paolo Landoni, SIM research director. Start-ups that officially declare their positive impact through ad hoc qualifications, such as Benefit Corporation or B Corp, now account for 6 per cent of the total, a share that has doubled since 2020 (3.1 per cent). This growth speaks of a new way of doing business that shows resilience even in economically challenging times’.

Based on the research carried out, the territorial distribution of innovative start-ups has not seen significant changes, with the share of start-ups concentrated in the top three Italian regions by number of start-ups, Lombardy, Lazio and Campania, remaining stable at 50.3%. Lombardy, in particular, confirmed its position as the main pole of attraction for innovative entrepreneurship in the country: it is the region that hosts the most start-ups, with 28.1% of Italian innovative start-ups and even 40.3% of those with a significant social and environmental impact.

Start-ups with a significant social and environmental impact are characterised by a higher involvement of women in social impact start-ups, with a presence at the top (23%) almost double that of other start-ups (13.7%). During 2023, the number of innovative start-ups with Benefit Society status saw a double-digit increase (+19.7%). This highlights the growing popularity of this qualification among innovative startups, at the expense of SIaVS (Innovative Startup with a Social Vocation), which has been declining for several years (-20.2% in the last year).

Social Innovation Monitor (SIM) has also identified 20 Italian start-ups with a significant social and environmental impact that have distinguished themselves by achieving significant economic results in the past year. In order to compare very different companies, both in terms of development stage and size, the research team used an original methodology based on quantitative parameters such as revenues, number of employees and funding received, which made it possible to select the best Italian impact start-ups in 2024. Among the sectors of the best Italian start-ups with significant social and environmental impact is mental health and psychological wellbeing, in which three of the best start-ups operate. This is followed by the sectors of digital education and environmental sustainability, with two start-ups.

Up2You Srl SB, which has distinguished itself through significant growth and funding, belongs to the latter sector. At the research presentation, co-founder and director, Andrea Zuanetti, described the activities of the start-up, which offers companies cutting-edge environmental consulting services with integrated solutions for corporate sustainability.

The presentation was rounded off with a discussion with Giorgio Ciron, director of InnovUp, Giulio Centemero, Member of Parliament of the Italian Republic, Antonella Grassigli, CEO and co-founder of Doorway Società Benefit, Giorgio Massari, PhD researcher at the Centro Studi Assolombarda.

Centemero outlined the recentlegislative novelties aimed at supporting innovative start-ups and SMEs. The novelties touch various aspects such as tax deductions, the exemption of capital gains reinvested in dedicated funds, the introduction of a public-private fund of funds to mobilise financial resources, and the simplification of venture capital investment instruments with the relaunch of Simple Investment Companies (SIS) . “Sono misure collegate che vanno in una direzione ben precisa: la creazione di investitori e di fondi, anche piccoli, che garantiscano un afflusso di capitali più costante e ragionato su Startup e PMI Innovative”.

Massari emphasises the importance of innovative start-ups for the country’s economy, pointing out that, according to the study conducted by Assolombarda with InnovUp and Fondazione R&I, ‘the more than 30,000 companies that have passed through the innovative start-up register since 2012 have generated more than EUR 12.8 billion in turnover by 2023 and EUR 3 billion in added value, which is a very important figure if we consider that on average the age of these companies is very low. But perhaps the most surprising figure is that these start-ups or former start-ups have created over 63 thousand jobs by 2023. If we relate this number to the employment increase that there has been in Italy as a whole since 2012, these 63,000 jobs make up about 7.5 per cent of the employment increase. This is a very high quality workforce that can certainly contribute to increasing the productivity of companies’.

On the importance of start-ups with a significant social and environmental impact, Grassigli, provides her perspective as an investor: ‘I see two points that are qualifying and advantageous for start-ups or companies with a social vocation or that include sustainability explicitly in their business model: the first is on de-risking, the second is on exit. All regulations, not only Italian but European and international, go in the direction of having a focus on impact and sustainability. It is unthinkable that in 3, 4 or 5 years’ time a company that is acquired by a large corporate company will not already have a clear idea of what its sustainability or SDG compliance path is. And, therefore, if as a start-up you have this clear from the outset, you will probably have a larger pool of companies that can acquire you in five years’ time.

The study, conducted by the Social Innovation Monitor (SIM) research team, was partnered by the Italian Competence Centre for Social Innovation (ICCSI), InnovUp, GoBeyond, Sisal’s platform for responsible innovation, Social Innovation Teams (SIT), Ashoka Italia, Fondazione Giordano dell’Amore Social Venture, Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini and Merakyn Società Benefit and can be consulted at this web address.

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