BLAST was the first edition of a new international and high quality event that gathered and connected established companies, startups, investors, incubators, accelerators, media, public administrations and technology leaders from across the world. Furthermore, Sogetel was involved in its creation and organisation, proving concretely its commitment to the innovation and technology field.
The event format was designed to facilitate the interaction of the startups ecosystem and digital innovation system. The 5,000m² pavilion featured:
- the Main Stage, where tech influencers, investors and founders of the most innovative companies across the world – from Silicon Valley to Europe – dealt with the most advanced technologies and markets;
- the Startup Academy Stage, where experts and technicians held workshops on entrepreneurship, the world of startups and soft skill, and accelerators and incubators presented their call and their programs;
- the Startup Arena Stage, where on the final day startups competed to win a prize of €30,000 donated by the organization, the startups competition BLAST Wars was won by Remoria VR (http://www.remoriavr.com), an innovative startup that develops Bluetooth controllers specifically designed for mobile virtual reality. Second place went to MashCream (ttps://www.mashcream.it), a startup that developed a new express method to prepare Italian homemade ice cream, receiving entrance to the M Accelerator program in Los Angeles.
The event also presented Prophecy (Bronze Partner) and its new approach to the Big Data
This was BLAST, more than 60 speakers taking to the stages: influencer, VC, business angels, entrepreneurs and professionals from the 5 selected industries, including Claus Verner, Business Development Manager – Startup Community EMEA at Amazon Web Services, Spiros Margaris, Venture Capitalist and Senior Advisor, Ranked No. 1 Global Fintech Influencer Top 100 Fintech Influencers and Brands by Onalytica, Bernard Moon, Investor, Co-founder & Partner SparkLabs Global Ventures, Ada Chen Rekhi, Entrepreneur, Startup Advisor and marketer based in Silicon Valley, and Alissa Crevier, Global Head of Brand Partnerships at Littlstar.
Samsung and Unidata joined BLAST 2017 as partners of this new format born with the goal of filling a gap in Italy and demonstrating Rome’s success as an innovation hub, aligning it to other European ‘Startups Cities’ such as Berlin, London, Vienna, Barcelona, Warsaw and Lisbon.
