As it celebrates its 80th anniversary, ANIE Confindustria announces the launch of “ANIE FutureSight: a vision that connects companies and startups”, an ambitious new initiative that marks the beginning of a strategic alliance between Italy’s industrial backbone and the startup ecosystem.
The goal of the project is to spark innovation at the heart of three major technological shifts, digital, energy, and industrial, by creating a structured dialogue between Italy’s electrical and electronic supply chains and next-generation entrepreneurs.
The initiative is powered by Zest S.p.A., Italy’s leading player in early-stage venture capital, startup acceleration, and open innovation. ANIE FutureSight aims to highlight high-potential startups in strategic sectors such as the Internet of Things (IoT), 5G, and industrial connectivity, which are crucial enablers of advanced manufacturing and digital transformation.
What sets this project apart is ANIE Confindustria’s proactive role as a connector between established industry and the startup world, promoting a model of collaborative innovation that creates real, scalable synergy between legacy businesses and emerging technologies.
The Program: From Scouting to Showcasing
The inaugural initiative under the ANIE FutureSight umbrella is a startup beauty contest, aimed at identifying and introducing the most promising startups to ANIE’s member companies and facilitating potential partnerships. Leveraging its expertise through the Magic Spectrum accelerator - part of CDP Venture Capital’s National Network and focused on IoT and connectivity - Zest selected an initial pool of 40 startups in April 2025.
In the second phase, an internal ANIE committee shortlisted 10 startups based on their relevance to the association’s industrial sectors. In the final phase, these 10 startups will pitch their solutions during two live online sessions scheduled for May 29 and June 4, 2025, open to ANIE’s network of over 1,100 member companies. Attendees will vote for the startups they find most compelling.
The top 3 finalists will be announced on June 18, 2025, during ANIE’s 80th anniversary celebration at Confindustria’s Auditorium della Tecnica in Rome.
Access to Industry, at Scale
The selected startups will be granted one-year access to the ANIE ecosystem, with the opportunity to co-design, test, and validate their solutions in partnership with leading industrial players, creating real use cases and business value.
This is a model of participatory open innovation that positions ANIE as a national enabler of technological transformation and helps shape a more competitive, connected, and forward-looking industrial ecosystem.
ANIE FutureSight: Building the First Bridge Between Industry Associations and Startups to Drive the Future of Tech
While Italy’s startup ecosystem is expanding, it still lags behind other European innovation hubs. In 2024, the UK attracted €15.6 billion in startup investment, followed by Germany (€10.4B) and France (€9.2B). Italy stood at €1.5 billion.
As of Q1 2025, 12,170 innovative startups are registered in Italy, with a total capital base just over €1 billion. About 79% operate in business services, with software development (44.5%) and R&D (14.5%) as the leading areas. Roughly 13% are in manufacturing, particularly in mechanics and electronics.
Regionally, Milan leads with 2,472 startups (over 20% of the national total), followed by Rome (1,255) and Naples (835). Lombardy remains the national leader with nearly 28% of all Italian startups. These numbers reflect the vibrancy and momentum of Italy’s innovation ecosystem and highlight the role of initiatives like ANIE FutureSight in bridging high-potential startups with industrial know-how and scale.
“In 2025, ANIE turns 80 but our eyes are set on the future,” said Filippo Girardi, President of ANIE Confindustria. “This initiative isn’t just a celebration of our legacy, it’s a reaffirmation of our commitment to innovation. Our collaboration with Zest aims to bring together the energy and creativity of young ventures with the experience, skills, and industrial depth of our network. Zest helps us surface high-potential ideas and turn them into actionable solutions for our members. This is a long-range project, built to deliver immediate value through cross-pollination, vision, and competitiveness.”
“We’re proud of the collaboration with ANIE Confindustria and the shared mission to create a robust bridge between innovation and industry,” said Marco Gay, Executive Chairman of Zest. “Zest was founded to connect startups with enterprises, enabling high-impact collaborations. ANIE FutureSight is a prime example of our role as an industrial enabler: giving visibility and traction to strategic technologies. This partnership strengthens Italy’s innovation ecosystem, fosters dialogue across generations of entrepreneurs, and accelerates the country’s technological transition.”