Program
GREEN CHEMISTRY IN LOMBARDY FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE 2026

Participation in the Competition is free of charge.

Applications must be submitted through the online platform at https://www.openinnovation.regione.lombardia.it/ directly by the applicants, by completing the registration form (hereinafter, the "Application Form") and uploading the documents specified therein (including, by way of example, a detailed project presentation and any technical annexes), using the section of the website dedicated to applications (www.openinnovation.regione.lombardia.it/).

The following applicants are eligible to participate in the Competition:

a) Prospective Entrepreneurs (hereinafter, where referring to a single individual, the "Prospective Entrepreneur", or, where referring to multiple individuals, the "Prospective Entrepreneurs") intending to launch initiatives for the development of innovative products and services.

Where the application is submitted by multiple individuals, the designated contact person (hereinafter, the "Team Leader") who completes the Application Form must be duly authorized by the other Prospective Entrepreneurs listed in the Application Form through a specific power of attorney/delegation signed by each team member (preferably with a digital signature or, alternatively, with a handwritten signature accompanied by a valid identity document), which must be attached to the application.

A Prospective Entrepreneur is an individual falling within one of the following categories:

• University student;
• PhD candidate;
• Researcher;
• Research fellow or grant holder;
• Professor;
• Alumnus (meaning graduates and PhD holders whose degree or attendance certificate was obtained from a university no more than 36 months prior to the date of application).

b) Working groups consisting of Prospective Entrepreneurs and individuals who do not qualify as Prospective Entrepreneurs (hereinafter, the "Team"), provided that at least one Team member qualifies as a Prospective Entrepreneur.

Each Team shall be represented by the Team Leader, who must submit the application as the project representative on behalf of all Team members. Each Team member must provide a specific delegation (preferably signed with a digital signature or, alternatively, with a handwritten signature accompanied by a valid identity document), which must be attached to the application.

c) Incorporated start-ups and innovative SMEs (hereinafter, the "Companies") having at least one operational office located in the Lombardy Region, or undertaking, in the event of winning the Competition, to establish such an operational office in Lombardy within the deadline referred to in Article 8 below, and simultaneously meeting all of the following requirements:

They are incorporated as companies and have commenced business operations (as indicated by the commencement date shown in the Chamber of Commerce registration extract) no more than five (5) years before the date of application;

They qualify as innovative enterprises, as evidenced by their Chamber of Commerce registration extract;

They are not involved in any ongoing legal dispute with the Lombardy Region or with the Promoting Entities.

Winning applicants that have not yet incorporated a company must establish the company and commence operations in Lombardy by 30 June 2027, and in any event before the prize contribution is disbursed, unless an extension is requested by 31 May 2027 by certified email (PEC) to sviluppo_economico@pec.regione.lombardia.it.

Following the Expression of Interest, a challenge will be launched for university spin-offs, start-ups, and innovative SMEs (incorporated no more than five years prior to the application date) through a dedicated Call for Startups. The Lombardy Region will award prizes to the six best proposals that effectively address the identified innovation needs.

To be eligible for the prize, companies must meet the following requirements:

• be incorporated as a company and have commenced business operations (as indicated by the commencement date shown in the Chamber of Commerce registration extract) no more than five (5) years before the application date;
• have at least one operational office located in the Lombardy Region;
• qualify as an innovative enterprise, as evidenced by the Chamber of Commerce registration extract.

Alternatively, where the winning applicants have not yet incorporated a company, they must establish the company and commence operations in Lombardy by 30 June 2027, and in any event before the prize contribution is disbursed, unless an extension is requested by certified email (PEC) to sviluppo_economico@pec.regione.lombardia.it.

The awards shall be granted by Regione Lombardia pursuant to Commission Regulation (EU) No. 2831/2023 of 13 December 2023 on the application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to de minimis aid, and in particular Articles 1 (Scope), 2 (Definitions, including the notion of single undertaking), 3 (De minimis aid), 5 (Cumulation) and 6 (Monitoring and reporting). In accordance with Article 14(4) of Ministerial Decree No. 115 of 31 May 2017, where the granting of new de minimis aid would result in exceeding the thresholds referred to in Article 3.2 of the aforementioned Regulation, the award shall be granted only for the residual amount so as to remain within the limits established by the Regulation.

Regulation (EU) No. 2831/2023 shall not apply to export aid nor to aid contingent upon the use of domestic over imported products. In particular, it shall not apply to aid financing the establishment and operation of a distribution network in other Member States or third countries. However, aid relating to costs for studies or consultancy services required for the launch of new products, or for the launch of existing products in a new market in another Member State or third country, shall not normally be considered export aid.

In compliance with the general principles of the De Minimis Regulation:

• the granting of the award shall not apply to enterprises operating in the excluded sectors referred to in Article 1(1) and (2);

• beneficiary enterprises shall submit a self-declaration pursuant to Presidential Decree No. 445/2000 attesting that:

  • they do not fall under the specific exclusions referred to in Article 1 of Regulation (EU) 2831/2023;

  • they provide information on the relationships referred to in points (c) and (d) of Article 2(2) of the aforementioned Regulation (EU) 2831/2023 for the purposes of defining the scope of a single undertaking.

The incentive consists of the granting of six award contributions of €25,000 each, which cannot be combined with one another, funded by the Lombardy Region and awarded to the first-ranked participant in each of the six thematic verticals identified following the expression of interest procedure.

The awards will be accompanied by a tutoring service provided by Federated Innovation to the six winners, through the involvement of Cariplo Factory personnel, aimed at assessing a possible Proof of Concept (PoC) to be developed in potential collaboration with companies belonging to the Federated Innovation Network and companies participating in the expression of interest procedure. Where possible, the PoC will be carried out in MIND to foster co-innovation processes.

It should be noted that all awards will be granted on the basis of a ranking established for each thematic vertical, according to the criteria set out in the section “Assessment and Evaluation”.

The awards will be granted through a ranking-based evaluation procedure.

The person responsible for the procedure is the acting Head of the “Start-ups, Innovation and Access to Credit for Businesses” Unit of the Lombardy Region.

The technical assessment activities will be carried out by a Jury appointed by Federated Innovation, composed of the initiative’s partners, Business Angels, early-stage financing specialists, business managers, and sector experts. The Jury will be coordinated by its Chair, identified as the acting Head of the “Start-ups, Innovation and Access to Credit for Businesses” Unit within the Economic Development Directorate General of the Lombardy Region.

The evaluation criteria, which will be further detailed in the call for applications, are:

• fulfilment of a market need;
• innovativeness of the solution;
• technical feasibility;
• economic sustainability;
• skills and diversity of the team;
• scalability/replicability/transferability of the proposed solution.