Bridges to Italy is a non-profit business association established in 2007 in Los Angeles and with an Italian chapter in Southern Italy, in the Calabria region.
It is committed to support Italian technology startups and small or medium-size companies in making themselves known to the US market.
Thanks to a wide network of partners, investors and clients, the association represents “a strategic starting point for Italian entrepreneurs looking at the Greater Los Angeles Area as the destination for their international expansion”, says President Bianca Dellepiane.
Among the initiatives promoted by Bridges to Italy, the first edition of “Italian Pitch Fest” took place on Monday, September 9 at Cross Campus in Santa Monica, in the very heart of the so-called Silicon Beach.
The panel, organized in collaboration with the Santa Monica New Tech business community, was introduced by Adam Chapnick, Principal at Indiegogo (the largest international crowdfunding platform), and Richard Koffler from Tech Coast Angels (the largest network of Angel Investors in the US).
On this occasion, five Italian startups had the opportunity to present their innovations – from barter platforms to high-tech medical devices and 3D educational science labs – to an audience of potential investors, venture capitalists, crowdfunding experts, and professionals in the field of technology.
“Finding investors isn’t easy for anybody: it requires more than a great product, because the world is full of good ideas but it is the right implementation that makes them successful in the marketplace. And Italian companies also have to deal with language, cultural and legal barriers. Our task is to make them ready for when they meet potential investors” – explains the President of BTI.
Being an expert in this field, her advice for Italian businesses that want to set up in the US is very clear: “do your homework, don’t come here unprepared, without a set strategy, as this often means spending lots of money and time without achieving the best results.”
The initiative “Italian Pitch Fest” is meant to become a recurrent event, and additional trade missions focused on different technology sectors are in progress.
Bridges to Italy is also partner of the “Best Practices Award” created by Giuseppe De Nicola from Confindustria Salerno to support the internationalization and participation of Italian companies also in the “Los Angeles PortTechExpo”, relating to green technologies and innovations, which took place on September 10-11; and the “UCLA Global Access Program”, a change-agent for students and corporations, occurred on September 12.
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