2031 Award, Invitalia awards a special prize to Frida and Nutrisim

The 14th edition of the 2031 Award, formerly the Gaetano Marzotto Award, an initiative promoted by Associazione 2031, which represents the most important Italian competition for innovators and start-ups, had its conclusion at the MEET Digital Culture Centre in Milan.

The winner of the 2031 Startup Award was the React4life project, already funded with the incentives of Invitalia Smart&Start, dedicated to innovative start-ups. React4life is an Italian biotech whose MIVO organ-on-chip technology overcomes the limitations of in vitro tests and animal models, increasing the reliability of drug tests, personalised medicine and immuno-oncology.

During the day, the Invitalia Special Prize was also awarded, consisting of a path of support/accompaniment to the submission of an application for financial benefits for the implementation of a technological development project and in promoting opportunities for matchmaking and business matching with the partners of the Invitalia Startup System.

2 start-ups won the Award:

• FRIDA, an innovative start-up born with the mission of revolutionising the market of orthopaedic corsets for adolescent scoliosis by combining orthopaedics, fashion and innovation. The Frida corset is made of a new patented material, which has the same rigidity as polyethylene, but is more breathable and lighter. It allows remote monitoring and is customisable through the use of interchangeable covers.
• NUTRISIM, an innovative in vitro device designed to revolutionise aquaculture, improving fish nutrition in a sustainable and ethical way. Thanks to advanced technology, NutriSim simulates the digestive environment of fish, allowing feed companies to quickly and accurately test new feed formulations. This approach reduces reliance on animal testing, reducing the costs and time associated with traditional research, contributing to more ethical and responsible aquaculture practices.

“When Invitalia decides to finance or support an innovative company with its services, it does not do so by evaluating only the scalability of the business model and the economic-financial sustainability of the initiative, but by selecting those companies, capable of providing ethical and responsible solutions, which with their projects are able to bring value to the market and improve the lives of citizens,” said Massimo Calzoni, Head of Invitalia’s Service Promotion and Accompaniment division.