The fintech ecosystem grows and creates value for the economy. The first three years of the Milan "district"
Just 3 years ago, the Fintech District was born with the ambition of becoming a reference point for the innovation of the financial services industry and a community, in which Fintech operators could work side by side with traditional players, to encourage the birth of co-operations and the development of new products and services.
Today we can say that targets, which in 2017 seemed ambitious and challenging, have been achieved. 158 young start-ups are part of it (over 50% of the total in Italy) and more and more companies have chosen to join by recognizing the value of the collaborative approach fostered (14 corporate members, which doubled in the last year: Amazon Web Services, Axa, Auriga, Banca Sella, Boston Consulting Group, Cerved, Credem, Crif, EY, Gruppo Bancario Cooperativo ICCREA, IBM, OCS Organizzazione Consulenza Sistemi, UBI Banca, Zurich. The 8 new professional members are: BonelliErede, Carbonetti Studio Legale, Leyton, Linklaters, NoDoubt, StartupBootcamp, Value 4 You, Wexplore.
This important growth also mirrors the ferment of the market which, in our country, has been increasing a lot in recent years, attracting talents and appealing to investors.
There are two in particular facts, showing the vitality and effectiveness of the Italian Fintech: the first is the constant growth in the number of companies. In 2011 there were just 11, then 199 in 2015 to reach the 345 registered in 2020 by EY. The second fact is the adoption rate of Fintech solutions: in Italy, this is growing by 51% compared to the (EY Fintech adoption index). We are in the midst of the Fintech revolution, a period of great incentive towards the use of digital solutions that is unprecedented in history.
In this context, it is necessary to look at people's needs and potential solutions that can have an impact from an economic perspective. The Fintech system can help to chart new paths and, as a Fintech District, we are working to chase new opportunities.
To this end, we dedicate resources and initiatives aimed at bridging the gaps that still prevent the Italian ecosystem from expressing all its potential. Among these initiatives are, the Fintech District Academy, built by the entrepreneurs of the Community (with more than 18 hours of content and 20 C levels of Fintech involved) and the Fintech Hyper Accelerator which, with the help of established partners such as StartupBootcamp and Digital Magics, stives to bring Italian founders and new talents back to the territory.
We then launched the Milan Fintech Summit project, the first international event in Italy dedicated to the future of Fintech and designed to attract assets and talents to the domestic market. The summit, which will take place as a web event on the 10th and 11th December 2020 and with a second edition in presence on the 4th and 5th October 2021, is organized in partnership with Business International Fiera Milano Media and the support of Milano&Partners. The first day of the Summit will be dedicated to deepening the current trends and prospects of open innovation, thanks to the intervention of some of the most influential industry experts in the world; the next day the focus will be on the key players of the sector. We are sure that Fintech industries need an international stage such as the Milan Fintech Summit to show themselves to investors, potential partners and customers, to grow and compare. Investors from different countries will be the leading audience for this session, followed by one-to-one contact moments.
The Milan Fintech Summit event is framed by the city of Milan, which confirms its role as an aggregator and promoter of market growth, with 45% of the 345 Italian Fintech start-ups choosing it to establish their Headquarters. The social-economic fabric of the Lombard city, as well as the system initiatives that are concentrated there for being the financial capital of Italy, are an additional attractive.
The Milan Fintech Summit wants to give a further boost to the growth of the Italian Fintech field, by pooling the efforts of all the players involved in consolidating the path taken and allowing the sector to seize all its potential for system growth. We are proud to support such an important initiative that will attract the key players of the international financial innovation world to our city. Today more than ever, Milan needs events to reconfirm the role of European capital that it has conquered in recent years.