In the midweek of February 2022, Innogrow – alongside the Techinnova incubator – returned to Dubai, where just a few months ago it participated as an exhibitor in the 2021 edition of Wetex & Dubai Solar Show (as part of EXPO DUBAI) and where it signed its first collaboration agreement with the prestigious American University in Dubai (AUD) last November.
The team took part in the entrepreneurial mission organized by Assolombarda from February 12 to 15, 2022, which focused on the “Furniture”, “Lighting” and “Food” sectors.
The agenda of the mission “Furniture and Lighting” included meetings with targeted stakeholders active both in the world of Real Estate in Dubai and in the field of Architectural Studios for Contract Furniture and Interior Design in the United Arab Emirates. In this framework, Riccardo Roggeri (CEO & Founder of Techinnova and Innogrow) and Clara Bernasco (Senior figure among the Mentors of the company team and Head of International Relations) had a meeting with the representatives of DAMAC Properties, the real estate company specialized in luxury properties and listed on the Dubai financial market.
On the other hand, as far as the “Food mission” is concerned, the Assolombarda Agenda has organised meetings with specific stakeholders in the world of food in Dubai.
The program included the participation, within the Italian Pavilion of Expo Dubai 2020, to the Innovation Talks of ICE-Agenzia: “Italian technologies for sustainable agriculture and circular economy”, as well as the visit to the Gulfood exhibition at the Dubai World Trade Centre. In fact, during the participation of Italy at Gulfood 2022, the Innovation Talk entitled “The future of the Italian food system between innovation, safety and sustainability: organic food and more” aimed to present the innovations applied to the food sector, with regard to the organic food industry.
Innogrow’s operational team had, thus, the opportunity to showcase to potential investors and partners, visitors or entrepreneurial groups, its main R&D projects in the field of Aquaponics – CircularPonic and Acqualife, focused on agricultural and food innovations, and aimed at raising awareness about “food security”, as well as promoting an efficient use of sustainable resources.
With reference to the aquaponics projects, Innogrow and Techinnova were able to push forward the collaboration agreements made with Ayman Al Awadhi, Co-Founder and Managing Director of The Corporate Group, the leading financial and business consulting holding company in the Emirates.
During the mission, the opportunity also arose to meet some of the main Italian Institutions – including, among others, the Italian Business Council Dubai & Northern Emirates – which attended to deepen the theme of financial instruments and services available to companies. There was also, of course, a guided visit to the Italian Pavilion on the Expo Dubai site, as well as to the pavilions of other participating countries.
Finally, in the spaces of the prestigious American University of Dubai (AUD), in line with the collaboration agreement signed at the end of 2021, the team met other 4 innovative startups incubated by AEIC (AUD’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center) program that will participate in XLR8 International, the contest organized by the Innogrow accelerator to promote the matching between new potential startups and the existing technology portfolio, and to encourage paths of business internationalization, through Open Innovation and Technology Transfer.