•The company’s core business consists in the development, production and commercialization of innovative goods or services of high technological value;

•Established for no longer than 5 years;

•Subjected to Italian taxation;

•Turnover that does not exceed € 5 mln;

•Does not distribute profits;

•Does not result from the merger, division or transfer of business from an existing company;

•Either 30% of the company’s costs are related to Research & Development, or >1/3 of the employees hold a PhD or are PhD candidates or have conducted research for >3y, or the Company is the owner or the licensee of a patent.

A company that meets the aforementioned requirements can obtain the status of innovative SME by registering with the special section of the Business Register of the local Chamber of Commerce. Requirements fulfillment must be verified once a year through an online platform.

An online procedure is available (only in Italian) as setting up an innovative startup does not necessarily require the execution of the incorporation deed with a public notary.

As a startup incubator certified by MiSE (the Italian Ministry of Economic Development), ComoNExT provides a full-scale range of advisory, technical and logistics services that help turn an idea into a business, which include dedicated services to start up and develop a business, to network with in-house companies and conduct in-depth analysis of business plans to apply for subsidized loan programs and tenders.

ComoNExT is a non-theme innovation hub and is cross-functional to a number of different activities focusing on innovation research and application. Its Community gathers numerous companies, ranging from startups to multinational corporations, which deal with soft and hard technologies, services and production.