The fall damp season is here, and Milano is back to international business. The FDI Unit of YesMilano currently has 452 contacts open with transnational firms operating in cutting-edge industries who are interested in Milano’s economic potential. Fintech (152 companies) and the Life Sciences (122 companies) attract the lion share of international capital to Milano. US companies dominate the list, followed by British and French companies, with Canada, Nordic countries and Germany not far behind. We will soon release a brochure called “Milano for Cleantech 2022”, to further increase the presence of international companies operating in Milano’s circular economy.

A recent piece of news reaffirming the attractiveness of Milano’s innovation ecosystem was Impact.com, the American digital marketing agency, opening its new Italian offices in Milano with four marketing executives. The company has an investment plan to devote major resources to customization and localization of digital marketing solutions for the Italian market and will employ 10 people by 2023.

The third edition of the Milano Fintech Summit, the first one wholly in presence, recently ended this month. It was held on October 5-7 at Hotel Melià. Over three days, the event welcomed more than 1,000 international delegates to the city, attending panels on digital payments, cryptofinance, transnational banking chaired by more than 100 international speakers. The fintech summit was organized with the collaboration of more than 90 international partners and saw significant international attendance, including Copenhagen Fintech, Invest Hong Kong, Invest in Wallonia supported by the Belgian Embassy in Italy, as well as a strong delegation of Canadian startups assisted by the Canadian Embassy in Italy.

Milano&Partners and the YesMilano FDI Unit were present with their own stand and had talks with 30 foreign fintech companies interested in developing their business in Italy. Luca Martinazzoli, General Manager of Milano&Partners and the YesMilano brand, moderated the closing panel in which prominent international investors discussed the current state of and prospects for venture capital markets in Europe and the world.

These are the forthcoming things we have on our front burner:

The YesMilano FDI Unit is the supporting organization of Meet in Italy 4 Life Sciences on October 17-19, and the sister event MIT4LS Startup Breeding 2022 (MIT4LS SUB2022), to be held at Le Village in Milano. Then we’ll travel to the London Climate Technology Show (October 19-20), a trade event for the industries of ecological sustainability, from green energy to e-mobility, from smart cities to decarbonization technologies, where major companies like Tesla and Volvo, green startups, business institutions and government bodies will be in attendance.

Further down the road there is the Milano Life Sciences Forum at the city downtown headquarters of Assolombarda, the association of Lombard industrialists, on November 14 at 10am (registration required - here)

Then it will be time to go to Helsinki for another electrifying edition of SLUSH (November 17-18), the leading European showcase for startups, with more than 4,500 startuppers, 2,500 investors, and 12,000 visitors participating in the trade event held in the Finnish capital.