5 Italian startups to look out for in 2015

Startups are springing up everywhere in Europe at an increasing rate. In the beginning of this year, we took a look at major European countries and tried to come up with a list of 5 startups (each country) to look out for in 2015. We started with Italy– and it’s been hard to narrow this list down to 5. However we’ve decided to just go with 5 promising Italian startups out of different sectors. All of them entered the market within the last two years and each of the listedstartups has something special to add to the web experience in 2015.

1. Waynaut – This Milan-based startup offers ‘Multimodal Directions as a Service’. meaning every means of transportation, from subway to carpooling, in a single platform. Founded in 2013, Waynaut aims to order the transport data chaos. The startup allows every website and app to show their users the best way to get where they need, door-to-door, using traditional and innovative means of transportation. The startup’s API enables every company, for a reasonable fee, to integrate their multimodal routing power anywhere. In October 2014, Waynaut raised €500K in funding (Update – May 2023: The startup seems to be no longer in business under this website, and we therefore deactivated the original link).

2. BAASBOX – Founded in 2013, BAASBOX is the first ‘Backend as a Service’ (BaaS) that is open source, free to download, free to use and free to modify. It’s basically a server that provides general backend services for your mobile apps. The Rome-based BAASBOX team has created a software that supports all app developers across the globe that want to develop their apps at the fastest and most convenient rate. So far, the young company has raised €330K in seed funding.

3. MakeItApp – This social network connects two kinds of people – those with ideas, and those with skills – so that they can together create apps and share the revenues generated. People with domain expertise and ideas can find developers, graphic and interaction designers, and project managers. Makeitapp takes care of the marketing and sales, provides a social collaboration space, developer tools, marketing services, and an advertising and customer profiling platform. The Milan-based startup was founded in 2013 (Update – May 2023: The startup seems to be no longer in business under this website, and we therefore deactivated the original link).

4. CharityStars – Founded in 2013, CharityStars is an innovative online platform that organises VIP charity auctions in Italy and the UK. It’s the first fundraising platform dedicated entirely to the auction of objects and encounters with famous people, whose proceeds go to charity or non-profit organisation that has joined the project. Headquartered in Milan, CharityStars so far has raised €400K. The next step for CharityStars is probably an expansion to Germany.

5. ZenSuite – Founded in 2014, ZenSuite is a SaaS startup that allows hoteliers to create desktop and mobile websites, managing their presence on different channels, as well as accept online reservations and receive online payments. ZenSuite also enables hoteliers to manage room inventory and upload prices on the main online distribution system, all from the same interface. So far, the Roncade-based startup has raised €55K in seed funding.

By the way: If you’re a corporate or investor looking for exciting startups in a specific market for a potential investment or acquisition, check out our Startup Sourcing Service!

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