Primo Innovare: Italian Aerospace Meets American Tech Giants in Seattle
A day of face-to-face meetings with some of the world’s largest technology giants, offering the opportunity to present innovative solutions and expand in the U.S. market. On December 4, nine innovative Italian startups specializing in artificial intelligence and aerospace participated in the “Primo. Innovare.” Summit at the World Trade Center in Seattle, WA. This internationalization program, created by Area Science Park and Serena – Private Operating Foundation, provides Italian startups with the chance to connect with some of the most significant players in the American market.
Blum supported this event by handling media relations as part of our partnership with Area Science Park for the communication of internationalization initiatives for innovative Italian companies. The next step will be CES in Las Vegas in January 2024.
With Primo. Innovare., we continue our activities related to space tech, promoting Italian innovative excellence in the United States. This effort began with our support of Italian Trade Agency-Houston in communicating the Space it Up acceleration program last September. This initiative forms a connection from Texas to Washington state, where six Italian companies engaged with entities like NASA and Rice University, with several continuing their journey to Seattle.
AI & Aerospace Summit: The Event in Seattle
The day began with a visit to Boeing’s factory in Renton, part of the Seattle metropolitan area. The startups had the opportunity to engage with the production hub of the aerospace giant, showcasing their innovative solutions.
In the afternoon, the main event took place at the World Trade Center in Seattle. The summit was opened with remarks by Davide Corriero, Deputy Consul General of Italy in San Francisco, followed by presentations from the startups to Joseph Williams, Senior Advisor on Innovation to Governor Jay Inslee, and an audience of around 100 investors and major companies from the region. This included members of the Greater Seattle Partners network, which comprises over 900 local aerospace companies, such as Boeing and Blue Origin. Key companies participated in a roundtable discussion featuring executives from Boeing, Amazon (Project Kuiper), Google (NASA Project), and Umbra Group—an Italian industrial company that is a Boeing supplier and has a presence in Washington state. Other notable attendees included Eviation Aircraft, the producer of the first all-electric twin-engine aircraft Alice, and AIR-Aerospace Intelligence.
However, Primo Innovare doesn’t end with the physical event. The startups’ pitches will be uploaded and remain available in a virtual expo created on the website www.primoinnovare.org, offering additional opportunities to cultivate business relationships remotely in the coming months.