The deadline to apply for the 19th edition of the award promoted by PNICube is set for July 9. A €10,000 prize is up for grabs for high-tech, young enterprises.
The application deadline for the new edition of the Italian Master Startup Award (IMSA) is Tuesday, July 9, 2025, at 12:00 PM. The IMSA is a national award promoted annually by PNICube to spotlight innovative startups born within Italian universities and academic incubators. With a cash prize of €10,000 and the chance to connect with investors and key innovation players, IMSA 2025 remains one of the most important events in the field of technology entrepreneurship stemming from public research.
The 19th edition will take place on Wednesday, October 1, 2025, in Turin, during the Italian Tech Week — Italy’s leading tech conference organized by Vento, the Italian chapter of Exor Ventures, in editorial collaboration with GEDI Group. The event is organized by PNICube, the largest national network of university incubators and Start Cup competitions, together with Turin-based incubator I3P, one of the most active in Europe, which has supported over 375 startups since 1999.
Eligible to apply are innovative startups established after January 1, 2019, with at least two completed financial statements, and that meet at least one of the following criteria: startups born from a regional Start Cup competition within the PNICube network; startups that participated in previous IMSA editions without winning but later achieved significant market success; startups that have received support from university incubators, universities, or public research entities that are part of the network.
Applications must be submitted via email to segreteria@pnicube.it, with the subject line “Application Premio IMSA 2025”, and must include the participation form available at https://www.pnicube.it/imsa-2025/imsa2025. The final deadline for submission is July 9 at 12:00 PM.
