During the Covid-19 pandemic, more than 600 start-ups were born in Italy, testifying to the incredible resilience of our entrepreneurs who, despite the difficulties and the economic downturn, did not give up on launching their own innovative projects.
Italian start-ups and SMEs seem, in fact, to be perfectly equipped to overcome the pandemic. In 2020, the market substantially held its own compared to 2019, thanks to investments of €691 million, down slightly from €723 million in the previous year. The start-up sector now employs 60,000 professionals and in 2020, despite the crisis, 58% of new companies increased their staff, 32% recorded an increase in demand and 27% a growth in revenues.
Thanks to the innovative nature and responsiveness of Italian start-ups, scale-ups and SMEs, many have already managed to restart and several have seized the crisis as an opportunity to accelerate change and the digital transition.
The government has also launched several measures aimed at helping the economic ecosystem to recover after the emergency. The start-up sector, and small and medium-sized enterprises in general, is a fundamental sector for the development and increased competitiveness of the country in technological, scientific and other terms.
An interesting initiative was the creation of the Innovation Workshop, born of the collaboration between the Ministry for Economic Development, the Ministry for Universities and Research and the National Microcredit Agency. The aim of this new hub dedicated to start-ups is to identify and support the best innovative ideas through targeted investments. The hub will support innovative companies in all sectors, from biomedical to tourism and insurance. The objectives also include encouraging the creation of university spin-offs and promoting the digitisation of SMEs.
In order to work towards recovery, however, it is necessary to set goals for the future, also intercepting the trends that will affect the sector in the coming years.
What tools can be used to support Italian start-ups and SMEs?
There is still much to be done to support the growth of innovative Italian SMEs.
We could think, for example, of amending the implementing decree on 50% tax benefits. The regulation contained in the relaunch decree had excellent intentions, but unfortunately the implementing decree in fact introduces a series of constraints and procedures (not present in the previous legislation, which did not require any particular fulfilment for either the startup or the investor), including the obligation to notify the MISE, before receiving the investment, of the investor's details.
This rule will result in a long timeframe to actually receive the capital (investors will want to get an answer from MISE first and then invest in the startup, so as to be sure to get the benefits). Moreover, such a procedure is totally incompatible with, for example, equity crowdfunding, which is today a tool strongly used by both professional and private investors to invest in small businesses and startups.
It would be much more appropriate to completely revise the implementing decree by simply following the procedure already used for the 30% tax benefits, so as to provide incentives to bring capital to our startups. We believe that, since these are risky investments, tax incentives are the only effective lever.
Another measure that could be considered to encourage capital investment in small and medium-sized companies is to add an additional 30% tax benefit if the startup fails within three years of the investment. This measure would be useful to encourage investments especially in early stage startups.
We would also like to see the 26% taxation on capital gains in the case of exit and the deduction of the entire amount invested by corporations if one acquires one hundred percent of the shares of an innovative startup or SME.
Unfortunately, we must also note a painful measure. The Council of State's ruling of 29 March annulled the Ministry of Economic Development's decree allowing all innovative start-ups to be incorporated online without a notary public. Looking at the numbers carefully, however, it turns out that only 30% of startups used the online procedure for incorporation, which was still difficult and very bureaucratic and required a subsequent recourse to a notary for any change in the corporate structure.
In any case, the sector needs to be unbureaucratised, not least because by next July Italy will have to implement the European legislation that will give all new businesses the opportunity to set up online much more quickly and without too many constraints.
In conclusion, we believe that it is absolutely essential to give a boost to start-ups, scale-ups and SMEs so that the sector can continue to grow and promote innovation in our economic system. Innovative start-ups are young, high-tech companies with strong growth potential. They represent one of the key points of Italy's current industrial policy and one of the fundamental tools for the country's growth.