The winner of the 2019 edition of the Start-cup competition is Bacfarm. The team developed a technology for the creation of a real bacteria farm in order to produce carotenoids. Carotenoids are used for their antioxidant effect. The idea, protected by patent application, is promoted by a group of startuppers consisting of Giulia Guadalupi, Samuele Antonio Gaviano, Davide Emilio Lobina, Domenica Farci and Dario Piano. Start Cup Sardegna 2019 is the regional final of the business plan competition and is part of the National Innovation Prize, which will be awarded on November 30th in Catania. The Sardinian representatives will be able to participate in the event thanks to the economic support of Sardegna Ricerche.
The innovative business proposals were selected by the Technology Transfer offices of the Universities of Cagliari and Sassari. The teams challenged each other during the regional final at the Civic Theater of Sassari. During the ceremony the three special prizes offered by the Nuorese Cultural District "Athens of Sardinia" were awarded for cultural and tourism-oriented business ideas .
Bacfarm was awarded the 12.500 euro prize offered by Banco di Sardegna, Fondazione di Sardegna and Legacoop. Second classified came the "ReGenFix" team, which developed the first regeneration service for chromatographic columns, expensive laboratory devices used in scientific research and in the production of drugs, vaccines, insulin and many other commonly used products. The 5.500 euro prize offered by the Sassari Chamber of Commerce and by EP Production of Fiumesanto goes to Emma Cocco, Andrea Murru, Alessia Mereu, Michele Francesco Meloni, Dario Piano and Domenica Farci. Third place went to "PmA - People Mobility Analytics", a service for collecting data on the localization and tracking of mobile devices through IoT sensors in Smart Cities contexts. The 3000 euros offered by Abinsula and Copier Service plus the 1000 euros for the third place in the special classification drawn up by the Nuorese Cultural District, went to the team composed by Luigi Atzori, Raimondo Cossu, Enrico Ferrara, Paola Manchia, Antonio Serra and Marco Uras. The cultural distric prizes went to "Good Tales", a service to improve the experience of visiting museums through narrative techniques and 3D modeling, 6.000 euros (team: Silvia Greca Rita Floris and Paola Pinna) and to "1 + 1 = 3" , a business internationalization project for the creation of a cultural and entrepreneurial bridge that can accompany the micro, small and medium Sardinian companies in international markets. The team composed by Maura Fancello, Alessandro Pettazzi and Francesco Nanu received a prize of 3.000 euros.