STAND Up! has selected in Italy the 4 textile and fashion start-ups that will receive the services from soft-landing vouchers, after the evaluation done by Prato Textile Museum. The Italian partner has identified these entrepreneurs, from which the vast majority are female: Adriana Santonocito (Ohoskin), Barbara Annunziata (miniMO), Roberta Pietrini (Neloo) and Gabriele Rorandelli (Zerow).

The start-ups they founded will have access to a transnational mobility scheme, with the aim of providing their eco-sustainable and circular enterprises with the possibility to access markets in the Mediterranean region. The 4 vouchers are valued up to 4,000€ each, which will give them the chance to explore new business and networking opportunities to connect with local industry players. Besides, they will have the chance to meet stakeholders from the region and participate in events and trade fairs.

• Ohoskin: The start-up produces a vegan, made-in-Italy alternative to animal skin from oranges and cacti fibers; their waste becomes the raw material and triggers a virtuous process of circular economy.
• miniMO: The project designs and creates an entirely sustainable fashion product, traced from the yarn to the garment, which also tells the story of the ethical work from the Social Tailoring that makes it and the creativity of those who design it.
• Neloo: It’s a line of ethical and eco-friendly jewellery mainly composed of Capim Dourado, a blade of grass originated in Brazil, which not undergoes any chemical treatment making possible to create jewellery that is biodegradable, hypoallergenic and safe for the environment.
• Zerow: It’s a collaborative, community-based platform offering 3 solutions to waste issues: a circular network, where artisans and producers meet to exchange materials and skills; a marketplace facilitated for artisans, designers and small entrepreneurs; a search engine allowing  craftsmen to resell production surplus and leftover stock.

The soft-landing voucher schemes will cover flight expenses, material expenses - such as digital services to help ventures boost their visibility or marketing strategy-, per diem expenses covering food, accommodation and transportation and concierge expenses hosting organization’s expertise to support ventures’ growth and conference attendance.

More about the soft-landing voucher scheme opportunity

The selected entrepreneurs will be able to choose the territory where to implement the soft-landing activity and access the local market with their business. The eligible territories where the soft-landing activity should be applied are located in the ENI CBC Med cooperation area.

This activity aims at accelerating job creation and stimulate connection between Southern and Northern Mediterranean through the selection of 20 ventures in total in the 5 project partners, which are: Egypt, Italy, Lebanon, Spain and Tunisia.

STAND Up! is an EU-funded project under the ENI CBC Med Programme which intends to support textile entrepreneurs and eco-innovative ventures in the Mediterranean and help them seize business opportunities that the green evolution will generate.