TEF Accelerates Innovation in Milan
A few months after the announcement of its creation, the Tech Europe Foundation (TEF) has begun its activities with the aim of becoming a European reference point for the transformation of scientific research into business. With the launch of the first research support programmes, the launch of new international collaborations, and Luca de Angelis being appointed CEO, TEF takes a decisive step towards building a European ecosystem for deep tech innovation, with its central location in Milan.
TEF is a private, non-profit foundation created to fill a structural gap: the difficult transition from laboratory to market. It was founded by Università Bocconi, Fondazione Politecnico di Milano, Fondazione ION, FSI and with the Chamber of Commerce of Milano Monza Brianza Lodi as its first promoter.
Europe’s problem is not a lack of talent; it’s not knowing how to put it into a system: too few business ideas still arise from the world of research to support a mature, scalable ecosystem. Europe needs organizations that can create actual businesses. This is why TEF was created. Our roots are in Milan but the heart of our approach lies in the network with the main international hubs.
Ferruccio Resta, President of TEF
TEF aimed its first activities in this direction and achieved tangible results on three axes: the growth and selection of ideas, the growth of entrepreneurs, and startups.
In terms of ideas and research, TEF has already funded the first cohort of researchers, selecting the most promising projects such as autonomous navigation for nanosatellites, super-enzymes for recycling plastics, and three-dimensional microchips with ultra-thin materials. This is the first step in a programme that, taken as a whole, includes more than 200 PhD scholarships, 60 post-doctorate scholarships, and the funding of 20 highly entrepreneurial research projects. The most important sectors include new materials, robotics, aerospace, semiconductors, life sciences and artificial intelligence, areas in which Italy can express global leadership.
On the other hand, in terms of the birth and growth of entrepreneurial enterprises, TEF Ignition will be launched in September. This will be an educational programme designed to help college graduates on all levels discover and experiment in the realm of entrepreneurship. The aim is to bring new generations closer to the world of applied sciences, and provide them with actual tools to develop innovative projects while they are still in college.
A strategic step for start-ups is the opening of CDL-Milan, in collaboration with Bocconi University and Politecnico di Milano. The CDL-Milan is an Italian node in the global Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) network, one of the most internationally recognised programmes supporting the growth of deep-tech startups. The Milan campus will host two thematic streams – Advanced Manufacturing and Space Tech – and will offer selected founders an intensive path where they can meet and discuss with global mentors.
In addition, an operational integration process has been launched with PoliHub (Politecnico di Milano) and B4i – Bocconi for Innovation (Bocconi University), in addition to incubators and business accelerators with consolidated experience, active in supporting deep tech startups.
TEF has immediately set itself the goal of working as a system operator to create an authentic ecosystem of innovation, which brings initiatives that are at least on the European level to Italy, while also opening up interactions with the rest of the world. We want to attract and support the best talent, while creating the conditions for an Italian or European PhD student to stay, do research, and start a company right here.
Luca de Angelis, TEF CEO
At the same time, the foundation has joined RISE Europe, a pan-European network connecting the main universities, which is committed to promoting scientific and technological innovation. This organisation has started collaborations with key players in European innovation, such as UnternehmerTUM, the entrepreneurial innovation centre of the Technical University of Munich, considered one of the most advanced European ecosystems for creating and consolidating deep tech companies.
The TEF headquarters will be built by 2026 on the new 30,000 m2 campus in the Parco dei Gasometri in the Milano Bovisa area. It has been designed as a shared space for students, researchers, investors and entrepreneurs.