Aiternalex: ‘Startup Advisory Program, Legal Engineering as a strategic bridge between innovative founders and investors’
We are happy to share on our blog the English translation of the article published by Adnkronos about our Startup Advisory Program
For the Italian version, please visit one of the following links Adnkronos Corriere dell’Economia Giffoni Innovation Hub
The startup ecosystem in the Bel Paese is experiencing a moment of great ferment; the number of young entrepreneurial realities, eager to emerge and revolutionise the industrial scenario, is growing. However, the evolution from innovative idea to successful enterprise is complex and fraught with challenges. This is where the Startup Advisory Program developed by the Aiternalex team comes in, the acceleration and advisory programme that provides high-potential start-ups with the essential nutrients of knowledge, networking and capital, accompanying them from obscurity to the limelight.
‘The Startup Advisory Program, mixing the three areas of Legal Engineering – tech, legal and management – is a service aimed at pre-seed, seed, post-seed and series A startups to help them develop effectively, offering a unique opportunity to refine their business model and attract investment,’ explains lawyer Giovanni Gaeta, Founder, together with lawyer Nicolò Shargool and developer Dario Pescatore, of Aiternalex. ‘Within the programme, the most innovative start-ups are followed through activities of: Mentoring, for strategy definition; Operational support, for the drafting of the business plan and financial planning; Networking, for privileged access to our community of investors and partners. While SAP offers founders expert guidance, crucial in the early stages of business idea development, for investors it is a filter that, by identifying the most promising initiatives, provides a selected pool of potential investments, thus reducing the risk associated with venture capital. Our mission,’ he emphasises, “is to discover hidden pearls, those start-ups that could potentially disrupt markets and produce substantial returns on investment and, by extension, on the country’s economy”.
Aiternalex is a dynamic and innovative reality made up of a team of transversal professionals combining design thinking, data science, technology and legal knowledge. It is the spin-off of the Aiterna group, created to respond, through Legal Engineering, to the rapid process of technological and social innovation in the contemporary world. Legal Engineering is the characterising and distinctive element of the ‘Aiternalex method’, an innovative and wide-angle approach that allows one to think outside the ordinary box to achieve the result in the most efficient and effective way. The application potential of Legal Engineering is wide and very diversified; it can be applied to the processes that characterise large international groups as well as to small emerging start-ups, with considerable savings in time and resources.
‘After an initial (free) Discovery & Selection phase, which includes a 1.5-hour meeting to explore the merits of the business idea and a 1-hour internal debriefing, we present the selected start-ups with the HRT, Highlight Review Table: the document that summarises the tech, legal and business needs that emerged in the discovery phase,’ explains Dario Pescatore, CTO of the Aiterna Group companies. ‘The best ones are selected and placed on a shortlist to then move on to the Strategy Management step: drafting the Business Plan for fundraising (public and/or private), Financial Planning to administer the funds of the funding round, organisation of resources and management of expenditure budgets, and definition and improvement of the business model. The Tech Improvement component is the backbone of SAP’s consultancy, through which the company’s digital strategy is defined and the alignment of business objectives with the organisation’s technological needs is ensured. But it doesn’t end there, our support continues through expert advice on fundraising rounds and matchmaking with investors and/or potential business partners; in this context, legal support is crucial for term sheet review, while providing assistance with intellectual property and know-how protection.
To create a winning start-up, brilliant intuition is not enough; ad hoc financial strategies and capital are needed. Italy is characterised by a strong creative component but is rather lacking in terms of entrepreneurial culture. Moreover, the innovation fabric shows a gap in VC funds compared to other major European countries and an ability to transform research into enterprise that has not yet been fully expressed.
‘Aware of the Italian state of the art, we are working to extend our road map of investors beyond national borders (funds, corporate ventures, family offices, etc.) to be included in our lists,’ emphasises lawyer Nicolò Shargool. ‘Our goal is to expand the audience of financiers in order to put them in contact with the Italian start-ups we have selected, thus opening the doors to international markets, providing insights into regulatory frameworks and cultural nuances and, last but not least, tailoring business strategies for expansion. Since the beginning of 2024, we have managed to increase the number of start-ups analysed to 150, reaching 7 mil in funds raised and a portfolio of 5 virtuous start-ups,’ he emphasises. ’We have recently partnered with different types of investors who have appreciated our selection methodology and have asked us to extend our Legal Engineering activity for investment reporting to start-ups presented by them. For us, this is not only a point of pride but also proof, in an increasingly interconnected and innovative world, that we are on the right track, bringing Made in Italy excellence and know-how to success, even beyond the borders of our country’.
