PLAI, the  Mondadori Group’s startup accelerator aimed at transforming ideas based on the use of artificial intelligence into successful entrepreneurial ventures, has successfully reached a new milestone just a few months after its launch: in 60 days, since the start of the “call 4 startups”, 520 applications have been received.

After an initial selection of 203 startups, only 18 were given the opportunity to present themselves during the Selection Day before an audience of professionals: through a 3-minute elevated pitch and dedicated interactive tables – with partners, members of the Advisory Board and the PLAI team, as well as the Mondadori Group – they had a chance to present themselves and therefore continue their selection process to access the acceleration programme promoted by PLAI.

It was an intense and dynamic day of speeches, presentations, and networking, packed with ideas and inspiration. This unique opportunity provided all participants with a special insight into the Italian and international ecosystem of generative artificial intelligence, focusing in particular on four application areas: education, book and publishing, new media & advertising and retail.

In the coming weeks, the names of the 10 startups selected for the first acceleration cycle will be announced based on the criteria of team quality, integration potential, scalability, technological innovation, roadmap and go-to-market. For these startups, the acceleration cycle will begin in October and last four months. During this phase, each startup will benefit from more than 50 hours of dedicated workshops led by Italian and international experts, 20 hours of tailored mentorship and participation in dedicated events.

A Demo Day is planned for early 2025, when startups will be introduced to the market, enabling them to present themselves to investors and companies and therefore kick-start a further important stage of development.

During the Selection Day, PLAI welcomed two new strategic partners: Fastweb, one of Italy’s leading telecommunications operators, and StartupItalia, the independent digital hub of Italian technological innovation.

“We are proud to have important Italian and international partners with us, who will support us in building a functional ecosystem to support startups and with whom we will be able to discuss various innovation and AI topics. The accelerator activities are proceeding at a fast pace, with great enthusiasm and the best professionalism, partly thanks to their contribution,” comments Stefano Argiolas, CEO of PLAI.

Together with those who had already joined the project, the two new partners will provide the PLAI-Ground – the ecosystem around PLAI – with unique skills and assets. Selected startups will be able to join structured training and mentorship courses, participate in networking events, access cutting-edge technologies and thereby accelerate their growth and reach their full potential.

Fastweb and StartupItalia are also joining the PLAI Advisory Board, composed of a group of established professionals, academics and managers with wide-ranging expertise in AI and business development.

Fastweb’s partnership with PLAI is part of a broader agreement reached with the Mondadori Group. Fastweb, which in July launched NeXXt AI Factory, the first supercomputer in Italy dedicated to generative AI – and presented the first release of MIIA, the new LLM (large language model) trained natively in Italian on high-quality Italian data both public and from third-party companies –, will be able to count on an important set of editorial content from Mondadori Media’s vertical media brands (such as GialloZafferano, Focus, MypersonalTrainer…).

The agreement is based on the Mondadori Group’s conviction that a national language model based on the Italian language, such as Fastweb’s, is a useful asset for the Italian economy to take advantage of the many opportunities related to the AI revolution. Moreover, the AI model developed by Fastweb is based on the utmost attention to data protection and copyright, which are essential aspects for reconciling development, rights, innovation and fair distribution of value.

Fastweb will therefore be an important partner not only for PLAI, but also for the development of AI within the entire Mondadori Group.

The collaboration with StartupItalia, initiated from the very first stage through support for PLAI in the call 4 startups, will continue in the future with a focus on a serial, multi-channel and multimedia value communication path, which will see the creation of editorial and social content on specific strategic topics and PLAI’s participation as a partner in the Florence (2 October) and Milan (17 December) editions of the StartupItalia Open Summit (SIOS) – since 2015, the leading, most recognised and most widespread Italian event dedicated to innovation.

PLAI is the Mondadori Group’s startup accelerator that aims to transform ideas based on the exploitation of artificial intelligence into successful entrepreneurial ventures. PLAI offers them a distinctive field of application and an industrial market both within the Group and with the initiative’s partners. PLAI operates in the pre-seed and seed phases, selecting 10 Italian and international startups for each annual acceleration cycle. In addition to capital, the accelerator provides startups with concrete AI application areas, structured training and mentorship courses and the opportunity to participate in networking events, partly thanks to the unique set of skills and assets provided by major Italian and international partners