Mozart – Interreg Italy-Austria Project
Navigate Continuous Transformation
Services
Interreg Italia - Austria
2024-2025
Challenge
To participate in an international project to strengthen collaboration between border territories through the development of an ecosystem capable of promoting the creation and growth of new businesses. To create an impact on the territory by offering startups the tools to strengthen their business and enter the market.
Solution
A one-year program marked by a series of training appointments, events dedicated to startups, vertical in-depth content, and meetings aimed at stimulating networking and cross-border collaboration among companies to create continuity and reinforce the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Impact
8 project partners, 3 involved regions, more than 20 projects accelerated thanks to the training programs, over 15 events dedicated to young startup founders, a study trip to analyze and assimilate best practices from abroad.
Maize’s expertise in designing training content and the team’s experience in business design projects were crucial in defining the content and training experiences for startups within the Founders Academy. This was a three-month program featuring frontal lectures (mostly remotely), practical activities carried out in workshop mode, and one-to-one sessions with the founders of the various projects to review their business models, help them define tests to stress-test the projects, and prepare to pitch the projects to an audience of potential investors or project partners.
The startups selected during the Founders Academy held in 2024 and 2025, and during the itinerant events held at the partners’ premises, then participated in a 5-day intensive bootcamp hosted at H-CAMPUS. During these days, the startups were able to attend in-person training sessions to improve their marketing strategy, elaborate their business plan more precisely, and gain an overview of possible investment scenarios.
The Maize team was also actively involved in the project activities related to awareness events, specifically in the design of the concept for the cycle of meetings dedicated to female entrepreneurship, “Female Founders Circles,” and hosted one of the events. The event took place in March 2025 and featured three guests on stage—three women whose work as entrepreneurs is making an impact on the ecosystem, offering their experience and inspirational content to the participating audience:
- Dayana Mejias Roman (CEO and Co-founder of Viblio)
- Annachiara Sarto (Founder of Protection4Kids)
- Allegra Violante (Founder of Fler)
Maize also contributed to the content delivered in the ESG Academy module, creating an in-depth deck on the creation of an accessible digital product. Furthermore, the team supported several startups through one-to-one deep-dive sessions to help them develop their services accessibly from the perspective of design, technology, and content.
The Mozart project demonstrated how innovation can take shape through collaboration and shared learning. By combining practical training, design methods, and open exchange between regions, Maize contributed to building conditions in which new entrepreneurial ideas could grow and connect.
