SEMED Launch Event - 2019, March 1stThe Italian city of Matera, the 2019 European Capital of Culture, will be the venue for the launch event of the Startup Europe Mediterranean (SEMED) initiative, aiming, in partnership with BlueMed, at connecting all the actors of the innovation system in the Mediterranean area.

The SEMED’s objective, developed in collaboration with the European Commission’s Startup Europe initiative, is to map and  connect startups, investors, corporates, universities, policymakers, research centres and incubators from the European and Southern Mediterranean ecosystems, by means of a cloud platform where stakeholders exchange information, ideas, experiences and build business links. SEMED’s horizon is hence particularly close to the BlueMed’s aim of connecting the actors of the Blue Economy from all around the Mediterranean basin.

The event will take place on March 1st, 2019 at Casa Cava, an underground auditorium located in the fascinating historical centre of Matera, and will count among the speakers numerous high-profile European officers and politicians, including Signe Ratso (Deputy Director General responsible for Open Innovation & Outreach at DG RTD), Antonio Tajani (President of the European Parliament), Isidro Laso Ballesteros (Head of Startup Europe at DG Connect), Peter Droell (Director of Prosperity at DG RTD), Alessandra Luchetti (Head of Department – A: Excellent Science Department at Research Executive Agency (REA)), Harald Gruber (Head of Division for Digital Infrastructure at the European Investment Bank), Sieglinde Gruber (HoU Healthy Oceans & Seas at DG RTD, presenting the BlueMed contribution to the initiative), Jean-David Malo (Director European Innovation Council Task Force at DG RTD), while Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Digital Economy, patroness of the event, will participate with a video message. The local authorities will be represented as well and a specific session will be devoted to speakers of the innovation realm, especially in the startup sector, coming from different Mediterranean regions, both from the North and from the South of the basin.