Businesses and innovation at the Naples Chamber of Commerce for the Better Together event

Cloud platforms, digital skills, and financial instruments can help accelerate the growth of startups, SMEs, and artisans in Campania. This was discussed on Wednesday morning at Palazzo della Borsa at the Better Together event organized by power2Cloud, with BigCommerce and HubSpot.

The event, promoted by Casartigiani and sponsored by the Naples Chamber of Commerce, attended by startups, businesses, and academia, offered concrete reflections on the approach to digital transformation, with a focus on eCommerce platforms for B2B and B2C sales, digital marketing strategies, and the financial incentives that can encourage their adoption.

“We are convinced,” confirms the President of the Naples Chamber of Commerce, Ciro Fiola, “that digitalization is the future for many companies, and we want to support it concretely. With the PID (Punto Impresa Digitale) call, we are making 15,000 euros in non-repayable grants available to businesses that want to go digital. The 2022 call will be released shortly, and we do not rule out that the available funds may be doubled”.

“With the Better Together event we wanted to convey information and tools for digitalization in a precise, transparent, and useful way to those who do business or want to do business in our area. It is an honor for us to sponsor the power2Cloud initiative,” confirms Fabrizio Luongo, Senior Vice President of the Naples Chamber of Commerce with responsibility for Crafts. “This is exactly our work,” continued Giordano Iovine, CEO of power2Cloud, “bringing into reality the digital solutions needed for growth, while continuing to support the adoption of technologies. Never before in history have there been so many financial instruments dedicated to the Digitalization of businesses: just consider the measures put in place by the PNRR”.

Digitalization affects many aspects of a business, and one of these is certainly online sales. “Adopting an eCommerce platform whose end users are the B2B and B2C markets, one that is flexible and scalable,” explained Giuseppe Giorlando, Channel Lead Italy BigCommerce, “is important for both small businesses and multinationals. That is why our goal is to democratize eCommerce through Open SaaS software”.

But selling is not enough, which is why Ilario Savi, Partner Manager Italian Market HubSpot, shared the values of the inbound philosophy, which makes it possible to attract new customers through the adoption of a CRM to manage all contacts and digitalize marketing, sales, and after-sales processes, integrated with eCommerce ones.

Testifying to the scalability of this solution was Gennaro Durante, CEO of Forethinking Società Benefit, who described the use of the HubSpot suite for his innovative startup: “With the help of HubSpot and power2Cloud we are scaling our project, we can spread the word and acquire new customers more easily!”.

On the subject of startups, the project presented by Lanificio Digitale was visionary. “As an innovation Hub,” continues its CEO Davide Bussetti, “it has chosen the spaces of the former Lanificio Sava at Porta Capuana”. From an old factory to a digital laboratory, with tools and services to accelerate the business ideas of startups and companies. “We are also working on an Academy that, through training, aims to give many young talents back to this area and not just to multinationals, thanks also to a Network made up of technology partners, Universities, and professionals”.

Innovation cuts vertically across all sectors, including crafts. “This combination,” concludes Maurizio Frantellizzi, Vice President of Casartigiani, “often translates into the launch of startups: just consider that Campania ranks third in Italy (1,320). In Naples and its Province, over the last 5 years, 660 startups have been entered in the Business Register, Startup section, and of these about 10% (61) are in the industry and crafts sector”.