Launched on Nov the 30th in Milan, during 2017th edition of Forum Retail, it is ai international scouting of innovative ideas to be market-tested in retail contexts. In partnership with InnoVits. retail contest eng 171129

1. The point of sale as a laboratory of innovation
Photo Credits Alessio Spataro – Unsplas
InnoVits, the non-profit enterprise accelerator born at MIP (the business school of the Politecnico di
Milano), and Corner Stones, the investment vehicle born to support the industrial development of
innovative technological and commercial solutions, create an innovation laboratory dedicated to the retail
stores.
The entire retail value chain is at the heart of the scouting of innovative solutions that Corner Stones
intends to develop and support right up to the Proof of Market stage.
We evaluate projects that have as their object
 logistics solutions (storage and handling)
 shelf goods management
 point of sale experience
 payment and billing
 CRM, data analysis
 loyalty programs
 e-commerce
 customer experience
To support the development of one of these innovative projects, Corner Stones provides a non-repayable
grant of €3,500 and a twenty-hour professional consulting start-up package (legal, commercial,
communications agency).
A scientific committee, selected by the partners and composed of experienced managers of retail and
large-scale distribution, will examine the applicant projects to identify the most concrete and promising
proposal, according to the following criteria:
1. Value creation
a. Innovative potential: incremental/radical innovation
b. Market attractivity: exclusivity, location, concreteness and size of the identified market
c. Impact on stakeholders: ethical, social, environmental

2. 2. Product/service development vs potential benefit to the customer
a. Consistency of the business model and the value proposition in relation to the
pain/need identified
b. Maturity and adequacy of marketing and communication strategy
c. Market tests carried out: Proof of concept vs Proof of Market
The selection process will include innovative projects at the Proof of Concept and/or Proof of Market stage,
which are proposed by startups or SMEs and are innovative in the above-mentioned areas.
The call for ideas will be open from November 30th 2017, in conjunction with the Retail Forum
(www.forumretail.com), to February 2nd
2018. The selection process will be completed by 27 February
2018, when the project with the highest potential will be selected.
To apply fill in the form. To this link the full regolamento.
InnoVits (www.innovits.it) is an organization of managers and entrepreneurs who
work together passionately to promote innovation and develop a business culture.
Since its foundation in Milan in 2010, InnoVits has built a cultural bridge between
the corporate world and new business initiatives, leveraging on the best of both cultures: the experience of
managers in managing a structured company and the agility of entrepreneurs. Today InnoVits is made up of
over one hundred people, distributed mainly in Italy, who collaborate enthusiastically in entrepreneurial
projects with the aim of accelerating their development. As a result of its activities, InnoVits has built up a
portfolio of talents and skills that makes available to the innovation ecosystem through workshops,
seminars and dedicated support.
Corner Stones Srl (www.Cornerstones.it) is an investment vehicle focused on
scouting technological, design and commercial innovation and developing it to
industrial level.
Corner Stones responds to the need to create concrete tools for the scalable and
sustainable growth of new business initiatives with a strong innovative focus. Corner Stones’ mission is to
make real innovation, promoting the concrete transformation of innovative ideas into valuable business.
Corner Stones focuses its funding, R&D, legal, commercial, logistic competence exclusively on high potential
projects. For this reason, it selects two projects each year that have already completed acceleration and
incubation processes. Each selected project will have at its disposal professional skills and resources and its
growth will be followed by economic, financial, legal and operational monitoring.