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Entrepreneurship in Milan

Entrepreneurship in Milan
Entrepreneurship in Milan
Milan has cultivated a distinctive startup ecosystem that combines Italy's design heritage and fashion leadership with growing technical innovation and commercial acumen. The country's financial and business capital has developed notable strengths in fashion tech, design-driven digital products, and fintech innovations. For founders, Milan offers unique advantages: access to Italy's strongest commercial networks, proximity to luxury and fashion industry partners, and increasingly, technical talent attracted to the city's growing innovation reputation. The ecosystem features organizations including Talent Garden and PoliHub—connected to Politecnico di Milano—while accelerators like Luiss EnLabs support early-stage companies. With its combination of design excellence, business sophistication, and commercial networks, Milan provides entrepreneurs with an environment particularly well-suited for building startups that blend technological innovation with creative industries and design thinking.
Milan has cultivated a distinctive startup ecosystem that combines Italy's design heritage and fashion leadership with growing technical innovation and commercial acumen. The country's financial and business capital has developed notable strengths in fashion tech, design-driven digital products, and fintech innovations. For founders, Milan offers unique advantages: access to Italy's strongest commercial networks, proximity to luxury and fashion industry partners, and increasingly, technical talent attracted to the city's growing innovation reputation. The ecosystem features organizations including Talent Garden and PoliHub—connected to Politecnico di Milano—while accelerators like Luiss EnLabs support early-stage companies. With its combination of design excellence, business sophistication, and commercial networks, Milan provides entrepreneurs with an environment particularly well-suited for building startups that blend technological innovation with creative industries and design thinking.
Milan founders in numbers
The startup community in Milan shows a healthy mix of people still exploring ideas (57%) and those already building something (43%). This balance between early-stage thinking and committed founders shapes the local scene. Looking at the numbers, the median age of founders in Milan is 28.5, with an average age of 33.2. Most are in the 25-32 age range, which makes up 38.9% of the community. When it comes to background, 56% of founders in Milan have technical skills in areas like engineering or software development, while 44% come from business roles such as operations, product, or marketing. This mix creates plenty of opportunity for strong co-founder matches. Popular areas of interest include Market Research, Data Protection, Professional Services, and Cybersecurity. Many founders in Milan also speak more than one language, adding fresh perspectives to the city’s startup ecosystem Impacts are {13},{14},{15},{16}.
Commitment Type
More than (57%) of Foundersbase founders in Milan, are exploring startup ideas, while (43%) are committed to an idea.
Age
The median age of Foundersbase founders in Milan is 28.5, while the average is age 33.2 with a maximum in the group of founders aging 25-32.
Type of Founder
About (56%) of Foundersbase founders in Milan are technical (Engineering, AI/ML), while (44%) are non-technical (Product, Marketing, Operations).
Top industry interests
Discover the industries that Foundersbase founders in Milan are most passionate about.
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