Testimonial: Gianluca Grifi

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Gianluca GrifiGianluca Grifi
Business Creation Manager, Co-Location Center South

Gianluca Grifi

Hi! I work as Business Creation Manager at EIT Manufacturing South. In a nutshell, my work involves supporting the deployment of innovative solutions from a business perspective. I provide services to startups and scaleups, ranging from coaching and mentoring to business development, from access to market to access to finance.

What do I like the most about my job?
The opportunity to support young entrepreneurs in realising their wildest (business) dreams!

Is there an achievement you are particularly proud of?
In January 2021, I launched a basic entrepreneurship course (4 online modules of 2 hours each); despite the challenge of delivering such a course online only, quite a few startups and scaleups attended the sessions. It was great to receive positive feedback, with most of the attendees confirming that the tool was valuable in helping them fine-tune or re-tune their business model and business plans. Since then, two of the attendees participated to our BoostUp! competition and were winners in their respective categories.

What kind of background do you recommend for someone curious about embarking on a career/job similar to yours?
I would recommend a technical or business background would be adequate but, in the end, not absolutely mandatory. What is really needed is the capacity to take the bird’s eye view, along with an understanding of the best approach to generating value for the single startup and for the whole manufacturing ecosystem. The more value injected into the ecosystem, the more value received in return.

How does your job contribute to transforming Europe’s manufacturing/society?
Despite its name, in the Business Creation pillar we don’t measure our results in purely business terms. We also focus on having a social and environmental impact, and extending it to all stakeholders, and our objectives and strategies are designed accordingly. With this approach, we aim to increase the resilience of the European manufacturing ecosystem and to set the foundations for a sustainable future