Global Startup Program & Mhub – Part 1

It’s already a month and a half since MIXARTISTA started the Global Startup Program in Chicago. We would like to share our experience of the first part of the Program organized by Italian Trade Agency.

Leonardo Stamati, the CEO & Co-founder of MIXARTISTA, left Italy the past July to start a new journey in the United States with the objective of presenting the new Italian technology to prepare cocktails. We have been destined to start our incubator process in the mHub. The mHUB is the American’s largest and fastest-growing innovation center focused on physical product development and manufacturing.  It exists to ensure that the manufacturing industry continues to accelerate, grow and thrive.

Since the first day, the Italian Embassy gave us a warm welcome, and we met the undersecretary of the Ministry of Economic Development,  Michele Geraci and all the staff of the Italian Trade Agency. During the first week, Leonardo attended different lessons regarding innovation, strategy, marketing, and entrepreneurship.

The first event we attended in Chicago was the FUND Conference – the nation’s connector of entrepreneurs, VCs, angel investors, and industry experts with a focus on curated dealflow, captivating content and, connections. We also were selected, as an innovative startup and had the chance to pitch in front of investors and entrepreneurs. We are happy to inform you that MIXARTISTA awake the interest of all the attendees!

The events of Networking were part of the main activities. It was a pleasure to discover an incredible network of passionate entrepreneurs in Workbox Company and Founder Institute. We had the pleasure to join the “Launch Party – Summer 2019” organized by Startup Grind in the incubator mHUB Chicago in those days too. Leonardo had the chance to share with people from different cultures, backgrounds and interests, but with something in common: passion for entrepreneurship. 

Another interesting event was the Kickoff of the “Brand innovation quest – Chicago 2019” event organized by Living the Brand® Academy and Innovation Foundry.  Four topics regarding innovation were touched during the conference:  leadership, branding, culture and, strategy. For sure, all this knowledge will be useful for our business.

Together with other talented Italian entrepreneurs, we feel warmly welcomed in the city’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, one of the biggest in the USA, and we are enthusiastic to pursue our own American dream. The Italians that went together with Leonardo are Michele Castioni project manager of Getastand, Saverio Ermanno Lorè CEO & Founder of Hooro – Analytics on the shelf, Marco Zani CEO & Founder of Mark One and Marco Filippi CEO & Founder of Volvero.

“Make the Connection! IHCC Signature Breakfast!” hosted more than 800 business owners and entrepreneurs from every industry come together to build relationships. We were proud to bring around the world efficiency in cocktail preparation for the hospitality sector in this inspiring morning, hosted in the Marriot Hotel. Always regarding the Hospitality sector, MIXARTISTA participated in the “National association of concessionaires” a meeting point for several exhibitors of the hospitality market, that brought together the top food and beverage leaders in leisure time industry at The Concession & Hospitality Expo.

In Chicago, the weekends are perfect to work on new ideas. In this opportunity, we attended to the “The startup weekend” organized by Techstars – the worldwide network that helps entrepreneurs succceed. Two days dedicated to work with entrepreneurs to develop the coolest ideas in the 2112 Creative Industry Incubator. 

But definitely one of the most important events, that the CEO of the robotic cocktail dispenser attended, was the “Northwestern Kellogg + Startup Mixer” organized by the Northwestern University – Kellogg School of Management. A space dedicated to do networking and find out new business opportunities. Also was the perfect occasion to meet top business talents, and MBA professionals wanting to dive deeper into the innovation and technology space. 

Another inspiring event was the “European Business Networking” co-organized by the French-American Chamber of Commerce and the German American Chamber of Commerce, Inc.

The perfect ending for the first part of the Global Startup Program was the “Annual Community BBQ” organized by the mHub. We had the pleasure to present our innovative technology to 600 attendees, while we created unfirgettable memories together with other entrepreneurs, mentors and friends.

All these was possible thanks to the Ministero dello Sviluppo Economico and the ICE.