Rome Startup Week

The innovation festival in the shadow of the Gazometro

Rome Startup Week is the capital's premier event dedicated to the world of startups, innovation, and new technologies. Its home is the Gazometro Ostiense, an iconic industrial archaeology site in Rome's 8th District, where the massive iron structures of the former gas plant provide a striking backdrop for an event focused on the future. In these evocative spaces, thousands of people gather for two days of discussion, networking, and discovery.

An ecosystem for talent, businesses, and investors

Promoted by the Roma Startup Association, this Roman innovation week was born with a clear goal: to strengthen the Italian entrepreneurial ecosystem and combat the brain drain. The event connects startup founders, scaleups, business angels, venture capital funds, universities, research centers, and institutions. The format includes over thirty panels and talks, more than sixty Italian and international speakers, large exhibition areas, and dozens of side events spread across approximately 30,000 square meters.

Thematic areas

The program is structured around four main pillars that address the challenges of innovative enterprise:

• Human Centric — professional growth, health, and personal well-being;
• Sustainable Impact — sustainable technologies and business models;
• From Talent to Founder — from skills to entrepreneurship;
• Hypergrowth — scalability, venture capital, and rapid growth.

Cross-cutting themes addressed by the speakers include artificial intelligence, sustainability, inclusion, and the relationship between talent and capital.

Hackathons and policy discussions

In addition to the days at the Gazometro, Rome Startup Week hosts a Policy Hackathon dedicated to innovation, in collaboration with the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy: entrepreneurs, innovators, academics, and institutional representatives work together to develop concrete proposals to support the ecosystem. It is an opportunity where the business world meets public policy directly.

Rome, capital of innovation

The event takes place in the Municipality of Rome, the heart of the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital and the Lazio Region, and enjoys the support of institutional partners such as the Lazio Region and the Rome Chamber of Commerce. In a city that blends millennial history with a vocation for the future, Rome Startup Week turns the Ostiense district into a showcase for innovative entrepreneurship for a few days, offering emerging startups and foreign delegations an international stage.