QPI Systems has won Start Cup Puglia 2026, the regional innovation award organised by ARTI – Agenzia regionale per la Tecnologia e l’Innovazione together with Regione Puglia. The final took place on 30 September 2026, at Spazio Murat, Bari.
Gianluca Fusillo, Programme Manager, Funded Projects at EIT Manufacturing South, sat on the evaluation jury, chaired by Lella Miccolis of Progeva. The jury assessed the eleven finalist teams, each presenting a five-minute pitch across four categories: Cleantech & Energy, ICT, Industrial and Life Science-MedTech.
The winning team, Milena D’Angelo and Gianlorenzo Massaro, presented a hardware-software platform for direct 3D imaging of biological samples without mechanical axial scanning. Their first product will be a complete microscope, designed to evolve into an add-on that brings 3D imaging to existing 2D microscopes. QPI Systems also received the BINP – Boosting Innovation in Poliba special prize and, jointly with Robomuscle, the Intesa Sanpaolo and Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center special prize.
Robomuscle came second with plug-and-play actuator modules based on fibre-shaped electrofluidic artificial muscles for humanoid and wearable robots. LumiCap took third place with a fibre-optic laparoscopic device that generates cold plasma on oncological resection margins, while Aevis finished fourth with Evanescent, a bioerodible smart contact lens for monitoring post-operative intraocular pressure.
The four winners received €10,000, €7,000, €5,000 and €3,000 respectively, along with direct access to the Premio Nazionale per l’Innovazione (PNI), to be held in Bari on 3 and 4 December 2026.
Further details and the complete gallery are available on the official event page.
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QPI Systems has won Start Cup Puglia 2026, the regional innovation award organised by ARTI – Agenzia regionale per la Tecnologia e l’Innovazione together with Regione Puglia. The final took […]
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