Laura Orestano
Laura Orestano is President of SocialFare Seed in Torino, Italy. She specializes in social entrepreneurship and social innovation ecosystems, gaining extensive experience working with large multinational companies worldwide. She focuses on delivering social value to generate economic value for businesses and the community as a whole. She has been a part of the Royal Society of Arts, and in 2016, she was honored with the WEF award for “Iconic Trail Blazer Women of the Decade.”
Please share your past experiences and current job role at SocialFare Seed.
I come from a profit-driven business background and joined forces with the profit sector and large corporations from Lear to Ferrero. I specialize in dealing with intellectual property and intangible assets and overseeing change management. During this working tenure, I was exposed to a new approach, social entrepreneurship, solely driven by social purpose. The more I got engaged with this idea, the more I recognized the potential of the budding businesses, tapping into the market.
“Our mission-driven approach enables us to navigate the technological era by aligning with societal needs and aspirations. We follow a pragmatic business model that enhances the funding process and delivers potential value to both impact-driven startups and society.”
Initially, I worked across Europe and the US, and eventually, I returned back to Italy with the hope of creating innovations to catalyze the growth of the Impact Economy and Impact Enterprises. This is the turning point of SocialFare Seed, established in 2017 as the first seed investment space to invest in impact startups in Italy. Prior to this, another initiative was born, SocialFare, in 2013 as the first center for social innovation and impact accelerator in Torino. Both these initiatives have different objectives, where SocialFare Seed is dedicated to investing in and supporting impact startups and impact-driven businesses, and SocialFare is the accelerator for these budding enterprises. We recognize those startups and founders who are keenly interested in developing innovative solutions for societal challenges that align with sustainable development goals (SDGs). Recently, we have evolved our acceleration program, Planet Foundamentals, launching a now open call “Good Technologies” to select startups with advanced technologies specific to areas like environment, health, and consumption for online applications.
What do you think are the prevailing challenges in the industry and how is your company striving to mitigate them?
We have noticed a positive drift in the tech startups within Europe that are transforming more and more toward impact-driven, which has increased the potential of finding. This convergence between technology-driven startups and impact startups has led to the integration of mission-driven technological solutions. The amalgamation has boosted scalability and positive impact by bridging the gap between traditional tech startups and those driven by social change. This has emerged as the growing trend for tech startups to recognize the potential of a positive change in society and seek funding from sources that align with their mission. Therefore, the industry strives to open up new opportunities and growth with this paradigm shift.
Have you participated in any specific initiatives at SocialFare Seed?
I have been involved with two major initiatives in the startup ecosystem. The first initiative is establishing a startup, known as UnoBravo, which specializes in online psychotherapy sessions. The early-stage investment for this startup was later funded also by the American Fund Insight Partners, which helped accelerate the business growth rapidly. It also served as the largest exit for an impact startup in Europe in 2022.
The second initiative is the Personae program and fund, which focuses on accelerating welfaretech startups. It was launched last year, developing solutions for welfare models and needs that are new in the industry, also allowing solutions that integrate artificial intelligence and machine learning platforms. This program has achieved rapid success by receiving over 200 applications per call. These two initiatives demonstrate the new possibilities for mission-driven startups that are willing to create new industries.
The startup ecosystem is continuously changing with the penetration of new players. Is there any new technology or approach that you think is advancing the sector?
We all know how integrating AI into numerous solutions has a huge impact on businesses. For instance, a startup, we accelerated, empowered its staff for financial education with the implications of AI. This resulted in efficiency, allowing users to purchase financial products, along with a focus on education. However, one of the major trajectories of this business model was selling financial products. So, it is our responsibility to assess the negative implications of AI that should not shift the goals of the startups. In this example, we need to understand whether these solutions align with the mission of promoting education and inclusion and not solely providing commercial spin. So, the emphasis should be on the intentional consequences that might arise from AI-based solutions, especially in impact initiatives.
What would be your advice and suggestions to fellow peers and upcoming professionals in the startup ecosystem?
In the startup ecosystem, I believe the entrepreneur has the potential to make a difference in society and not only for the business sake. The difference may be achieved by looking at behaviors and the potential of transforming intangibles assets into innovative and tangible solutions, enhancing the future of business as well. At the same time, entrepreneurs need to be pragmatic in their approach to bringing change for societal purposes. They should have control over their vision and approaches without letting investors lead the game. The relationship between investors and entrepreneurs is inseparable, but that should not be overlapped by one another.
Every purpose-driven solution should align with the characteristics of products and services, integrating social considerations. This results in delivering potential offerings that intentionally generate positive impact for people and societies while enhancing scalability and the investment process. Entrepreneurs are real game changers for good and the startup ecosystem should integrate the purpose-driven dimension to scale up its own effectiveness and impact.
