Finnova highlights European entrepreneurship and innovation at the University of Valencia
Massimiliano Dragoni presented Finnova’s European vision for youth entrepreneurship and innovation.
FU-TOURISM took centre stage as a flagship initiative for sustainable and digital tourism transformation.
Finnova showcased European acceleration, training and 5G programmes supporting young talent and startups.
Thursday, 14 May 2026. Valencia.
Finnova Foundation participated today in the II International Congress “Current Issues in Entrepreneurship”, held on 14 and 15 May at the Faculty of Law of the University of Valencia, with the keynote conference “Local Entrepreneurship”, delivered by Massimiliano Dragoni, Vice President of Finnova in Italy and former Senior Policy Officer at the European Commission for more than 27 years. During his speech, Dragoni underlined the strategic role of youth entrepreneurship, innovation ecosystems and European funding in driving territorial transformation and competitiveness across Europe, while presenting flagship initiatives led by Finnova such as FU-TOURISM, Valencia Tourism Accelerathon and 5G-DiGITs. These projects aim to connect startups, SMEs, students and innovation ecosystems with opportunities in sustainability, digitalisation and European funding.
Finnova and European youth entrepreneurship
Finnova’s participation in the congress reinforced the foundation’s commitment to strengthening European innovation ecosystems linked to young talent, digital transformation and sustainability. Under the title “The Future is Local: Transforming Territories through European Funding”, Dragoni presented Finnova’s expertise in managing and attracting European funds for companies, municipalities and regions, as well as its work within programmes such as Horizon Europe, LIFE, Interreg, Erasmus+ and NextGeneration EU.
Drawing on more than 27 years of experience at the European Commission, Dragoni highlighted his work in areas including digital transformation, Startup Europe, AI and blockchain, the Digital Single Market, SME digitalisation, Recovery and Resilience Plans and European startup funding mechanisms through the EIF. As Vice President of Finnova in Italy, he currently focuses on connecting innovation, entrepreneurship and European funding opportunities with territorial and social impact.
Throughout the conference, Finnova stressed the importance of strengthening local entrepreneurship models aligned with Europe’s green and digital transition priorities, creating new opportunities for startups, scaleups and young entrepreneurs through acceleration programmes, practical training and international networking.
FU-TOURISM: transforming tourism through European innovation
FU-TOURISM was presented as the flagship project of Finnova’s intervention. The initiative — “Future-Ready Business Support Ecosystem for Tourism SME Transition to Green and Digital Resilience” — aims to support tourism SMEs, startups and scaleups in their green and digital transition across Europe.
Co-funded by the Single Market Programme (SMP) with a €4 million budget and a duration of 36 months (2023–2026), the project brings together European partners including EUPOLIS Grupa, Valencia City Council, Valencia Innovation Capital, Finnova Foundation, ENVOLVE, SYNYO, Vestbee and Open Impact.
The conference highlighted FU-TOURISM’s ambition to build a business support network across six European countries — Spain, Belgium, Austria, Croatia, Greece and Poland — while promoting resilient, sustainable and digital tourism models. The initiative also supports pilot destinations such as Valencia and Poreč-Parenzo through Living Labs and collaborative innovation approaches involving public authorities, businesses and citizens.
A key component of the project is its acceleration programme for European tourism SMEs, providing financial support, mentoring, specialised workshops and access to European innovation networks. In 2025, the programme aims to support 60 SMEs — 10 per participating country — while in 2026 it plans to assist 36 SME consortia.
Finnova plays a strategic role within the consortium by promoting European opportunities, connecting startups with funding ecosystems and disseminating innovative tourism solutions capable of addressing sustainability, digitalisation, territorial cohesion and overtourism challenges.
Valencia Tourism Accelerathon: open innovation for sustainable tourism
Finnova also presented the Valencia Tourism Accelerathon, an open innovation initiative developed in collaboration with Valencia City Council to foster more sustainable, inclusive and decentralised tourism models.
The Accelerathon methodology, implemented by Finnova since 2016 with the support of Startup Europe and the European Commission, connects students, entrepreneurs, startups, citizens and institutions through collaborative processes based on mentoring, co-creation and European funding training.
The initiative focuses on smart tourism, participatory governance, territorial cohesion and social inclusion, while offering participants specialised training, access to European experts, investor connections and opportunities to implement innovative solutions in Valencia.
Finnova highlighted the Accelerathon as a practical tool for bringing European entrepreneurship closer to young people and startups, facilitating access to EU funding opportunities and strengthening local innovation ecosystems with international reach.
5G innovation and digital connectivity
The conference also explored the role of advanced connectivity and 5G technologies in boosting entrepreneurship and European competitiveness. In this context, Finnova presented the European project 5G-DiGITs, aimed at training a skilled workforce capable of driving Europe’s digital and green transitions.
Co-funded by Erasmus+ and developed by a consortium of 12 partners from eight European countries, the project includes more than 450 hours of specialised training in advanced 5G technologies, AI, IoT, sustainability and digital entrepreneurship. It also aims to train 200 professionals and launch an acceleration programme supporting 25 student-led startups.
Finnova underlined that connectivity and digitalisation will be key drivers for the future of tourism, smart cities and European startup ecosystems, while presenting its free online learning platform designed to improve young people’s access to advanced digital skills and employability opportunities.
Finnova’s five strategic working teams
Massimiliano Dragoni also presented Finnova’s organisational structure and the role of its five strategic working areas in promoting European entrepreneurship.
The European Projects department focuses on EU-funded programme management; Marketing and Communication develops dissemination and stakeholder engagement strategies; Innovation and Entrepreneurship drives accelerators, hackathons and initiatives such as Startup Europe Awards and Startup Europe Accelerator; Training and Talent develops internships, webinars and EU funding training programmes; while Legal and Financial Advisory ensures regulatory compliance and efficient management of European grants.
Finnova particularly highlighted its commitment to youth employability and entrepreneurial opportunities through European acceleration, training and networking programmes connecting talent, innovation and European funding.
European funding and strategic partners
Finnova’s participation in the II International Congress “Current Issues in Entrepreneurship” reinforces the foundation’s commitment to promoting European youth entrepreneurship, open innovation and the green and digital transition. Through projects such as FU-TOURISM, Valencia Tourism Accelerathon and 5G-DiGITs, Finnova continues strengthening European innovation ecosystems in collaboration with public institutions, universities, startups and international partners through programmes co-funded by the European Union under initiatives such as SMP, Erasmus+ and Startup Europe.
In particular, FU-TOURISM has a budget of €4 million funded by the Single Market Programme (SMP) and brings together organisations including EUPOLIS Grupa, CEDRA, the City of Poreč-Parenzo, Valencia City Council, Valencia Innovation Capital, Finnova Foundation, Envolve Entrepreneurship, SYNYO, Vestbee and Open Impact.
Meanwhile, 5G-DiGITs has funding exceeding €1.7 million through Erasmus+ and includes partners such as Inercia Digital, Finnova Foundation, Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), Karlstad University, Envolve Entrepreneurship, F6S, TU Chemnitz, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, InfoLysis, CNC Solutions and TECHIN.
In addition, the Valencia Tourism Accelerathon is promoted by Finnova Foundation, with the support of Startup Europe, Startup Europe Awards, Startup Europe Accelerator by Finnova and the European Commission, in collaboration with Valencia City Council, through the Department of Tourism, Innovation and Investment Attraction – Tourism and Internationalisation Service, to foster innovative solutions for more sustainable, inclusive and decentralised tourism.
More information: https://www.finnova.eu