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A hybrid summer entrepreneurship program helping immigrants, first-generation and Italian descendant students in the GTA.


APPLICATIONS OPEN

Italia360 is an 8-week incubation program that helps first-generation and Italian heritage student entrepreneurs create innovative and disruptive businesses. At Italia360, students tap into their potential and learn how to develop and market business ideas with the help of other young innovators, industry mentors and successful entrepreneurs. This is an opportunity for students to start real companies and gain experiential learning opportunities to apply what they’ve learnt and solve the world’s biggest problems.This program has been developed in partnership with the Canadian Italian Business & Professional Association Of Toronto (CIBPA), The DMZ and YSpace, York University.

At Italia360, students tap into their potential and learn how to develop and market business ideas with the help of other young innovators, industry mentors and successful entrepreneurs. This is an opportunity for students to start real companies and gain experiential learning opportunities to apply what they’ve learnt and solve the world’s biggest problems.

This program has been developed in partnership with the Canadian Italian Business & Professional Association Of Toronto (CIBPA) and the DMZ.

What's in it for you?

  • 1:1 mentoring with DMZ staff, alumni companies, and Italia360 mentors
  • Connection to Toronto Metropolitan University's 10 entrepreneurial zones
  • Bi-weekly mentor meetings with DMZ staff and Italia360's advisory council members
  • Opportunities to engage with other leading startups and experts from across Canada
  • Exclusive workshops conducted by Italia360 mentors

What you'll learn



Sales and negotiation
strategies
man beside chart
Legal advice
person watching video on monitor
Marketing strategies
marketing platforms on cellphone
Product and brand
management
customer playbook
Value proposition
design
sections on a website
And so much more
people sharing ideas on whiteboards

Week by week


  • Program Validation & Prototyping
    Week 1: Entrepreneurship 101 & Goal Setting
    Week 2: Design Thinking & Customer Discovery
    Week 3: Stream Specific Workshop
  • Go To Market
    Week 4: Pitching & Storytelling
    Week 5: Product Launch & Sales (Stream-specific)
    Week 6: Messaging & Marketing
  • Pitching & Storytelling
    Week 7: Financing & Legal + Pitch Practice
    Week 8: Italia360 Finals!

Application criteria

Students interested in the program must:

  • Have at least one team member commit to the program part-time (2-4 hours/week),
  • Be entering a higher education institution in the fall or have graduated post-secondary within eight months of the program start dates, AND Be between 18-35 years old,
  • Identify as at least one of the following:
    • An immigrant, or
    • A first generation Canadian (child of immigrant), or
    • Having Italian heritage / being of Italian descent
  • Have a business or project idea, an existing business or project or the desire to expand and grow the existing business or project.
  • Have a driven, coachable, and collaborative team

Ready to validate your business?

APPLICATIONS OPEN

Timeline

ADMISSION PROCESS

  • Application Deadline
    May 19
  • Interview Dates
    Week of May 26
  • Final Decision
    June 2nd
  • Italia360 Onboarding
    Week of June 16

About the DMZ

The DMZ is a world-leading incubator for tech startups around the world. We help startups build great businesses by connecting them with customers, capital, experts and a community of entrepreneurs and influencers. For us, this means creating an environment where you can focus on scaling your business. We help with the rest.



About Italia360

Italia360 is an 8-week incubation program that helps first-generation and Italian heritage student entrepreneurs create innovative and disruptive businesses. At Italia360, students tap into their potential and learn how to develop and market business ideas with the help of other young innovators, industry mentors and successful entrepreneurs. This is an opportunity for students to start real companies and gain experiential learning opportunities to apply what they’ve learnt and solve the world’s biggest problems.This program has been developed in partnership with the Canadian Italian Business & Professional Association Of Toronto (CIBPA), The DMZ and YSpace, York University.



For more infomation, please contact



Jamelia Allen

Talent Development Programs Specialist

Pouria Daliri

Talent Development Programs Specialist

Rose Ghamari

Entrepreneur & Talent Development Manager