PowerUp 2026: Qonto’s call for Italian startups is open (and closes on 18 October)
Only 7% of Italian startups survive past the early stage. It’s a figure Qonto cites openly when explaining why, back in 2022, it launched PowerUp: not a prize contest in the classic sense, but a programme built to give early-stage founders something more useful than encouragement — curated networking, direct mentorship and visibility with investors.
Four editions on, PowerUp has reached its fifth edition, and the call for Italian startups is officially open. Applications close on 18 October 2026.
What PowerUp is, and why it exists
PowerUp is the initiative Qonto — the French finance platform now serving over 600,000 SMEs and professionals across 8 countries — runs each year for Italy’s startup ecosystem. The premise, as stated by the company itself, is straightforward: Italy’s startup survival rate lags behind the EU average, and a scale-up like Qonto, which went through its own early-stage phase, has an interest in putting something back into the system that helped it grow.
It isn’t a one-off campaign. PowerUp draws on a network of more than 30 incubators, accelerators, co-working spaces and investors, plus a running calendar of events (PowerUp Masterclasses, #asktheFund and #asktheFounder sessions) that supports applicant startups well beyond the call itself.
PowerUp 2026: the key dates
The call launched in late June, at We Make Future, and has followed a clear timeline since:
- Late June 2026 — call launched at We Make Future
- July–October 2026 — amplification phase with community partners, including online #asktheFund / #asktheFounder sessions connecting early-stage founders with scale-up founders and VCs
- 18 October 2026 — applications close
- 5 November 2026 — final Pitch Night in Milan
Anyone wanting to join the #asktheFund sessions in the meantime can follow them through the Qonto Community, where Qonto also posts updates on upcoming masterclasses.
Who can apply
PowerUp isn’t open to every stage of startup. The call targets Italian companies that are already incorporated, split into two investment categories:
- Pre-Seed — incorporated startups that are bootstrapped or have raised up to €500,000 in external investment
- Post-Seed — startups that have raised between €500,000 and €3,000,000 in external investment
Two requirements apply to both categories: the company must have generated revenue in the past year and have a financially sustainable growth plan. The rules also call for an innovative project — in product, technology, process or business model — with measurable, internationally scalable ambitions.
Among the selection criteria Qonto has published: the completeness of the founding team, the market potential and scalability of the solution, the startup’s internationalisation strategy, and the milestones already reached. The full rules and terms are downloadable from the official page.
How the Pitch Night comes together
The process runs in four steps:
- Application — a short form on Qonto’s site, followed by the full application on the F6S portal (the link arrives by email, so it can be completed later)
- Finalist selection — 6 startups reach the Pitch Night: 3 Pre-Seed and 3 Post-Seed
- Pitch Night — on 5 November in Milan, in front of a jury of investors, scale-up founders and industry experts, who award one winner per category
- PowerUp continues — selected startups enter a training and mentorship track that runs throughout the year
What the two winning startups get
The prizes aren’t financial — the rules are explicit on that point — but they’re built around something that often matters just as much for an early-stage startup: direct access to people and networks.
- A mentorship session with Alexandre Prot, CEO and co-founder of Qonto, on entrepreneurship and strategy
- A mentorship session with Heidrun Luyt, Chief Growth Officer at Qonto, on growth strategy
- A ticket to VivaTech 2027 in Paris, flight and accommodation included
- A visit to Qonto’s Paris headquarters
The previous winners, briefly
It’s worth looking at who’s won so far, because that tells you more about the kind of startup PowerUp attracts than any promotional claim could. In 2022, the first edition, This Unique took the win after a roadshow covering more than 3,700km across four Italian cities. In 2023, the programme introduced its two prize categories, won by TrueScreen and CyLock. 2024 saw Crono (AI sales automation for B2B teams) and Lit (smart-monitoring for energy savings) triumph. In the most recent edition, PowerUp awarded Rilemo, a portable AI device for real-time brain diagnostics, and Compri, an AI platform automating procurement for manufacturing companies.
One common thread: products with a clear vertical use case, not generic platforms.
How to apply
The process runs in two steps: a quick form on the official PowerUp page, then the full application on F6S, reached via a link sent by email — so it’s possible to start without having everything ready at once.
Deadline: 18 October 2026.
👉 Apply at qonto.com/it/powerup
Know an Italian startup that should apply to PowerUp 2026? Flag it, or share this piece with someone who still has time before 18 October.
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