The day opened with the conference "The management of the finance area for the mid-market in the Covid-19 era”During which the opportunities and management risks for companies in this critical phase conditioned by the pandemic were discussed. They discussed itAlessandro Dragonetti, Head of Tax di Grant Thornton eSante Maiolica, partner di Grant Thornton Financial Advisory Services per l’area M&A.

Giulio Greco, professor of the Department of Economics and Management of the University of Pisa, presented the 2020 report of theOpen Innovative PMI Observatory, created by Grant Thornton in collaboration with theUniversity of Pisa, an analysis that frames the trend of Italian Innovative SMEs.

The winnersof this fourth edition of the Prize are:

• Echolight S.p.A.in the category "Research, innovation and digital". Echolight, based in Lecce, is a high-tech biomedical company set up for the development of innovative medical devices for the diagnosis of osteoporosis and related bone diseases.
• Angiodroid Srlin the category "Resilience to Covid-19". Angiodroid is a Bolognese company that has developed an injector of contrast forms for angiographs in gaseous rather than liquid form, based on the use of carbon dioxide, the only contrast medium that does not involve an allergic reaction.
• Nanoprom Chemicals Srlin the category "Environmental sustainability". Entrepreneurial reality based in the province of Reggio Emilia among the first in Italy to believe in research and commercial application of nanomaterials.

The three companies, which have distinguished themselves for their propensity to innovate, for their environmental performance and for the excellent economic results achieved in Italy and abroad,in addition to formal recognition, they were awarded the prize consisting of € 10,000 to be used in Grant Thornton's professional tax and advisory services.

The applications were evaluated by onefree and independent jury- made up of experts from the world of business, university professors and institutional representatives - who took into consideration two parameters in particular: relevance to the category of enrollment and innovative and economic performance. The latter assessed in the time frame since the company was founded and particularly observing the development dynamics subsequent to the recognition of the status of innovative SME.

Alessandro Dragonetti, Head of Tax di Grant Thorntonhe stated: "The significant increase in percentage of Innovative SMEs is an excellent sign of the sector's dynamism; however, we still note the need for greater awareness of the advantages and opportunities that the category within the Register entails. In fact, just under 2 thousand companies registered in the Register out of about 20 thousand that we estimate in Italy have the characteristics to fall into the 'innovative' category. And, by law, this category of companies would have access to some of the same regulatory, fiscal, contributory and bureaucratic benefits provided for Innovative Startups.

Why give up simplifications and lower opening costs, tax relief for companies and investors, facilitated hiring, preferential access to credit? Certainly, registration in the Register represents an important lever for our small businesses that look to the future in a modern key and with the potential to occupy a strategic role in the Italian economic system. It should therefore be further promoted and supported. And in this context, an important role is played by consultants who are called to raise awareness among their customers on the importance of the opportunity offered by the MISE ".

Coming in more detail to the results recorded byObservatoryby Grant Thornton and University of Pisa, it first emerges thatin the last year the number of Innovative SMEs(1)grew by 40%; in fact, 567 "new" companies registered in the appropriate register (between October 2019 and September 2020) against 432 in the previous period.

However, about five years after the creation of the register, the number of innovative SMEs still appears limited compared to the potential pool: they are in fact just over 1,700 (1.732(2)) "official" Innovative SMEs, while it is likely that in Italy the SMEs with the required requirements are in the tens of thousands.

The significant growth in the number of SMEs registered in the last year is still to be considered limited if we consider the repeated interventions of the legislator on the benefits that this category of business could enjoy. Among the latest interventions we can mention those of the Decree of 7 May 2019 dedicated to incentives for start-ups and innovative SMEs and those provided for in the relaunch decree of April 2020. The latter has allocated a fund to support venture capital with a endowment of 200 million euros for the exclusive benefit of start-ups and innovative SMEs.

A share of 200 million euros has been reserved for the resources already allocated to the Central Guarantee Fund for SMEs specifically dedicated to the provision of guarantees in favor of innovative startups and innovative SMEs. Finally, capitalization incentives have been provided with important IRPEF deductions for investors up to 50% of the investment amount.

Moreover, it should be remembered that some of the innovation incentive policies, such as the tax credit for research and development activities, the "Enterprise 4.0" hyper-amortization, the Patent Box, or the "innovation manager" vouchers , are not for the exclusive benefit of innovative SMEs, but for a wider range of companies.

The Innovative SMEs 2020 Observatoryshows how the majority of innovative SMEs, about two thirds, are of a size attributable to the category of micro-enterprises, with aturnover below the 2 million euro threshold. Less than10%of the companies is attributable to the category of medium-sized enterprises (turnover of more than 10 million and less than 50), while the remainder are small firms (between 2 and 10 million of turnover).

Average seniority, among the new members is approx9 years. Moreover, for some companies the problem could arise of remaining registered in the register in a few years, in consideration of the more stringent requirements recently set on the permanence among innovative SMEs. Innovative SMEs that have been on the market for more than 7 but less than 10 years can remain on the register if they have not yet sufficiently demonstrated the potential to generate returns.

At the territorial level, on a regional basis, theLombardy, with148cases (over 26% of the total), has the largest number of companies registered in the Register in the last year. They follow theLaziowith 65, theEmilia Romagnawith 57, theCampaniawith 52, theTuscanywith 38 and theVenetowith 36, while all the other regions are at much lower values.

At the provincial level, on the other hand, the largest number of "new Innovative SMEs" is aMilano, with 122 companies registered in the last year (+ 54% compared to the last survey), followed byRomawith 58 registered companies (+ 100%) and thereafterNapleswith 26 (+86%).

With reference todemographic characteristicsthe MISE database highlights that over 80% of New SMEs are mainly made up of adult men and mostly of Italian nationality. The cases of ownership and governance in which there is a prevalence of young people, women or foreigners are instead more limited. Within the ownership structure there is, for example, a "prevalence of young people" only in 6.53% of cases, a "prevalence of women" in 8.82% and a prevalence of ownership and / or foreign management "only" for 1.94% of the cases examined.

The second part of the Report, dedicated toanalysis of the economic-financial data of Innovative SMEs, shows generally good results in terms of turnover and economic-financial performance. Innovative SMEs registered aaverage increase in turnover of 15% in the two-year period 2018-2019. If we take into consideration only the innovative SMEs that have had an increase in turnover, the average is + 30%.

It is also observed how theaverage shareholders' equity is approximately € 1.9 million. The average is however raised by medium-sized companies. In fact, half of the companies have a net worth of less than one million euros and 85% is less than 1.3 million.

Instead, it is highlighted as in76.45% of the cases the companies record a positive EBITDA, demonstrating that the majority of the sample observed is in economic equilibrium.

Regardingthe business sectors of the "new registered SMEs", the most numerous groups are those active in the service sector, followed by that of industry / crafts. On the other hand, there are few cases of companies qualified as Innovative SMEs operating in the commerce sector.

More specifically, within the service sector, the most "lively" reference segments can be highlighted and those are those that cater toinformatica, all’electronics, to theintermediate products, at thechemistryand topharmaceuticaland therenon-financial services. These sectors, which together represent about 90% of the innovative SMEs observed, are among the sectors that could be less affected by the very serious crisis triggered by Covid 19.

By comparing the research data of the Observatory with the estimates of theCerved Industry Forecast (maggio 2020), relating to the impact of the Covid crisis on the turnover of companies, in a soft scenario, for the sectors mentioned above, we would see an overall average decline in turnover in 2020 (compared to 2019) of10,4%, with an average rebound of10,3%in 2021 (compared to 2020).

Overall, comparing the estimates, in a soft scenario, the1%of turnover between 2019 and 2021. In a hard scenario, for the sectors mentioned above, we would see an overall average decrease in turnover in 2020 (compared to 2019) of the14,9%, with an average rebound of15,3%in 2021 (compared to 2020).

Overall, comparing 2019 and 2021 in a hard scenario would lose just under 2% of turnover. In conclusion,innovative SMEs could therefore show a good degree of resilience to the crisis and show themselves ready to exploit opportunities.

The Conference, the Award and the "Open Innovative SMEs" Observatory are part of a broader project that aims to enhance Italian innovation by giving visibility to this specific type of company, a protagonist of the Italian entrepreneurial landscape but still little known.In fact, the initiative has the objective of supporting and supporting the development of innovative SMEs, facilitating the knowledge of the advantagesof a fiscal, corporate and financial nature provided for by current legislation and exclusively dedicated to innovative SMEs duly registered in the appropriate section of the Business Register held by the Chamber of Commerce.

To consult the Observatory report, we recommendclick here.

(1) According to the legislation, to be qualified as an Innovative SME, a company must meet at least two of these three requirements.

1. at least 3% of the higher between costs and total value of production relates to research and development activities;
2. a team made up of 1/3 of staff with master's degrees or 1/5 of PhD students, PhDs or graduates with 3 years of experience in certified research;
3. company depositary or licensee of at least one patent or owner of registered software.

(2) Official data of the Chamber of Commerce, updated as of November 9, 2020.http://startup.registroimprese.it/isin/static/pminnovative/index.html?slideJump=31

[Source: www.bgt-grantthornton.it]