At the StartUp Europe Awards final in Sofia, Bulgaria

The Italian startup Helperbit has been recognized as the best European startup in the Fintech category at StartUp Europe Awards (SEUA), an initiative of the European Commission and the Finnova Foundation in collaboration with Startup Europe. After going through several stages and being chosen to represent Italy in this category, Commissioner for Society and Digital Economy Mariya Gabriel handled to Helperbit the diploma that accredits them as European winner, during the Startup Europe Summit 2018 hold in Sofia, in the presence of Prime Minister of Bulgaria, Boyko Borissov and several European prime ministers and ministers.

In her speech, Commissioner Gabriel congratulated Helperbit and the rest of the European winners and encouraged them to continue working hard as they have been doing until now.

“Europe wants to have more like you. More of your passion, dedication, talent, and energy. We believe in your dream, and you have already showcased that progress is made with small steps and that to become successful it takes long nights and serious thinking on how to approach the most challenging topics. You showcased that success can come from anywhere in Europe. And you showcased that to succeed you must be bold and brave”, she expressed.

Guido Baroncini Turricchia, CEO at Helperbit, stated:

“This award represents a great achievement for both our startup and the whole fintech ecosystem. Permissionless blockchain and cryptocurrencies, one of the greatest innovation of this century, are already influencing our life and all together we can boost a positive impact of these technologies in many sectors, with benefits for governments and citizens. The European Commission has a fundamental role in this process, and we are glad that it has selected Helperbit as a virtuous example to award during this event”.

StartUp Europe Awards proposes an open innovation methodology through public-private partnerships, “which works to help public entities to find a solution to their local challenges, and also to help startups by testing their innovations on pilots supported with European Union funding” said Juan Manuel Revuelta, director of the StartUp Europe Accelerator by Finnova Foundation.

In addition to Helperbit, Italian Artisan in the Fashion category, and Tommi in E-Health were the other Italian startups that have achieved European recognition, among 134 finalist startups from 16 countries.

Helperbit and the other European winners of the StartUp Europe Awards gain visibility thanks to the Media Partner Alliance, made up of 25 members from Spain, France, Belgium, Latvia, Luxembourg, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Cyprus, Ireland, Sweden, Mexico, Norway, and Denmark, among others. Startups will also have access to a mentoring programme (in internationalization, European funds such as the €50,000 to €2.5 million non-reimbursable grant SME Facility, international communication, etc.), through the Finnova Foundation’s StartUp Europe Accelerator, which will enable them to boost their projects and make them more viable worldwide.

Helperbit is an Italian startup that brings transparency in the charity and insurance sectors using the Blockchain technology. The platform allows people to donate crypto and local currencies to charities and people in need all over the world, trace their donation and how it is used, offering full transparency of economic flows.

It even reverses the traditional home mutual insurance model for natural disasters, thanks to a service powered by Blockchain that empowers users to customize their premium, also allowing microinsurance, and offers a fast, fair and transparent refund.