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Together with Vertis and other investors, €610,000 has been raised to support WIB, a Sicilian startup that develops next generation vending machines

This is a new milestone for UniCredit Start Lab's accelerator program, which this morning delivered its fourth investment in a young company from Sicily. The UniCredit-sponsored program is aimed at encouraging the development of innovative Italian startups.

UniCredit invested €200,000 in WIB Machines, a Sicilian startup that is revolutionizing the world of vending machines and raised a total of €610,000 from Vertis and other investors.

UniCredit's investment is in partnership with Vertis, an independent asset management company that manages venture funds and growth capital for innovative Italian companies and for European High Tech companies.

"With this fourth equity investment, we are delighted to be able to support one of the nearly 100 startups that have been part of the first two years of UniCredit Start Lab's accelerator program," said Gabriele Piccini, Country Chairman Italy at UniCredit. "Fostering innovation and supporting young entrepreneurs who focus on it is something we want to concentrate on more and more."

"We backed the entrepreneur from the company's earliest stages and the targets achieved so far have justified our investment," said Amedeo Giurazza, CEO of Vertis AMC. "Our asset management company invests in the most revolutionary projects and in the most innovative Italian companies, helping them grow worldwide, day by day. UniCredit is the ideal partner for our vision to support the growth of our investees."

This round of investment will enable WIB to grow further. Founded at the ARCA Consortium - a business incubator at the University of Palermo - by Nino Lo Iacono and Marco Bicocchi Pichi, WIB's aim was to create a new automatic sales channel, combining the advantages of e-commerce with the ease and reliability of the local store. WIB's patented technology not only integrates the web's full potential but also overcomes the structural limit of the classic spirals, allowing it to handle any kind of item, thus opening the way to all kinds of products. End consumers can buy on-site as well as online, on the web or with their smartphones, with the convenience of being able to pick up their purchases 24/7 from their chosen WIB point. Vendors will be able to operate like an actual store and reach high-transit strategic areas, while meeting the needs of new customers, all with very low investments and operating costs. WIB has already completed highly successful pilot installations, in partnership with COOP, including one at EXPO's Future Food District. Due to the level of interest in the US, where the first WIB units are already installed, the company will establish a legal entity in the New York area by the end of the year.

"Successfully involving a pool of investors of such high standing, including angels, VC funds, an industrial partner with the clout of the CLN Group and, of course, UniCredit, provides a great energy boost and repays the efforts of the whole team," said Nino Lo Iacono, CEO of WIB. "Thanks to the new round of investments that, including the Smart&Start credit line, brought the total raised to about €2.5m," continued Lo Iacono, "WIB now has the necessary tools to effectively launch its ambitious internationalization projects."

All startups operating for less than 5 years and innovative SMEs interested in joining our program are invited to apply to join the UniCredit Start Lab in the latest round of applications, which opened September 30 and will close on April 30, 2016.