H-Expedition in Paris: H-FARM College students at SMAU | Italy RestartsUp

Three students from H-FARM College — Alice Comastri, Elena Massaro, and Alessio Gatto — took part in an H-Expedition to Paris on the occasion of SMAU Italy RestartsUp in Paris, held on April 15.

The initiative represented a strategic connection between the Italian and French innovation ecosystems, with the aim of building bridges between startups, corporations, investors, and international stakeholders. The event brought together 50 Italian startups operating in key sectors such as Industry, Mobility, Retail, Smart Communities, AgriFood, and Healthcare, along with innovation teams from around 15 large Italian companies, creating a fertile environment for meetings, knowledge exchange, and collaboration opportunities.

The students’ experience began the day before at the Italian Embassy in Paris, with the official presentation and opening of the event, followed by an evening networking session that allowed participants to immediately connect with key players in the ecosystem.

The second day was the most intense and operational. The students acted as guides for the Startup Safaris, personalized tours designed to lead corporate representatives and institutions through the startups selected by SMAU via a preliminary matching process. Their role was central: facilitating meetings between startups and visitors, introducing innovative companies before their presentations, coordinating schedules, and ensuring each delegation completed its itinerary. In some cases, they also prepared customized maps matching startups with specific corporate contacts, ensuring a more targeted and effective experience.

In parallel, other tours were carried out independently, with students supporting participants in preparation and orientation. The day required strong organizational skills, attention to detail, and a high level of relational ability, placing the students in a real intermediary role between demand and supply of innovation.

The day concluded with participation in the final panel, organized in collaboration with Bocconi Alumni Paris Chapter and Italian Tech Club, titled “Futureproof: Redesigning Work and Skills for the AI Era”, focused on the impact of artificial intelligence on the world of work and future skills.

The third day was dedicated to a full tour of Paris’s innovation ecosystem. The morning took place again at Station F, where students attended presentations by TotalEnergies On, Marble, Microsoft, and the HEC Paris Incubator.

In the afternoon, the journey continued through some of the city’s leading academic and innovation hubs, including Sorbonne Université, the SCAI – Center for Artificial Intelligence, and Le Village by CA, offering students a concrete and comparative overview of different innovation models in Paris.

As Alice Comastri explains:
“SMau has something special about it: people genuinely want to meet and talk to each other, whoever you are, because in a place like this you always have something to learn from everyone. There is a continuous and authentic exchange of ideas that you don’t expect, and the most beautiful thing is that real connections happen.”