#startuppers - Energy rides the green wave with Skypull

Just like a kite flying high in the sky, Skypull's engineers have patented a drone that is secured to a cable and lifted in the air, generating electricity using ascending currents. This "green drone" is featured in the third story of #startuppers, the webseries produced by RSI, which explores in the renewable energy sector through the eyes of a group of USI students.

Skypull was founded in 2013 by Nicola Mona and Aldo Cattano, and incubated at the USI CP-Start-up. Since then, the two engineers have made waves in Ticino and Switzerland with, among other things, a third place at the StartCup Ticino 2016 and, a year later, winning a 100.000 CHF prize at the 28th W.A. de Vigier Award. A major milestone was reached earlier this year, with a foreign venture capital who made an important investment in the company, an event which also led to the appointment of a new CEO to bring home the development of the prototype within the year.

"Aldo Cattano is an energetic person, with vision and a strong drive to do things", the three USI students say during the filming: Marco Ferri (Master in Informatics), Andrea Antonacci and Giacomo Bozzola (Bachelor in Economics). And despite the important development phase in which Skypull finds itself at this stage, the little 'reality check' served to "strengthen an awareness that also comes from storytelling", the Skypull team comments.

During the five episodes, the students presented Skypull with a case study reflecting their respective academic specialisations in informatics and management. While Aldo and his team's focus is on institutional investors, which are capital intensive, the students underscored the opportunity to approach private investors by strengthening their communication and "riding the wave of the green economy". 

The five episodes of #startuppers featuring Skypull are available (in Italian) at the “Quick links" in the sidebar. For information on the #startuppers series: www.litorale.usi.ch/en/feeds/8914