Apio

Established in 2014, Apio S.r.l. originates from an idea conceived by a group of young minds from the Università Politecnica delle Marche in Italy. The company, whose name is Latin for "Establish a Communication," was founded by Alessandro Chelli and Alex Benfaremo, among others. Initially a startup, Apio has evolved into a venture builder, focusing on creating new business opportunities and spinoffs for large corporations through its expertise in the Internet of Things (IoT), Blockchain, and Artificial Intelligence.

Apio develops and provides a hardware and software ecosystem designed for scalability and interoperability across various IoT applications. The core of their offering is the ApioOS, a scalable platform that facilitates the management of network connections and the creation of IoT apps with features like remote control, push notifications, and geolocation. This is complemented by the Apio Gateway, which connects wireless devices from different manufacturers to the internet via ApioOS, and Apio Mesh, a low-power radio network technology. The company's business model has shifted from consultancy to that of a startup studio or venture builder, partnering with companies to create innovative solutions. Its client base includes major national and international corporations such as Fater S.p.A., SAMP S.p.A., Acea, A2A, and research entities like ENEA.

A significant product developed by Apio is Trusty, a direct-to-consumer channel that leverages blockchain technology to ensure transparency in the agri-food supply chain. Launched in 2020, Trusty allows food producers to share traceability information with consumers, automate data entry, and build direct customer relationships. This platform consists of a dashboard, a RestAPI, and a customer engagement page accessible via a QR code on the product. Furthermore, Apio operates in the energy sector, offering platforms for the centralized management of renewable energy parks, industrial energy efficiency, and energy sharing management to optimize network flexibility. These platforms utilize IoT, AI, and blockchain to enable the automatic management of distributed energy resources. The company has received funding through various accelerator programs and a seed round, with investors including BlockStart, FIRA(Italy), and Var Group, which entered the company's capital in 2020.

Keywords: Internet of Things, venture builder, blockchain, energy management, IoT platform, startup studio, supply chain traceability, ApioOS, renewable energy, data analytics, system integration, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, agri-food tech, energy transition, smart grids, distributed energy resources, remote monitoring, hardware design, asset management