Rome, March 15, 2023. “Our mission is to generate a positive impact on people’s lives through the power of ice cream,” say Emanuele Bianconi and Samuel Lonero, two Rome Business School students and young entrepreneurs, ranked on the Forbes Italy under 30 list among the country’s top 100 innovators,within the Food & Drink category.
What is “Squp, the ice cream revolution?” An extraordinarily innovative ice cream made with plant-based ingredients, gluten-free and lactose-free, low-calorie and with a recyclable packaging. The project was created by Emanuele and Samuel, who are pursuing a Master in e-Health Management and in Marketing and Sales, respectively. This idea was born in 2019 but comes to life today because, as Samuel states,
“Our perseverance and determination brought us this far. Thanks to Rome Business School I was able to expand my know-how and connect many dots. We have developed work on the business side with more awareness and it has brought us to where we are today, but there is still a lot of work to be done.”
Francesco Landolfi, Program Director of the Global Master in Marketing and Sales, also comments on the success achieved: “The Squp project is a start-up that brings together the originality of an idea and the energy and determination of execution of its founders. A courageous entrepreneurial project that wants to find within the context of the business school an environment that helps it grow, adjust, and improve every day. These young people are showing great commitment, maturity and excellent preparation in pursuing their start-up and the task of the Rome Business School is to stimulate them and accompany them on their path of growth.”
In fact, Squp is part of the RBS4Entrepreneurship project, the business school’s business incubator that has already supported the development of startup ideas of nearly 500 students, who have had the opportunity to apply skills and methodologies they learned, experiment with them and then bring their ideas to life, and meet founders of startups, venture capitalists and business angels.
“The students were able to identify a clear gap in the current ice cream market offerings, an ‘unmet need’ that they were able to satisfy by developing a decidedly innovative and high-level strategy and marketing mix, and with a business model that is absolutely scalable,” says Carlo Pivanti, Professor of the International Master’s in Marketing and Sales.
In fact, Squp represents a very innovative product for the food sector: not only is it suitable for everyone – gluten free and even vegan – but it is also the ideal product for those who want to stay healthy and take care of themselves, without having to give up taste. In the short term, Emanuele and Samuel aim to expand their business and become a reference point for ice cream lovers who want to stay healthy.
“Our goal now is to consolidate the growth phase and prepare for the scale-up phase. We are working on weekly goals and medium-term scenarios that we want to build from today,” explains Emanuele.
In addition to Samuel and Emanuele, a Rome Business School faculty member also appears on the Forbes Italy under 30 list: Prof. Giosuè Prezioso, who teaches in the International Master in Arts and Culture Management, was selected in the Education category, who sees this opportunity as a chance to inspire other young talents in our country, spurring them, he says, to “Dare, try, dream, without being arrogant or dystopian.” He adds, “Thanks to Rome Business School I had the opportunity to meet students from all over the world, who today are promising leaders everywhere.”
