For every door that closes another one opens. Usually a much larger one. It happened to the founder of Plan C, the startup that Milan made as a project of co-working dedicated to professional women (with or without children) and men (strictly with children).
The company founded by five women and two men was recognized as Best Social Innovation by the European Investment Bank receiving a prize of 15 thousand euro. However Plan C cannot access the registry of innovative startups and related facilities. The law passed by Monti government in December last year provides for a number of requirements including at least one of the following: research and development expenses equal to or greater than 20%, the use of highly qualified personnel (PhD) and a patent.
Conditions which, as in this case, are independent from the value and the innovative component of the project. So much that Riccarda Zezza, a founder of Plan C, stated “we receive daily proposals to open Plan C in other cities like Trieste, Padua, Turin, Rome, Perugia.” Company’s core reconciliation lies between work and private life by offering time saving services entrusted to a “butler” (bill payment, withdrawal from the laundry clothes, shoes repaired, fresh bread) and space to accommodate children.
