Torino, the 8th of April 2025
Product recalls are on the rise, especially in Europe. Supply chain disruptions, more stringent requirements and consumer demands have led to more defective products. Large businesses, today, have in place digital solutions supporting such process, while small businesses still have not, mainly due to the high investment required in implementing such solutions.
Rcalls fills this gap. The innovative start-up offers a cloud based SW solution that automates quality management for businesses and insurances, tracing problems, helping with their resolution through use of AI and quality management tools, and providing an accurate risk assessment of products sold based on the history of defects of each component used in the manufacturing.
Today Rcalls joins the RESTART “Mentorship and Entrepreneurship Program” implemented as part of Spoke 4 – Programmable Networks for Future Services and Media, by the Politecnico di Torino, in collaboration with Plug and Play Tech Center. The program lasts 20 weeks until 20th of September 2025, providing mentorship and networking opportunity to the venture.
Rcalls
Rcalls is an Italian innovative start-up, founded on May 2025 and headquartered in Turin. Its mission is to apply new and innovative AI-based algorithms to help companies solving inefficiencies linked to their defective products. The young company already serves various customers across Europe.
Plug and Play
Plug and Play is the world’s largest Open Innovation platform: on one side, it connects startups with leading corporations, and on the other, it invests and promotes investments to help startups grow. All of this is done with a global approach that facilitates internationalization and relationships with Silicon Valley. Launched in 2006 and co-founded by Saeed Amidi in the legendary Lucky Building in Silicon Valley, where companies like Google, PayPal, and Dropbox took their first steps, Plug and Play is now present in over 60 cities around the world. It has established itself as a leading innovation platform with over 570 corporate partners, 90,000 startups in its proprietary database, and a total investment value of over 12 billion dollars in companies like Dropbox, PayPal, N26, and Hippo.
In Italy, local offices (with associated acceleration programs) are currently focused on sectors such as Food & Beverage, Fintech, Sustainability, Automotive, Aerospace, and Smart Cities. In April 2019, Plug and Play opened its first Italian office in Milan, focusing on Food & Beverage (in partnership with Tetra Pak and Barilla) and Fintech (with UniCredit and Unipol). This was later joined by Sustainability (with A2A, Eni, Snam, Sol Group, and Gruppo Hera) and other partners such as Amplifon, Atlas Sgr, Fincantieri, and Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane. In July 2021, the Modena office was opened, dedicated to Automotive, with the launch of Motor Valley Accelerator (in partnership with CDP Venture Capital, CRIT, Fondazione Modena, and UniCredit, along with corporate partners STMicroelectronics, Dallara, Agrati, Unipoli, OMR, and Gruppo Hera). In April 2022, a new office dedicated to Aerospace and Advanced Hardware was inaugurated in Turin—Takeoff Accelerator—an initiative by CDP Venture Capital, supported by co-investors from the UniCredit Program and Fondazione CRT, with OGR Torino as Innovation and Networking Partners, and corporate partners Leonardo, AVIO, and Unione Industriali Torino, and the European Space Agency and Italian Space Agency as members of the Scientific Advisory Board. In 2024, DualTech by Takeoff, an acceleration program based in Turin, was launched as part of the DIANA network created by NATO, aiming to accelerate the development of dual-use technologies for both defense and commerce. In the same year, the Catania office was opened with CrossConnect, focused on the Infrastructure sector (in partnership with CDP Venture Capital, Elis, and corporate partners Eni, Saipem, Buzzi, and Sonatrach Raffineria Italiana).
Politecnico di Torino
The Politecnico di Torino is Italy’s first engineering school, founded during the mid-19th-century renewal of technical and scientific culture that led to the establishment of Europe’s most prestigious polytechnic institutes. Established in 1859 as the School of Application for Engineers, it became the Royal Polytechnic of Turin in 1906. For over 160 years, the Politecnico di Torino has been training professionals with rigor, integrity, and high-quality standards in the fields of engineering, architecture, design, and urban planning.
A long and continuously evolving journey has positioned the university among Europe’s top technical universities for education and research, with 38,800 students, 21% of whom are international, representing 122 countries, and a faculty of approximately 1,250 professors.
In a rapidly changing global landscape—shaped by phenomena such as globalization, climate change, population aging, and the rise of increasingly pervasive technologies—universities must evolve to continue making an impact on society. The Politecnico di Torino embraces this challenge by positioning itself as an open and inclusive “platform university”, deeply connected to industry and professional sectors. With a key role in innovation and lifelong learning, it strives to be a driving force for sustainable societal development.
RESTART
The RESTART program (“RESearch and innovation on future Telecommunications systems and networks, to make Italy more smart”) is the most significant public research and development initiative ever carried out in Italy in the field of telecommunications.
RESTART is funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU under the PNRR – M4C2, Investment 1.3, as per Notice No. 341 of March 15, 2022, issued by the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR), with a total budget of €116 million for a duration of three years, starting from January 2023.
RESTART aims to shape the future of telecommunications in Italy, revitalizing a sector with world-class expertise and excellence. The program focuses on the key scientific and technological challenges of telecommunications, covering all types of related systems and networks for both human and non-human users.
