Joule Discovery Lab

Joule Discovery Lab is a problem-solution fit programme, dedicated to startups and SMEs and designed in cooperation with Gellify and Seedble. A week of full immersion to evaluate technological and innovative solutions capable of meeting the needs of the business world and Eni’s R&D needs.

The November 2023 edition will involve early stage startups and innovative SMEs operating in the sectors of:

• Valorisation of agricultural waste from oilseed plants (castor, camelina, crambe etc.)

• Valorisation, recycling and second life of spent lithium batteries and WEEE

The programme is based on an empirical approach where researchers and startuppers work together to define a hypothesis for joint experimentation.

Eni and ITA Airways have launched a co-innovation pilot project “Joule Discovery Lab. A possible net zero future for mobility”, through training programmes to build skills on the topics of circular economy and decarbonisation.

The five teams worked together for 3 days (8-10 November 2022), at the Gazometro area in Roma Ostiense, to design business models, with a focus on the reduction of impacts in the mobility, travel and aviation sectors. Specifically, they focused on the places of travel, vehicles, fuels, path management and multimodal mobility, identifying possible solutions and indicating a development roadmap.

Lots of hard work, translating ideas into concrete proposals, applying design thinking methodologies and building a “future artefact”, i.e., the future version of the solution to be placed in the 2050 scenario.

The initiative aims to assess co-development opportunities for new business models between Eni and ITA Airways, to achieve “net zero” for mobility and thus reach the balance between the amount of greenhouse gas produced by human activity and the quantity removed from the atmosphere at the same time. The main focus is energy transition, using innovative technologies to achieve decarbonisation goals.

Two projects were selected to access the next steps of the programme:

• Beemoved: community platform for the generation of a single ticket for a sustainable door2door travel experience.

• Move2Fly: MaaS platform that connects airports and primary logistics hubs across the Country, minimising environmental impacts.

The two selected teams will incubate their idea at the Joule headquarter facility in Roma Ostiense. Until March 2023, the project involves four days’ work a month, two on site and two on-line, with activities focusing on market validation, the definition of the business plan and the development of an entrepreneurial culture.

At the end of the programme, they will present their own business cases at an Investor Day. The teams will be able to have direct responsibility over the presented project and a week’s exposure at one of the world’s most important entrepreneurial ecosystems.

Joule Discovery Lab for Eni People is the Joule programme that guides a group of Eni's talented people on a journey to develop innovative and technologically advanced solutions to current and future energy challenges.

The aims:

• encourage entrepreneurial talent and design thinking, and spread a culture of innovation throughout the organisation;
• develop new Eni projects, from the design to the implementation of a solution capable of meeting internal needs.

• Bootcamp: in this first two-day phase, the challenges are analysed to produce a project proposal and build on its pillars by developing application areas, execution roadmaps and business opportunities.
• MVP Design: over the next three months, the working teams meet regularly to focus on the solution target and develop a value proposition.

The two-day bootcamp of the first edition of the Joule Discovery Lab for Eni employees took place on 4 and 5 December in Castel Gandolfo (Villa Montecucco).

Enilive has been at the forefront of developing new products and services to add value to Eni Stations, putting the needs of the customer and the community first.