Fondazione Social Venture Giordano Dell’Amore

eArs

eArs S.r.l. is a web-app targeted at visitors to art exhibitions that aims to bridge the gap between an overload of information and the absence of minimum indications to help the visitor understand the artwork, through the production of simple and smart audio podcasts that last 1 minute. The focus is on innovative and non-didactic storytelling, which is able to stimulate thought and create a closer relationship between the public and the artist’s world. eArs is free to the end user, who just needs a smartphone and a pair of headphones to listen to the audio, with no need to download or install an app.

Fondazione Social Venture Giordano Dell’Amore is a founding partner of eArs S.r.l., through the acquisition of 2% of the shares of the start-up, in line with an impact first investment approach.

The growth path of eArs supported by the Foundation through Get it!

In 2018 eArs participated in the Call For Impact of Get it! on Enhancement of Cultural and Environmental Heritage. Once inside the program, it stood out for the innovation and cultural impact of its business model; initially among the 106 candidate initiatives and, in the following phase, among the 15 that made it through to the Selection Day.

After achieving an incubation path at Filarete and mentorship under the guidance of Andrea Alessandri – both offered by the program – the start-up is among the first from Get It! to benefit from the investment of Social Venture Foundation Giordano Dell’Amore, the strategic and operational arm of the Cariplo Foundation in the field of impact investing, and promoter of the program in partnership with Cariplo Factory.

Impact

Around 33% of Italians are culturally inactive; many feel a sense of inadequacy in approaching the world of art, especially when faced with works of art that they do not understand. eArs was set up as a result of this observation, with the aim of making art accessible to an ever-increasing audience, which including the visually impaired. Through the production of simple and captivating audio podcasts that last 1 minute, the web-app aims to offer the visitor a valid compromise between an overload of information and the absence of minimum indications to guide their understanding of the artwork. The focus is on innovative and non-didactic storytelling that is able to stimulate thought and create a closer relationship between the public and the artist’s world. eArs is free to the end user, who just needs a smartphone and a pair of headphones to listen to the audio, with no need to download an app to their phone. eArs has prepared podcasts to accompany 11 exhibitions, including one at the Michelangelo Pistoletto Foundation in Biella, and has partnered with one of the main art fairs in Italy. Through its audio products, the start-up aims to increase the number of sales of online cultural experiences with the social objective of increasing the number of people who are actively engaged in culture.
Foundation year
2019
Legal status
Innovative Start-up
Site
Milan
Sector
Arts and culture
In portfolio since
2019
Type of investment
Equity