Rural entrepreneurship, Innovation and Technology: narratives from the Italian AgriFood startups ecosystem

Innovative startups, namely newly-created, innovation-based companies, are regarded as drivers of local development in addition to mirroring the entrepreneurial attitude of a local innovation ecosystem. However, “smart” and “startups” have become “buzzy” words, often used as labels to attract new investors and/or high-profile residents, namely in urban contexts. Although often depicted as marginalized, rural areas are not new to innovation. Agriculture and food technologies have enormous potential in terms of sustainable food production, provision, and protection of rural areas. As a result, it is interesting to evaluate to what extent the rhetoric of the “startup effect” also affects rural areas, traditionally depicted as marginalized. Thus, the chapter scrutinizes the narratives about the “startup effect” in the Italian Agrifood sector, and explores the relations among innovative AgriFood startups, rural milieu, and local entrepreneurial ecosystem from an Economic Geography perspective.