ABOUT

Francesco Rubino

Venture Builder · AI Fluent & Process Automation · EU Expert Evaluator

Venture builder and startup acceleration programme leader with 15+ years bridging corporations, startups, and institutions across Europe, Africa, and Latin America. Based in Barcelona, Spain. Designed and led acceleration and incubation programmes for 500+ founders across 3 continents: from intrapreneurship at Ferrovial, Endesa and Fameccanica, to EU-funded cohorts (Carbon13, InvestMED) and independent accelerators in East Africa and Latin America (CAF). Expert evaluator for Horizon Europe and EIT programmes. Currently advising corporations and venture teams on AI transformation: from assessing AI project feasibility and ROI to embedding as a fractional AI lead in organizations navigating their first serious AI initiatives.

LinkedIn → Speaking →

Institutional roles & affiliations

European
Commission

EU Expert Evaluator Horizon Europe · EIC · MSCA · since 2018

Entrepreneur in Residence Carbon13, Europe's leading climate venture builder · Berlin cohort

Programme Lead CAF · Development Bank of Latin America · 8 countries

PoC Roadmap Facilitator CERN · World's largest particle physics laboratory

Innovation Director Pioneers.io · Hofburg Palace, Vienna · 3,000+ startups scouted

Innovation Programme Expert EIT · European Institute of Innovation & Technology

In the field

Projects, events, and collaborations across Europe, Africa, and South America

Francesco Rubino on stage at a speaking event — Demoday for changemakers — CAF, Amazonas

Francesco Rubino at Merck innovation event — Merck innovation center

Francesco Rubino at Greiner hackathon — Greiner hackathon

Francesco Rubino at Pioneers 2019 — Pioneers Festival 2019

Francesco Rubino at InvestMED programme, LUMSA — InvestMED, LUMSA

Francesco Rubino at Raiffeisen Bank event — Raiffeisen Bank demo day

Francesco Rubino at Greiner — Greiner hackathon

Francesco Rubino at Körber event — Körber Tech Day

EXPERTISE

Innovation Strategy

End-to-end from hypothesis to market. PoC design, business model validation, and intrapreneurship programs for corporations and institutions across Europe and beyond.

EU Programmes & Evaluation

EU expert evaluator since 2018. Programme architecture, proposal development, and expert assessment for Horizon Europe, EIC, and related instruments.

Non-Dilutive Funding

EU grants, national and regional instruments: identified, written, and delivered. Keep your equity and access the capital already allocated for your innovation.

Ecosystem Building

Bridges between corporations, startups, universities, and public institutions. Cross-border, cross-sector, built to last, from Montevideo to Kampala, Nairobi to Vienna.

Companies I've worked with