Tech Crunch Italy rocked it.

This blog post is written by Mario Fontana, Microsoft Architect Evangelist in Western Europe.

On 27^th September, the inaugural TechCrunch Italy kicked off in Rome, giving some of the country’s coolest startups a chance to showcase their talents, as well as bring together some of the key influencers in the industry to talk about what’s driving innovation and entrepreneurship in the region right now.  Just like other TechCrunch events, this was a lively, informative day that was also a great opportunity for networking.  And venues don’t get much more impressive than the Globe Theatre at the Villa Borghese!

I’m personally very delighted that the local Microsoft community is very involved in the event, which is also supported by the Mind The Bridge Foundation and the US Embassy in Italy.  And I don’t just mean Microsoft sponsoring the event and providing speakers and experts (though we’re pleased to be able to do that).  What I’m really proud to see is that some of the top start-ups belonging to the Microsoft BizSpark program in Italy are among the companies that presented.

What a diverse group of startups these are, showing that innovation comes from all kinds of sources.  Here are some of the start-ups delegates at TechCrunch Italy:

Appsbuilder – a  DIY platform for mobile applications development. No coding skills are needed! Through a single build process users can create an app for multiple mobile platforms. 

Paperlit – a finalist in our own European BizSpark Summit 2012, Paperlit provides publishers with a simple way to get their content online and mobile, supporting branded apps and digital services across all main mobile and social media ecosystems.

Risparmiosuper – this online service compares grocery store prices helping consumers save money and retailers and brands check competitors prices in real time

Save the Mom – a great name for a web and mobile platform that simplifies the communication among family members (or to connect with other families) making it easy to share important information.

Stamplay - helps marketing professionals create and manage engaging marketing campaigns and loyalty programs, through a  catalogue of white label software solutions, with ready-to-use apps that are easy to customize and simple billing.

Stereomood – a  music service that delivers curated playlists from independent artists and labels to best suit the user’s current mood, while making it easy to find fresh sounds from the top 150 music blogs from across the web.

Yoodeal – an online shopping platform for personalized deals and offers that users a clever search and ranking algorithm to gather and personalize offers for each shopper.  

Michael Ocansey, CEO, Kuzima is one of ten entrepreneurs we are featuring during our run up to DEMO Africa, October 26, 2012 in Nairobi, Kenya.

Who is your mentor, and what was the last great thing he or she told you and your team?

Mark Davies is the CEO of eSoko and a great user interface, information design and user experience architect. 

He has been my mentor since 2005. I learnt a lot of user experience and information design stuff from him. 

Last week I presented him with a prototype of product and he said "You have really improved. I love the experience. This is clean." 

It was great hearing that from someone who had taught me mostly all I know today as far as design is concerned. I felt encouraged to raise the bar.

BizSpark company WhoAPI in Croatia just got word they are going to be only the second company in Croatia invested in by 500 Startups, the investment firm and startup accelerator run by Dave McClure. We were alerted to this by Goran Duskic, a friend of ours, and one of the founders of one of the many BizSpark companies in that part of the world. Way to go, Goran. 

Here's the screenshot of the McClure tweet. So, apparently, McClure is hanging out with the Croatian president. Nice!

Microsoft BizSpark has scoured the globe for a group of hot teams on the ground. We are calling these hard-working entrepreneurs our Ambassadors. Because they see things first, and because they know first hand what it feels like to put it all on the line, we asked them to volunteer what they see to show you all how it really feels to be in a startup.

These are the people who look into the lives of startups and give us their first glimpse and personal views on what makes them tick. To start this off right, we are going to introduce you to them, one by one. 

Dimitar Georgiev, Founder of Source Realms, shares what has been happening to him these past few months. 

What was the most difficult challenge your business faced this year?

Our biggest problem was founding. In this part of Europe the economic crisis came little bit later. We had to work on other projects in order to found our own. It was a good test to prove how strong we believe in our  idea.

What has overjoyed you in the past month?

The first release of our portal.

When was the last time you fell in love with a product?

Before several months when I played with Win 8 on a tablet :)

Has starting your own company provided any answers about your life? Have you discovered something about yourself that you didn’t know before?

I found that I can`t hardly live without this anymore. My life would be so empty. I have discovered that an idea can push you beyond any limits. 

If you're company is less than five years old, bringing in less than one million US dollars in revenue and in search of growth strategies, you can apply for Microsoft BizSpark. We truly love startups, and we will give you free software, support and exposure so that you can grow as fast as you can. 

Today, CEO of Microsoft Steve Ballmer, dropped by RocketSpace on Fremont Street. He came to show support for developers and to announce that Microsoft would be creating a Windows 8 App Lab there, so that developers can get cracking on building Windows 8 apps for the expected market boom when it is released. 

Here are some photos, taken by our colleagues Claire Lee and Darryl McDade.