A software house that is a Benefit Corporation, with a marketing agency inside it
Press Start was incorporated in 2023, founded by someone who has been building software for around fifteen years. Young company, not young expertise. This page exists so you can check who you are about to work with.
In one line
What we are.
A software house with a marketing division. One brand, two crafts that meet in most projects: the company building your systems is the same one setting up the campaign tracking, and it does not need anyone's permission to do it.
Registered office in Prato, working office at Impact Hub Florence. A Benefit Corporation, ISO 9001 certified, listed on MePA, the Italian public sector marketplace.
The narrative
Where we
come from.
The founder has been building software since 2011: ten years as a freelancer and as a subcontractor, writing code that shipped inside other agencies' projects.
In 2023 that work became Press Start — a structure, a team, a certified process. Most of the clients from back then are still here.
No legacy to defend
We have no old product of our own to protect, and no sales structure that has to move licences to justify itself.
The decision-maker is reachable
There are no layers between you and the people writing the code.
The narrow focus is a recent, deliberate choice
We cut the offer down instead of widening it, which is the opposite of what a company does when it has an organisation to keep busy.
The perimeter
What we do.
Only this.
Four areas, chosen on purpose. Everything on this list we build in house, with our own people: no subcontracting, no polite yes. If your project falls outside this perimeter we will say so on the first call and, where we can, point you to someone who does it.
Custom software development
Internal systems, web apps, integrations between systems.
See the serviceArtificial intelligence
Agents and process automation, wired into the systems you already run.
See the serviceDigital marketing
Google Ads, Meta Ads, B2B lead generation, email and social.
See the divisionTwo specialisations
Recovering orphaned software, and maintaining software generated with AI: the same situation in two different eras.
See the solutionsFirst proof
Benefit Corporation:
what it changes in practice.
In Italy a Società Benefit is not a label and not an environmental certification. It is a legal form: the common-benefit goals are written into the bylaws, and every year the company has to publish an impact report stating what it did against them.
The difference from a values statement on a website is that here there is a document with a deadline and a responsibility sitting with the directors.
Second proof
ISO 9001: which processes
are documented.
Said like that it means nothing. Here is what it involves in practice when you work with us. The certifying body verifies all of it periodically, and we can supply the certificate for tenders or supplier qualification.
Requirements are collected and written down
Before development, and you sign the document off.
Mid-project changes are tracked
Who asked for what, when, and the effect on time and cost. It is the reason there are no arguments at delivery.
Issues have a defined path
Where they are raised, who takes them on, what happens if they stall.
Non-conformities are recorded and analysed
Meaning: when something goes wrong there is a procedure rather than an excuse.
Suppliers and tools are assessed
Not picked on instinct.
The terms
How we work
with clients.
Four commitments that hold on every project, and that you can use as a yardstick with the other suppliers you are weighing up.
You own the code
Source, repository, credentials and documentation are handed over. Not licensed.
No hostage retainer
If you stop paying for support, the software keeps running. Support is a service you choose, not a switch.
Fixed-scope quote
Price and scope written before we start. Additions are quoted separately.
You talk to the people who build it
No commercial layer collecting and translating. For better and worse: the answers are technical and direct.
Where we are
Florence, working office.
Via Panciatichi 10/14
50141 Firenze (FI)
Inside Impact Hub, an ecosystem of impact-driven businesses. Everything else we run remotely.
Proof
Software people
use every day.
Agentscout
Agentscout is a software platform for managing sales networks. We handled development on a Laravel and Vue.js stack, from the architecture to the back end and the interface the network works in every day.
ANPAS website
ANPAS, the Italian national association of public assistance organisations, ran its national portal on an ageing Joomla instance and wanted a base that was simpler to update in house. We migrated content and structure to WordPress, rebuilding the site so the editorial team manages it directly, without needing a developer for every change.
B2B management system
Sitea wanted a management system that followed how the company actually works with its business customers. We built it to measure in Laravel and Vue.js, shaping the features around the processes already in use: the people using it recognise the steps, instead of learning new ones.
BMup
BMup is the management platform we build and maintain in house, in Laravel and Vue.js. It works as a shared foundation — records, processes, documents and reporting — on which we build the version each organisation needs: we have shaped it around membership management, professional training and the internal processes of a foundation. You start from a proven structure rather than a blank page.
BMup and the TeachIn management system
TeachIn works in professional training and wanted a system of its own for courses, classrooms and students. We built a custom BMup v2 and, alongside it, worked on their internal AI chatbot: we revised the API connection, the credit configuration and the database queries, and the workflow is running again with stable response times.
Dynamo Camp platform 2.0
Fondazione Dynamo Camp needed a platform that followed its own internal processes — those of a foundation, not of a company. We built Dynamo Camp 2.0 on BMup, in Laravel and Vue.js, shaping the ERP and CRM features around the foundation's workflows instead of asking the foundation to adapt to the software.
Finenergy
Managing photovoltaic plants on behalf of others means seeing how they perform as it happens. Finenergy is the SaaS we built for it: a Laravel backend, a Vue.js frontend and a dedicated server, with energy data from every plant gathered in a single interface and available in real time.
GlycoNovi website
GlycoNovi needed an online presence to introduce what it does. We built the corporate site on WordPress, with a clear structure that is straightforward to update, so the content can grow over time without rebuilding it from scratch.
FAQ
Before you ask.
Yes. Meeting in person is an advantage for clients nearby, not a requirement for anyone else.
If you need twenty developers in parallel on a complex product, we are not the right choice. If you need someone to understand your process and build the software that holds it up, talking directly to the people writing it is an advantage, not a fallback.
The code, the documentation and the access are already yours during the project, not only at the end. There is no moment where the work done is hostage to the contract. We take that precaution because recovering projects abandoned by others is literally one of our services: we know what that damage looks like.
They are two divisions with different people. We keep them together because in real projects they meet constantly — campaign tracking is code, landing pages are code, connecting leads to sales is code. Splitting them means handing you the coordination.
Yes. Ask us for whatever you need to decide: the certificate, references, how we handled a project similar to yours. We answer with documents, not a brochure.
Evaluating us as a supplier?
Ask for whatever you need to decide: the ISO certificate, references, how we would approach a project like yours. We answer with documents, not a brochure.
ISO 9001:2015 certified
Written requirements, tracked changes, a defined path for every issue.
Benefit Corporation
Goals written into the bylaws, an impact report every year.
Listed on MePA
The Italian public sector e-procurement marketplace.
