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Innovation, Scaling and the Next
Generation of Unicorns Program

Global Unicorn Series
  • 21 - 24 Jul, 2025
  • Milan, Italy
Innovation, Scaling and the Next Generation of Unicorns Program
July 21-24, 2025
Milan, Italy
8,000 euros

This 4-days program equips entrepreneurs, executives and investors with the tools to scale luxury brands globally, drawing inspiration from Italian heritage craftsmanship and leveraging innovation, sustainability, and cutting-edge strategies to drive success in international markets.

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Program Overview

The Innovation, Scaling, and the Next Generation of Unicorns Program is an intensive learning experience designed to equip you with the knowledge and skills needed to scale luxury brands globally. This program delves into the core elements of innovation, brand strategy, digital transformation, and sustainable practices essential for building successful unicorn ventures. Through a combination of in-class lectures, real-world case studies, and exclusive company visits to iconic Italian brands like Valentino, Daniele Amato, and EDRA, you will gain first-hand insights into the entrepreneurial heritage and operational excellence that define global luxury success. Additionally, Venchi’s CEO will present the remarkable growth story of this world-renowned chocolate brand, offering a rare perspective on scaling strategies and market leadership.

Over four engaging days, you will have the chance to explore how to craft compelling brand stories, leverage blockchain and tokenization to enhance the luxury experience, and implement ESG practices to drive sustainable growth. The program focuses on strategies for hyper-scaling and navigating international markets, ensuring that you will leave with actionable insights to position your brand as a global leader. Complementing the classroom experience are networking lunches, classic Italian aperitivo, and a grand farewell dinner, creating an environment for meaningful connections with industry pioneers, fellow participants, and guest speakers. This unique blend of academic rigor and experiential learning ensures you will acquire not only the expertise to thrive in the high-end market but also the tools to scale your venture on a global stage.

Highlights

Highlights

Luxury Brand Management: Preserve Legacy and Drive Innovation

Explore strategies for balancing heritage preservation with forward-thinking innovation, tailored for next-generation succession planning in luxury management.

Tap in The Digital Era of Luxury: Blockchain and Tokenization

Learn how blockchain and tokenization are transforming traceability, authentication, and customer engagement in the luxury industry through Digital Product Passports (DPP).

Apply the Latest Sustainable Practices and Prepare for The Future

Learn how to integrate ESG practices into the core of your luxury business, exploring the intersection of environmental consciousness and high-end fashion to meet global sustainability goals.

Learn Directly From Luxury Industry Leaders

Gain firsthand insights from high-end fashion brands headquartered in Milan, such as Valentino, Daniele Amato and the luxury furniture company EDRA , exploring how traditional craftsmanship meets cutting-edge digital transformation.

Accelerated Growth Opportunities

Participate in expert-led discussions and workshops on scaling luxury businesses globally, leveraging Italy's branding excellence for international growth.

Target Audience

  • Founders of unicorn, soon-to-be unicorns and promising startups that are looking for growth insights and investment to take their businesses to the next level
  • Investors from VC, PE firms and other investing entities such as corporate venture arms and family offices who wish to invest into the fast-growing sectors
  • Senior executives from leading organizations who are responsible for driving and embracing disruptions within their companies
  • Top management from NGOs, senior government officials and public sector representatives who are dedicated to enhancing local ecosystems for unicorns

Key Focus Areas

  • Master strategies to scale luxury brands globally
  • Learn the art of crafting impactful brand narratives
  • Explore innovation, digital transformation, and ESG practices
  • Gain insights into blockchain and tokenization in luxury
  • Understand hyper-scaling strategies for international growth
  • Study real-world case studies from Italian brands like Venchi
  • Network with industry pioneers and successful entrepreneurs

CKGSB Faculty

XIANG Bing

Founding Dean and Dean’s Distinguished Professor of China Business and Globalization, CKGSB

ZHU Rui (Juliet)

Professor of Marketing, Director of Center for ESG and Social Innovation, CKGSB

TENG Bingsheng

Professor of Strategic Management, Associate Dean for Strategic Research, CKGSB

Michel Chevalier

President of Dusita Perfumes, Visiting Professor of Luxury Marketing and Retailing at HEC, Coauthor of “Luxury Retail Management” and “Luxury China”

SDA Bocconi Faculty

Stefano Caselli

Dean SDA Bocconi School of Management & Full Professor, Investment Banking

Gimede Gigante

Director, Innovation and Corporate Entrepreneurship (ICE), SDA Bocconi

Andrea Cerri

Deputy Coordinator Hub, Innovation and Corporate Entrepreneurship (ICE), SDA Bocconi

Silvia Rella

ICE - SDA Bocconi

Laura Ru Yun Pan

Lecturer of International Management, SDA Bocconi

About the Organizers

About CKGSB

Established in Beijing in November 2002, CKGSB is China’s first privately-funded, research-intensive and non-for-profit business school. The school aims to cultivate transformative business leaders with a global vision, sense of social responsibility, innovative mindset, and ability to lead with empathy and compassion. Today, CKGSB stands apart for its full-time, world-class faculty, research excellence, China insights and unparalleled alumni network. More than half of its 40 strong faculty members previously held tenure or senior professorships at top business schools, such as MIT, Wharton, and Yale. CKGSB is also the preferred choice for management education among established business leaders and a new generation of disruptors in China and the wider region. More than half of CKGSB’s 20,000 alumni are at the CEO or Chairman level and, collectively, they lead one fifth of China’s 100 most valuable brands.

CKGSB is the first business school in China, since 2015, and now globally to offer programs specifically designed for unicorn and soon-to-be-unicorn founders. It aims to build a global ecosystem for the next generation of unicorn and soon-to-be-unicorn companies, with a renewed and enhanced emphasis on global responsibility, social purpose and long-term perspective. Thus far, this ecosystem has developed more than 1,000 founders and co-founders of companies with Series A to more mature start-up companies, including 38 unicorn companies listed on CB Insights (2017-2022).

SDA Bocconi School of Management

For more than 50 years, SDA Bocconi School of Management has been committed to fueling educational experiences with passion for knowledge and concrete know-how, creativity and scientific rigor, cultural and international diversity.

Ranked among the top institutions in the world, they support the continuous growth, improvement and transformation of people, companies, and organizations. The school is based in Milan with the biggest urban campus in Europe, a new headquarter in Rome and a pan-Asian hub in Mumbai.

SDA Bocconi School of Management anticipates the future and embraces courage, imagination, and a strong sense of purpose. They are determined to play a leading role in the global market of higher education while remaining true to our Italian identity and openness to the world.

Any Questions? Contact our program manager

Jennifer Wang

Program Manager

+447717 748 855

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