What set the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 apart is the distance between the two main host cities, Milano and Cortina d’Ampezzo, stretching roughly 350 miles. This made Milano Cortina 2026 the most geographically widespread Games in history. While all eyes were on the incredible athletes competing to make their dreams come true, some of the biggest wins are also found off the podium by a different kind of dreamer: local small business owners.
Small businesses are vital to local economies. In Italy, small businesses account for around 80 percent of employment and generate more than 65 percent of the nation’s economic growth, with Milan and the wider Lombardy region reporting the highest concentration of enterprises in the country.¹ Their central role is one of the reasons Visa’s efforts have focused on supporting small businesses; in particular, Visa has enabled more than one million small businesses across Italy over the past three years and aims to digitally enable an additional 15,000 small businesses in the coming months. With Italian small businesses playing such a pivotal role, major sporting events become a natural vehicle for entrepreneurial empowerment.
As the world turned its attention to the Milano Cortina 2026, Visa saw more than a moment - we saw a chance to deepen our long-term commitments to small businesses and build on our track record of creating lasting, positive impact in local communities.
Supporting entrepreneurs in and around Milan
In this context, Visa Foundation partnered with Fondo per la Repubblica Digitale Impresa Sociale (Digital Republic Fund Social Enterprise) to launch an initiative that will continue beyond the Games, providing entrepreneurs with training, mentorship, and essential digital tools to strengthen economic participation within and around the Metropolitan City of Milan. Through this program, selected entrepreneurs will receive customized support to help them build their digital and entrepreneurial capabilities, strengthen their business models, and increase their economic participation.
The program sits alongside Visa’s She’s Next – Milano Cortina 2026 Edition, a special initiative dedicated to the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. The five winners of this Visa-led program, including a professional volleyball player who developed a digital platform connecting athletes with potential teams, received access to training and mentoring opportunities to help grow their businesses and are being featured in the ‘Explore and Shop’ initiative designed to promote and support the local small business ecosystem.
These efforts reflect how work connected to the Games can help to strengthen entrepreneurs and ecosystems. We have already seen this play out in communities that hosted previous Games.
Building on a track record of local impact
The SheLeads initiative builds on Visa Foundation’s previous partnerships with La Miel (Maison de l’Initiative Locale) and the Saint-Denis Ambition Fund (SDAF) shortly after the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024. With Visa Foundation’s support, La Miel and SDAF expanded the “Les Essentielles” program. This program offered entrepreneurs access to coaching, skills-based workshops, and financial training that helped take their businesses to the next level.
Dorra Ismail Dellagi is one of the entrepreneurs who benefited from “Les Essentielles.” With a background in architecture and teaching, Dellagi founded QAWS, a startup that offers more sustainable building materials than traditional cement and steel. Participating in “Les Essentielles” helped her build a market-ready digital presence and advance her business into commercialization. Participating entrepreneurs like Dellagi reported building strong digital presences, bringing them one step closer to accessing new markets.
Global moments like the Olympic and Paralympic Games can help unlock opportunities for small businesses, and Visa Foundation is proud to play a part in that journey.