The journey continues to discover Genoese and Ligurian companies that are innovating in collaboration with Fondazione Genova Startup.
Yassine Kaabour founded Rento, a start-up that won the Smartcup 2025 (pictured at the award ceremony): “I have two hometowns, and neither of them is enough for me. I was born in Casablanca and grew up in Genoa: two ports, two languages at the table, the habit of understanding that the same thing can have two names and two truths. I studied in Genoa and then pursued a business career that took me to almost every continent. Living in Dubai, I realised something simple: Italy is my home and I want to give back some of the good it has given me. Rento is my first start-up and was born from this dual vision: eyes open to the world and hands at work for Italy.”
Rento is Italy’s first marketplace for renting items with integrated insurance. The idea is simple: do you have a bike, a camera or a brush cutter that you use three times a year? Put them on Rento, someone will rent them and you will earn money. Every transaction is covered by insurance. It does not sell items but unlocks access to them. It is the freedom to have everything without having to buy it.
The idea stems from a personal need and a statistic: Italian households have an average of three thousand euros worth of unused items lying around. Tools, sports equipment, electronics, pushchairs gathering dust. On the other hand, there are those who are looking for these items but don’t buy them because they only need them for a short period of time or even just for a weekend. The problem is not supply or demand: it’s trust. No one willingly lends their belongings to a stranger without guarantees. Rento was created precisely to solve this issue: verified identity, transparent reviews and insurance on every rental.
“We’re starting small and working our way up. In 2026, we’ll begin in Bogliasco: 4,600 residents, on the Ligurian Riviera, a community where everyone knows each other. It’s the perfect testing ground. The goal for the first year is to validate rental frequency and retention, proving that the model works in real life. In the second year, we aim to scale up in Liguria and three other regions. In the third year, we plan to conduct a seed round and expand nationally. The European peer-to-peer rental market is worth over €30 billion and does not yet have a leading player. Our ambition is for Rento to become to rentals what Airbnb has been to accommodation. But we are keeping our feet on the ground: one neighbourhood at a time.”
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