Paolo received a PhD in Chemical Science from University of Bari and trained in business management and deep-tech entrepreneurship at DHITECH and Santa Clara University Leavey School of Business. He was visiting research collaborator at Princeton University and visiting fellow at UC Berkeley in the IP and Industry Research Alliances office (IPIRA). He is Echoing Green Climate fellow and Fulbright BEST fellow. He co-founded EggPlant, a startup producing bioplastics from agro-food wastewater. He was coordinator for Ashoka activities in Apulia region (IT) for empowering young changemakers by building alliances between public institutions, companies and NGOs. In 2020 he joined the Institute of Nanotechnology of the National Research Council of Italy (CNR-NANOTEC) as a Research Scientist focusing on bio-based materials for energy storage and knowledge transfer.