The ScappaTopo team

Carla Delfino

CEO & Founder R&D

Katia De Luca

Production & Logistic

Prof. Angela Zampella

Consultant (University of Napoli)

Ugo Gaspardone

Copy

Sergio Delfino

Partner & Founder

Franco Abitante

IT Manager

Salvo Assenza

CFO

Gaetano Sorangelo

Graphic designer

Prof. Giuseppe Cirino

Consultant (University of Napoli)

Prof. Alberto Boffi

Consultant (University of Roma)

Leslie Esposito

Web marketing

Gabriella Bertuccioli

Regulatory Affairs

Diego Corvaro

Branding- Video maker

An interview with Carla Delfino (CEO)

Wherever there are humans, there are generally even more rodents below ground, prolific breeders who spread disease and chew through electric cables.

When it comes to getting rid of them, solutions range from the murderous to the macabre: not only are they cruel and frequently ineffective, they’re generally toxic to pets and humans. ‘We tend to think that bio-repellent solutions that are safe for the environment will be too weak to work,’ says Carla Delfino, whose company, Imperial Europe, has come up with a harmless and effective solution. Its product, ScappaTopo^®, which means ‘runaway mouse’ in Italian – offers a non-toxic, environmentally friendly way to control rodents instead of killing them. Because by killing, we push mice to increase their number.

Carla is a serial entrepreneur. The idea for ScappaTopo came to her through a friend working with a telecommunication firm that had issues with rats and mice chewing cables. ‘They tried poison, but rodents become resistant to it,’ Carla explains, ‘in the UK rats can get so big and bait resistant, they need to shoot them!’ Intrigued by this scenario – and despite a very real phobia about mice – Carla set about finding a solution to repel them rather than kill them.

Rat race

She set about researching traditional remedies, which took her on some interesting travels. ‘I visited native Americans to discover their remedies, such as peppermint, for example,’ she relates. ‘I studied Ancient Egypt and travelled to Hong Kong, spending days in a library.’ Back in Italy, Carla perfected her own patented formula and approached the University of Naples and La Sapienza University in Rome to test her prototypes on two varieties of mice: lab mice, which are meek and mild, and wild mice, ‘which are ferocious! Just catching them was so difficult!’

Special mazes were built and all tests produced extremely positive results. The concept is simple and 100% organic: housed in a paper box, a pouch filled with the patented recipe, essential oils, natural elements and corncobs sends out strong odorous multi sensorial signals that stress mice and dissuade them from approaching. Carla explains. ‘The micro-holes in the corncobs are perfect for storing the oils and releasing them slowly. For me the customer is not the human buying the product, it’s the mouse! The product must send out alarming signals to mice.’

Clean sweep

Carla promptly proposed product trials to a pest management company and several electricity firms; the latter completed their tests: ‘after three weeks of ScappaTopo, their cable boxes were clean – no droppings.

Three months later, still none!’ Launched in late 2014, the product is safe to use everywhere and around pets. Carla, since she received, the first Italian, the Cartier Women Initiative Awards in 2014, she has launched a powerful communication campaign. ‘This is a revolution and we need to tell its story. I want to see ScappaTopo in every European pet shop, organic market, nautical store…

I’m an entrepreneur, I know when I “smell” a good business!’