IF was launched in July 2009 by Montezemolo along with a substantial group of entrepreneurs, managers and intellectuals, notably including Diego Della Valle, Maria Paola Merloni, Gianni Punzo, Corrado Passera, Luigi Marino, Carlo Calenda, Andrea Romano, Vittorio Emanuele Parsi, Stefano Dambruoso, Irene Tinagli, Angelo Mellone, and Michel Martone.

[3] A strong supporter of Montezemolo's project was Massimo Cacciari, philosopher, three-times mayor of Venice and disgruntled Democrat, who had inspired a Veneto-based regional party called Toward North (VN).

[1] In December 2011 Federico Vecchioni, a Venetian who had been president of Confagricoltura (2004–2011) and founder of IF in Tuscany, was appointed national coordinator, in what was described by some observers as a step toward the transformation of IF into a full-fledged political party.

On 30 September 2012, in an interview to Corriere della Sera, Montezemolo announced that IF would take part to the 2013 general election and that it would support Mario Monti to serve a full term as Prime Minister of Italy.

[13] According to Montezemolo and Rossi, far from becoming an organised faction within SC, IF would return to its original nature of think tank, while the MPs hailing from IF would be a "liberal and reform-minded" force within Parliament.