Italian business angels and venture capital firms are back on track again after summer.
ScaleIT, the scale-up platform that Italian business angel Lorenzo Franchini founded in 2015, shortlisted 11 Italian startups and 4 South Eastern European businesses that are ready for meeting international investors that could support them for reaching the next growth step (see here a previous post by BeBeez). ScaleIT will take place in Milan in October. Insight Venture Partners, Accel, Index, EarlyBird VC, Holtzbrinck Ventures, Idinvest, Partech, Acton, Aster, Iris, and Nauta are some of the international firms that joined the event. The advisory board of ScaleIT includes Franchini, journalist and entrepreneur Emil Abirascid, angel investors Pietro De Nardis and NiccoloÌ Colussi, and venture capitalist Michele Novelli. These professionals shortlisted the following 15 startups that fit three categories:
Earlier Stage (fintech-insurtech companies with clear growth perspectives and disruptive business models):
- Oval Money (UK/Italy) – an app for monitoring savings and expenses
- Insoore (Italy) – a platform that liaises insurance companies with safety cameras
- InsurEngines (Italy) – a Big Data and Machine Learning platform with a focus on instant insurance and internet of things for the insurance sector
ScaleUp:
- Codemotion (Italy) – A Hub that liaises IT Professionals and the Tech community.
- Direttoo (Italy) – An online vendor of products for restaurants
- Fite (USA/Bulgaria) – a platform for online streaming online martial arts videos
- Greater Fool Media (Italy) – a distributor of videos for Youtube
- InPlayer (UK/Macedonia) – A video platform for monetising digital and video assets
- Intale (Greece) – a marketing and business intelligence tool for retailers
- Kippy (Italy)- a GPS tool and a platform of services for pets
- Visionect (Slovenia) – a developer of digital signage products
- Wanderio (Italy) – a platform for booking multimodal transports
- Xceed (Italy) – a platform for managing club events and parties
Later Stage (companies that generate more than 10 million in sales):
- Bending Spoons (Italy) – a software house for the design of mobile apps
- Safety21 (Italy) – a provider of services in outsourcing to Police forces
Further partners of ScaleIT are Euronext which launched the initiative European Tech SME; McKinsey, Orrick, Docebo e Ludovici, Piccone & Partners, Generali, Amazon Web Services, Salesforce, Silverpeak, andBadenoch & Clark.
Luigi Di Maio, the Italian Ministry for Economic Development, said that the Italian Government aims to create a bank for investments and a venture capital firm (see here a previous post by BeBeez). Di Maio said that he would like to create an investment company of the like of Bpi France.
CashMe, the Italian online brokerage platform for trading invoices, raised 1.5 million of euros (see here a previous post by BeBeez). Marcello Scalmati founded the company in July 2015 and few months later sold a stake to NPL and credit recovery firm Axist for 0.35 million.
Homepal, an online real estate agent for retail vendors and buyers, raised an investment round 2.3 million of euros worth (see here a previous post by BeBeez). Homeclub, the investment firm founded by Maria Ameli, senior private banker of Ersel, acted as lead investor. Davide Serra (founder of hedge fund Algebris) Daniele Ferrero (chairman and ceo of Gruppo Venchi) Roberto Piroddi (ceo of Your Voice), Bper, Boost Heroes, the holding company ofFabio Cannavale, and the communication agency H-57 also poured resources in the company. Andrea Lacalamitafounded Homepal in 2014 together with Fabio Marra, Monica Regazzi, and further managers and entrepreneurs. The company will invest those proceeds in developing a proprietary tool for big data analysis.
Red Fish Kapital acquired 30% of Inventis, a firm that produces items for audiological diagnostics (see here a previous post by BeBeez). Massimo Martinelli, Stefano Fante, and Massimo Ferraresso founded the company.Inventis will invest these proceeds in m&a and its organic growth.
