AAvantgarde Bio, a spin-off of the R&D unit of Tigem (Telethon Institute of Genetics and Medicine) that received the support of Sofinnova Partners, raised 61 million euros (see here a previous post by BeBeez). The company attracted the resources of Sofinnova Partners, Atlas Venture, Forbion and Longwood Fund. Jason Rhodes of Atlas Venture, Dmitrij Hristodorov of Forbion and David Steinberg of Longwood Fund joined the board of AAVantgarde. Alberto Auricchio founded the company that will invest such proceeds in its proof of concept (POC) first-in-man research for the Usher1B and Stargardt diseases.
Banca AideXa, the fintech bank that Roberto Nicastro and Federico Sforza founded, raised 20 million euros from its current shareholders, Confidi Artigiancredito, and SEAC (see here a previous post by BeBeez). After such a transaction, AideXa’s CET1 is of above 35%.
FlyingBasket, an Italian developer of UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) for the shipment of goods in critical areas, said that Milan-listed aerospace and defence group Leonardo acquired 10% of the business from the founders Moritz Moroder and Matthias Moroder (see here a previous post by BeBeez). Cysero also invested in FlyingBasket through the subscription of a capital increase. Sources said to BeBeez that Alessandro Errico, Leonardo’s head of Unmanned Air Systems & Services unit, joined the target’s board and that Cysero invested 2 million euros in the business for raising its 13.04% stake to 25%. FlyingBasket will now be Leonardo’s preferred supplier. The founders and the managers of FlyingBasket, Woerndle and Bheroes own 65% of the firm.
Freedome, an Italian marketplace for outdoor activities, closed a Series A round of 2.5 million (see here a previous post by BeBeez). The company attracted the resources of lead investor Opes Italia Sicaf Euveca, SocialFare Seed, Bios Line Holding, Premiaweb, EGG, LP Holding, Ad.Astra Fund, and others. Manuel Siclari, Michele Mezzanzanica, and Simone Ferlisi founded Freedome in 2019. I3P provided the startup with its incubation support. Growth Capital and Studio SZA advised Freedome which raised 3.5 million euros since its foundation and will invest the raised proceeds in its organic development and international expansion. Board members Mezzanzanica, Siclari and Alfredo Lovati appointed new directors Elena Casolari and Riccardo Zagaria.
Spain’s Mundimoto, a seller and refurbisher of second-hand bikes that belongs to P101, raised 10 million euros from lead investors Mutua Madrileña (part of Mutua Ventures) and Orilla Asset Management, P101, Autoech Ventures, and Maniv Mobility which previously joined the 2022 20 million company’s round (see here a previous post by BeBeez). Josep Talavera, the ceo of Mundimoto, said that the company will invest such proceeds in its organic growth and development.
Fabrick, and Italian fintech platform, attracted the minority investments of Italian insurer Reale Group and international payment network Mastercard (see here a previous post by BeBeez). Gruppo Sella will keep the majority of the company. Reale Group and Mastercard signed industrial partnerships with Fabrick.
Deep Blue Ventures (DBV), a deep tech venture capital of Deep Ocean Capital (DOC), raised 40.8 million euros ahead of a 70 million target (see here a previous post by BeBeez). The European Investment Fund (EIF), CDP Venture Capital, Blue Ocean Finance, and Reltaly21 poured resources in DBV which will target seed and Series A rounds. Leonardo, the European Space Agency (ESA), I3P (the incubator of Turin Polytechnic University), the Italian National Research Centre (CNR), and the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) act as industrial partners of DBV. Emilia Garito, is the chairwoman and founded DOC with Domenico Nesci, ceo.
CDP Venture Capital launched Galaxia, an Italian technology transder pole for the aerospace economy, with the support of Italia Space Venture and Obloo (see here a previous post by BeBeez). Galaxia has resources of 30 million euros and in the next four years it will invest in 30 start ups in their proof-of-concept and seed stage. Galaxia’s scientific partners are Turin Polytechnic University, Rome’s University La Sapienza, Padua University, and Bari Polytechnic University whilethe European Space Agency (ESA) and the Italian Space Agency (ISA) act as technical advisors. Obloo, Lazio Innova and I3P will coordinate the business creation programme.
