Lingotto Investment Management, a subsidiary of Exor, led the 120 million euros series B round of Neura Robotics, a German startup (see here a previous post by BeBeez). The company also attracted the resources of BlueCrest Capital Management, Volvo Cars Tech Fund, InterAlpen Partners, Vsquared Ventures, HV Capital, Delta Electronics, C4 Ventures, L-Bank, the founder David Reger, and other investors. Neura will invest such resources in R&D and its international growth.
Italian scaleup Bending Spoons, a developer of apps for mobile devices, sold a 1.3% stake to London’s venture capital Highland Europe, a firm that Fergal Mullen and Irena Goldenberg created (see here a previous post by BeBeez). The fund invested 40 million euros in the deal. Bending Spoons further shareholders are Nb Renaissance, Startip (part of Milan-listed Tamburi Investment Partners), Nuo Capital (a vehicle of Exor and Wwicl), Cox Enterprises, Durable Capital Partners, and Baillie Gifford (6% of the business and 8% voting rights). The founders Francesco Patarnello, Luca Ferrari, Matteo Danieli, and Luca Querella have 48% of the business in aggregate and 66% of voting rights. Press items said that Red Circle Investments and Zedef sold their stakes in Bendong Spoons.
Onepix Academy, an Italian developer of AI-based chatbot systems, attracted a 0.5 million euros SAFE (Subscription Agreement for Future Equity) investment from Milan-listed publisher Simone (see here a previous post by BeBeez). Onepix will sell a stake of at least a 10%. Alessandro Lai (ceo) and Roberto Marras (cto) founded the company in 2024 and received 0.470 million from Smart&Start – Invitalia. Luca Misso is the ceo ofSimone which will also provide Onepix with proprietary contents.
Italian Hiro Robotics attracted an undisclosed investment of Levante Capital (see here a previous post by BeBeez). Nexia Audirevi Transaction & Advisory and Studio Irrera – Avvocati Associati assisted Hiro Robotics while Levante Capital hired Fivers Studio Legale e Tributario. Davide Labolani, Tomaso Manca, Jacopo Lottero, and Michele Olivieri founded Hiro Robotics in 2018. The company develops systems for the management of electronic waste and will invest the proceeds of Levante Capital’s investment in its R&D and and expansion in Europe and Asia.
Next4, a financial holding, acquired 51% of WDA, an Italian venture builder that ceo Roberto Macina and Mario Costanzo created, and signed an agreement for acquiring the remaining 49% of the firm at 5X the expected ebitda for 2027 (see here a previous post by BeBeez). Valentina Iannucci will head WDA.
