The deep tech startup, a spin-off of Milan Polytechnic University is close to break-even
Article published in BeBeez Magazine no. 33 on June 28, 2025
by Stefania Peveraro
Phononic Vibes, a deep tech spin-off of the Polytechnic University Milan that develops and markets innovative technologies for noise and vibration reduction, aims to break even between 2025 and 2026 and achieve a turnover of EUR 20 million within the next two years. Founded in 2018, it has since been supported by various business angels and venture capital investors. Next year, it could return to fundraising to finance its business development, which will also involve M&A. Luca d’Alessandro, ceo and co-founder of Phononic Vibes, told BeBeez Live, BeBeez’s web TV channel (see the video here), adding a few other interesting details on the sidelines of the video interview.
Click here the see the interview in Italia.
From left, Luca d’Alessandro, co-founder Phononic Vibes,
and Stefania Peveraro, BeBeez‘s editor in chief
Question. Phononic Vibes develops and manufactures systems and technologies that reduce vibrations and sound effects. Can you explain exactly what this involves?
Answer. We were founded as a spin-off of the Polytechnic University Milan in 2018 and we deal with metamaterials: meta comes from the Greek word meaning ‘beyond’. Basically, we take the structure of the material and make it much more effective at absorbing noise and vibrations. To give an example, we took the acoustic package of a Mercedes and reduced its weight by 50%, increasing performance by 3 decibels: so the impact of the metamaterial is that it is much more effective than soundproofing, which has not evolved in 70 or 100 years. So our task is to take all the noise and vibrations that exist in infrastructure, the automotive sector, transport, and household appliances, and convert the solutions that are currently applied with our metamaterial technology.
Q. Do you produce these metamaterials or do you only develop them?
A. Our difficulty from the outset was production, as we were essentially founded as a consulting company, a spin-off of the Polytechnic University, and therefore very interested in technology. But then customers wanted finished products, so we started outsourcing production. Then we met our strategic supplier, Matis Insonorizzazioni srl, which was in financial difficulty, a company in the Reggio Emilia area, a classic SME, whose 75-year-old founder, after 50 years in the company, could no longer cope. At that point, in 2022, we bought it and brought production in-house. In the meantime, fortunately, the business grew and we had to increase our production capacity, so we recently opened a second plant, this time in Vigano, near Milan.
Q. Let’s go back to the beginning. We said that Phononic Vibes was born as a spin-off of the Polytechnic Milan, founded not only by you, but also by Giovanni Capellari e Stefano Caverni, all three researchers at Polimi. Can you tell us how it went? And how did you manage to raise the capital you needed?
A. We founded the company in 2018 and since then we have raised a total of EUR9 million. We started in 2019 with €500k when the Poli360 fund, launched by 360 Capital together with the Polytechnic Milan, and Pantecnica, came on board (see here a previous article by BeBeez). After a couple of years, around 2020, we raised EUR2 million in a round led by Eureka! Fund I – Technology Transfer, managed by Eureka! Ventures sgr (see here a previous article by BeBeez), and then in 2022 we raised another EUR6 million in a round led by CDP Venture Capital sgr, through the Industry Tech sector of the Corporate Partners I fund (see here a previous article by BeBeez). Investors have followed us, but in the meantime, we have always had revenue, right from the start. We deal with materials, so essentially we sell square meters of solutions, because in the end, noise is very simply removed with panels.
Q. How much do you generate in revenue now? What are your goals?
A. We started with a few tens of thousands of euros, then hundreds, and then in the last 3-4 years we have made EUR1 million, EUR2 million, EUR4 million, and this year we are aiming for EUR7 million. We also expect to break even financially. We certainly won’t stop there; we want to continue to grow, and our goal for the next couple of years is to reach EUR20 million, which I believe is a benchmark figure for an Italian player serving the infrastructure, construction, and industrial sectors. After that, to be a European player, we have to aim for EUR50 million, so we definitely have to reach that goal between now and 2030.
Q. The growth achieved so far has also been due to the fact that you have bought a company. After this first acquisition, do you plan to make others?
A. Absolutely yes, the goal is to become a platform for integrating other manufacturers of traditional soundproofing solutions that we can convert to the production of metamaterials. We are going to “phononize” the historic brands in this sector and, in addition to managerial skills and a desire to drive growth, we are also going to focus on the technological aspect to optimize existing solutions by 30-40%. This will certainly be part of our growth plan in the coming years. I hope that our investors will accompany us in further rounds.
Q. When do you expect the next one? And what size are we talking about?
A. I think next year, and I would like it to be more rounded, at least ten million.
