In 2019, Italian equity crowdfunding platforms hosted campaigns that allowed 140 startups and SMEs (113 yoy) to raise 65.6 million euros (+82% from 36 million yoy), with a median fundraising of 0.469 million (320 million), said CrowdfundingBuzz (part of EdiBeez srl, the publisher of BeBeez) (see here a previous post by BeBeez). Real estate equity crowdfunding platforms in 2019 allowed to raise 16.5 million (7.7 million). Such data are very close to the outlook that EdiBeez published in October 2018 together with AIEC (Associazione Italiana Equity Crowdfunding). Fabio Allegreni, the ceo of EdiBeez and the founder of CrowdfundingBuzz, said that the results that the equity crowdfunding platforms posted at the end of 2019 are better than the 62 million that the report forecasted.
Buono Ventures, a club-deal investor in the sector of food service that pours equity tickets of 3 -30 million euros, subscribed the capital increase that Tobeme, the owner of vegan burgers brand Flower Burger, launched (see here a previous post by BeBeez). Francesco de Mojana founded Buono Ventures after having resigned from Permira at the end of 2018. Matteo Toto, the ceo and founder of Tobeme, launched Flower Burgers in 2015. Flower Burger has sales of 1.6 million euros, an ebitda of 0.206 million and net cash of 92,000 euros
At the end of December 2019, Progress Tech Transfer invested in Respectlife, a producer of high-tech fabric born at the Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo di Pavia (see here a previous post by BeBeez). Alberto Castoldi, the ceo of Respectlife, said that the company will invest the proceeds in developing the production of hospital sheets. Progress Tech Transfer has resources of 40 million euros and received the support of the European Investment Fund and of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti as part of the ITAtech programme.
Italian crowdfunding platform Fundera (part of Gruppo Frigiolini & Partners Merchant) can also place debt instruments of SMEs (See here a previous post by BeBeez). Only investors that have the requisites that Consob outlined may access to such investments, said Alessandro Costa, a director of Frigiolini & Partners Merchant. In July 2019, Fundera hosted the equity crowdfunding campaign of Italian fintech MyCreditService, who raised 0.226 million euros.
Switcho, a Milan-based fintech startup, raised a seed round of 580k euros from a pool of business angels (see here a previous post by BeBeez). The company will invest these proceeds in consolidating its presence in the fields of utility bills payments and starting to operate in the fields of payments of subscriptions, phone bills and insurance. Marco Tricarico, Redi Vyshka and Francesco Laffi are the founders of Switcho which received a pre-seed financing from merchant boutique Cenciarini & Co in March 2019 and 0.16 million from the programme Smart & Start of Invitalia.
Dishcovery, an Italian startup that translates restaurants’ menus, raised 255k euros from Primomiglio (see here a previous post by BeBeez). Franco Gonella, a board member of the investor, joined the startup as a director. Dishcovery will invest the proceeds in its organic development and for sounding the ground in France and Spain. Marco Simonini (CMO) founded Dishcovery in 2018 together with Giuliano Vita. In November 2018, the startup launched an equity crowdfunding campaign on 200Crowd with a fundraising target of 50,000 euros for a 5.56% stake on the ground of a pre-money valuation of 0.85 million euros. The company raised 0.121 million from 59 investors.
