Italian financial firms 360 Capital Partners, United Ventures and Indaco received 40 million euros from the Lombardia Venture programme of Lombardy Region (see here a previous post by BeBeez). United Ventured and Indaco will get 15 million each and 360 Capital Partners, a company that Fausto Boni created, will attract 10 million. Massimiliano Magrini and Paolo Gesess launched United Ventures. Indaco belongs to the former managers of Intesa SanPaolo Venture Capital (51%), Futura Invest and Intesa SanPaolo (49%). The programme also attracted the interest of Primo Ventures, P101, Fondo Italiano d’Investimento, and Vertis. Gessyca Golia is the manager in charge of releasing the resources.
Soul-K (fka Soul Kitchen), a B2B foodtech scaleup, raised equity and debt facilities worth a total of 20.5 million euros (see here a previous post by BeBeez). CDP Venture Capital, LIFTT and SIMEST‘s venture capital arm poured 6 million in the company. Azimut Libera Impresa‘s vehicles AZ ELTIF – ALIcrowd and AZ ELTIF Venture Capital Alicrowd and Al.Ma Food, a firm of Marco Di Giusto and Alessandro Pedone, invested 4 million in the business. Soul-K attracted a further 3 million in equity from Innogest, TAN Food, Levante Capital SIS, and Rilancio Startup. The company is also going to raise 1 million through an equity crowdfunding campaign on MamaCrowd. BancaTer and Fondo Frie (a vehicle of Friuli Venezia Giulia Region) made available 7.5 milion credit lines for Soul-K.
BonusX, a brand of Italian startup SimplifAI Ted, raised seed facilities worth 3.2 million euros from UK Giant Ventures, Exceptional Ventures, 2100 Ventures, Exor Ventures, Raffaele Terrone, and other business angels (see here a previous post by BeBeez). Giovanni Pizza (ceo) and Fabrizio Pinci founded SimplifAI Ted in 2020. Cameron McLain is a co-founder and managing partner of Giant Ventures.
Bridge Insurance Services, an Italian insurtech startup that owns the brand ViteSicure, attracted a 2 million euros bridge round from Fondo Rilancio Startup (part of CDP Venture Capital), Apside (a joint venture of Intesa SanPaolo and Digital Magics), business angels, Reale Mutua Assicurazioni, and other investors (see here a previous post by BeBeez). Eleonora Del Vento (ceo) and Alessandro Turra are the founders of ViteSicure that is mulling for raising a Series A round in 2024. The company born in 2020 will invest such proceeds in AI and its organic growth.
Futurenext, the owner of Zakeke (a cloud platform for the e-commerce sector) raised 2 million euros from Berrier Capital wich signed a SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity), a contract that allowes the investor to receive shares in the company at a set date if new investors will pour further resources in the business (see here a previous post by BeBeez). Zakeke retained Studio Legale Casella & Associati while Berrier Capital received assistance from Studio Legale Greenberg Traurig Santa Maria. Stefano Venturi, the formere ceo of Hewlett Packard Enterprise Italia and of Cisco Systems Italia, joined Zakeke’s board of directors.
Data Masters received 0.2 million euros from Primo Ventures (see here a previous post by BeBeez). Luigi Congedo, Francesco Cipriani and Vincenzo Maritati are the founders the Bari-based company that earlier in May attracted 0.65 million from Zanichelli Venture and other investors. Andrea Pili and Salvo Giammarresi joined Data Masters as directors.
P101 acquired Principia‘s 24.5% stake in Citynews, an Italian publisher of local news such as MilanoToday and RomaToday (see here a previous post by BeBeez). The company also belongs to Micheli e Associati (24.5%), Luca Lani (24%), Ferdinando Diana (18%), and Strategy (9%). In 2011, Principia carried-on a double tranched investment of 4.5 miIIion euros in Citynews which has sales of 20.3 million, an ebitda of 2.8 million, net profits of above 0.35 million euros, net cash of 4.6 million, and equity of 8.7 million.
Redcoil, the owner of haircare brand I Love Riccio, closed a capital increase of undisclosed amount that Equilybra X subscribed with the fnancing support of Unicredit (see here a previous post by BeBeez). Equilybra X received assistance from Studio Legale Di Gravio while Studio Legale Pavia e Ansaldo, Stefano Oddo, Studio Legale Grimaldi Alliance advised Redcoil, a company that Fulvio Tirrico founded in 2015 and that has sales of 3.9 million euros, an ebitda of 1.4 million and net cash of 1.1 million. The company will invest the raised proceeds in opening 15 shops in Italy in the next 3 years. Equilybra X is a club deal platform that Matteo Gatti (chairman) and Paolo Prati (ceo) created. Earlier in February, Equilybra X launched a 5 million euros capital increase. The firm belongs to Marco Caleffi (5.8%), Isabella Seragnoli (5.8%), the Coppini Family(5.8%), Micheli Associati (4.64%), Stefano Rossetti, Marco Palmieri, Marina Bastianello, Francesco Carbonetti, and Giuseppe Bazoli.
INTA Systems, a medtech spin-off of Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa and Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche Istituto Nanoscienze di Pisa (CNR-NANO), raised seed facilities of 2 million euros (see here a previous post by BeBeez). The company attracted the resources of Eureka! Venture and its partners LIFTT and Deep Ocean Capital. Eureka! retained Hilex while LIFTT and Deep Ocean Capital appointed Studio Legale Sani Zangrando. Lorenzo Carboni assisted INTA Systems, a company that Matteo Agostini, PhD, Marco Cecchini, PhD, and Marco Calderisi, PhD founded in 2020.
Italian-British nuclear energy company newcleo signed a partnership with Tosto Group for the production of industrial components (see here a previous post by BeBeez). Tosto Group has sales of above 200 million euros.
Space it Up, a Houston-based acceleration programme of Italy’s foreign trade agency ICE, Agenzia per la promozione all’estero e l’internazionalizzazione delle imprese italiane and Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI) launched with USA’s Space Foundation, will support six startups (see here a previous post by BeBeez). Matteo Zoppas is the chairman of ICE. Kelli Kedis Ogborn is Space Foundation vicepresident. The companies that will join the programme are:
- Arca Dynamics, an Italian producer of nanosatellites;
- Delta Space Leonis, a producer of picosatellites;
- Involve Space, the developer of Stratostats, a technology for aerial data collection, and of AI software Neurostar;
- Nabu, an integrated data-based platform for irrigation systems that is also part of the ESA-BIC (European Space Agency) incubation programme;
- Novac, a developer of supercondensers;
- T4i, Padova, a spin-off of Padua University for the development of propulsion systems
Matteo Campaner, the coo of Vittoria Assicurazioni, is the new chairman of Vittoria hub, an Italian insurtech incubator born in 2019 (see here a previous post by BeBeez). Vittoria hub also said it will support the following companies:
- 99bros, an AI-based broker that ceo Claudio Cancellieri founded in 2020;
- Helpet, an Italian petcare company with blockchain technology;
- RE.DOCTOR, an US-based health tech app;
- CupSolidale, a tool for the comparison of healthcare services that will act as Vittoria hub partner;
- OnValue, an Insurtech that will act as Vittoria hub partner
Sources said to BeBeez that Lara Puglisi and Alessandro Braga created Teelent Art, a marketplace for art that received a three-years incubation support from You Can Company (see here a previous post by BeBeez). The company belongs to Puglisi (25%), Braga (46%), Guido Monferrini (25%), and to Paolo Giolito (4%).
