Alessandro Benetton lancia 2100 Ventures
Alessandro Benetton officially presented his new “creature” in Milan, 2100 Ventures, dedicated to supporting startups and young Italian and European founders. The event took place at the 21 House of Stories Navigli, a hybrid hospitality facility promoted by the Benetton family. The philosophy of 2100 Ventures is based on the idea of offering not only financing, but also the entrepreneurial experience of the Benetton family and access to a large industrial network in various sectors. During the event, the important theme of the contamination of ideas in view of a new era of industrial innovation was discussed.
The panel discussion on the venture capital ecosystem in Italy and Europe involved leading figures from the sector, including Cameron McLain, co-founder and managing partner of Giant Ventures, Adil Bouhdadi, co-founder of Autone, Danila De Stefano , founder of UnoBravo, and Andrea Gennarini, co-founder and managing partner of 2100 Ventures. The moderator of the panel was Inès Makula, author of the digital entrepreneurship podcast “Made IT”.
2100 Ventures is the result of the collaboration between Alessandro Benetton and three young professionalsi with experience in the financial sector and international venture capital. The team, made up of Andrea Gennarini, Andrea Casasco and Andrea Gurnari, is supported by authoritative advisors such as Luca Ascani, Stefano Bernardi and Raffaele Terrone. The initiative, based in London and Milan, is one capital endowment of 30 million euros, aims to strengthen the links between the Italian and European venture capital ecosystem. The team will work with the best international venture capitalists to attract foreign investments in the most promising Italian startups, also facilitating European founders’ access to the Italian and Southern European markets.
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What makes 2100 Ventures unique is the young age of the managing partners, the vast industrial network focused on Southern Europe and an entrepreneurial approach with solid international experience. The company will invest between 250 thousand and 750 thousand euros to acquire a 1% to 5% stake in early-stage European startups (pre-seed, seed and Series A). So far, 2100 Ventures has made six investments, partnering with renowned venture capital funds such as Seedcamp, Speedinvest, Giant Ventures, Collaborative Fund, Kima Ventures and Y Combinator. The startups in the portfolio include Jet HR, Autone and BonusX.
“Europe is about to experience a new era of industrial innovation – comments Alessandro Benetton – cWe are looking for entrepreneurs who dream big and who challenge difficulties with stubborn optimism. 2100 Ventures was created to support these companies, to help the many young founders of the various sectors, especially Italian ones. We want to be a pan-European investor with an Italian heart.”
“We are already working to reduce the gap that currently exists between the Italian and foreign technological ecosystems. For this reason, We thank Alessandro for being the first person to believe in the project and for being a continuous source of inspiration and support”, is the comment of the 2100 Ventures team Andrea Gennarini, Andrea Casasco and Andrea Gurnari.
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