Startup in the foreground of the Meloni government plan
Five hundred and fifty million venture capital is already available. They are funded by Ministry of Business and Made in Italy with community resources within the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. For the venture capital firm, LVenture group, one of the major Italian operators in the sector, this is certainly a very positive sign. But it is important that the government does more. Such as, for example, also involving pension funds, insurance companies and social security funds in venture capital investments. Also because, with the green house regulations on the way, bricks and mortar risk absorbing many resources without necessarily guaranteeing the returns necessary to supplement the pensions of current workers.
Venture capital is the industry capital of the future
For this according to the number one of LVenture group, Luigi Capello, “from an industrial policy point of view it must be the first pillar as it is today in France”. According to the manager, who is one of the pioneers in the sector, “we need more attention from politics on this type of investment”. “In the last two years, in particular, there has been an acceleration. We had a year-over-year doubling of investments. In 2022 about 1.8 billion were invested in start-ups. An interesting fact is that around 40% of these capitals are international capitals” underlines Capello.
An important role has taken him Cdp venture capital which has about ten initiatives in progress along the entire venture capital chain. The point is that the timing of money transmission to startups is still long compared to the investment needs of innovative companies.
For this reason, the funds that arrive with the Pnrr are particularly attractive. “We are already in dialogue with the two funds. They are very interesting because they come invested quickly, by 2026Capello explains. “For this reason we expect an acceleration on the market. The other market that we have seen moving in recent times are large companies. In recent times, too, they have begun to focus on innovative startups”.
There are three pivots around which the development of tomorrow’s companies revolves
“For a couple of years we have been witnessing a change in the market whereby we are witnessing the arrival in Italy of international capital on innovative start-ups, a more active role of Cdp and finally corporates. Right now the sector has rosy prospects ”he explains. Also because at this stage the banks are under pressure and are more careful when granting loans to companies. “In theory, a bank shouldn’t give money to srtar-ups, but it should be the bank. It happens to some extent because there is a guarantee of Central Mediocredito. But what should be done is involve pension funds because they have a long-term view. Small quotas would be enough compared to the enormous availability of social security funds ”she concludes.
But aren’t there any risks for the coffers money, especially after the Svb crack?
For Capello, it is an unfounded anxiety. “In any bank, if everyone asks for their money back, it’s going to crash. The problem of Silicon Valley bank (Svb) it’s not an asset problem, i.e. I lent the money and I can’t get it back. But the problem is that at a certain point trust failed and the race for deposits started. That is, there was a liquidity problem, not arrivals. But it can happen. We are seeing it with Swiss credit” conclude.
After all, social security institutions have a large part of their investments in bricks and mortar and risk a blow from the new legislation on green bricks brought about by Brussels. “If the brick is to be regenerated, it will require a lot of investment” he concludes. Also for this reason, from his point of view, it would be better for the social security funds to bet more on innovative startups that move in a temporal perspective similar to that of pension funds.