Primomiglio SGR adopts the new Primo Ventures brand (www.primo.vc) and launches Primo Digital, a new 80 million Euro fund that will continue to focus on Italian start-ups with particular attention to the software, digital retail, cybersecurity sectors , fintech and blockchain focused on seed and early stage investments in entrepreneurial teams that intend to build champions in their reference sectors.
“The goal is to start with the first closing and with investments by the end of the year – declared Gianluca Dettori, President of Primo Ventures – Primo Digital will continue with the investment strategy already implemented by Barcamper Ventures and Barcamper Ventures Lazio, which is offering very promising signals in terms of effectiveness and performance. We specialize in supporting a startup from the seed / early stage to the growth stages and we will continue to oversee this segment that we believe is one of the most interesting. The ideal investment will be in operations from 500 thousand up to 2 million euros, with a strong concentration of the fund on follow-on investments within the portfolio ».
The new Primo Digital fund will invest mainly in Italy, but a portion of investments will be reserved abroad, particularly in Europe and the United States, especially in co-investment with other foreign venture capital funds, expanding the network of international relations to give support for companies that will be able to scale faster in global markets.
With the launch in August 2020 of the Primo Space Fund, an 80 million Euro fund specialized in investments in the new space economy, Primo Ventures has adapted its governance and investment process, with the aim of creating solid venture capital organizations technology specialized in the various investment sectors of the SGR. To date, Primo Ventures manages, in addition to the Primo Space Fund, Barcamper Ventures and Barcamper Ventures Lazio (the latter carries out co-investment transactions with Barcamper Ventures in companies based in Lazio). The main investors of the aforementioned funds include CDP Ventures, European Investment Fund, Fondo Italiano Investimento, Lazio Innova, Compagnia di Sanpaolo, Banca Sella, Confindustria Emilia Area Centro, Fondazione di Sardegna, Fondazione Carisbo, Fondazione Puglia, the Reale Mutua group, HDI Insurance companies, several family offices as well as partners and the SGR itself.
«Primo Ventures today is able to offer our partners a clear diversification in investment strategies on alternative assets – underlined Antonio Concolino, Chief Executive Officer of Primo Ventures – the digital and space sector are both extremely interesting industries, in strong growth and transformation. , but with different and complementary characteristics. Our company has also adopted a code of ethics and started the adaptation of its investment processes in order to take into account within the year also the ESG criteria in the selection of potential investments ».
The technology startup sector in Italy is growing and in 2020, despite Covid, it reached a new investment record, with many significant operations, including four portfolio companies of Barcamper Ventures (Cortilia, Cubbit, Codemotion and Brandon) which collected altogether over 50 million euros during the past year. To date, the companies invested by Primo Ventures funds have over 500 employees and venture capital in Italy is proving to be not only a good financial investment but also a fundamental driver for development.