(this text was updated on 1 February 2022 at 14.53)
The argument startup is more and more current in Italy: many are born, many reach success, many show that even in our country this can be a way to do business. It is a topic that we care a lot here on Italian Tech: in 2021 we have created our Startup Database to collect and catalog them and this year we have decided to do more, creating this page to keep together all the news concerning them.
We could not do otherwise, also seen how the market is growing: 723 million euros of investments in startups in 2019, just under 700 million in 2020, more than 1.3 billion in 2021 are numbers that confirm the growth trends of the world of innovation in Italy. What we want to offer you here is a look at the present, a roll of more interesting news in the ecosystem of Italian startups, yes, with a focus on financing rounds, but including the milestones, the most important partnerships and news on innovation.
Day after day, month after month, we will continue to enrich it with the latest news, which we will put on top of the others from time to time, so as to offer an always updated picture of the situation.
January
Philip Morris Italia – 01/02/2022. The second edition of BeLeaf: Be The Future, Philip Morris Italia’s call for startups to make the tobacco supply chain increasingly sustainable and digitized. Created with Almacube, the call is aimed at startups, spin-offs and SMEs that have developed technologies and solutions applicable to the agritech sector and in particular for everything related to the cultivation, harvesting and processing of tobacco. The deadline for submitting applications online is February 25, 2022. WHO to apply.
Amazon – 31/01/2022. Amazon and EIT Climate-KIC, a European community that wants to fight climate change through innovation, have also launched in Italy (and in the rest of Europe) Amazon Launchpad Sustainability Accelerator, a twelve-week program created to support startups developing sustainable products. The selected startups will receive an economic incentive of 12 thousand euros as a grant. The deadline for applications is March 25, 2022: the selected participants will be announced in the spring.
Ministry of Economic Development – 28/01/2022. The Ministry of Economic Development has allocated a package of measures to support and strengthen investments in innovative startups and SMEs with over 2.5 billion euros, to foster the growth of an innovation ecosystem and accompany the processes of ecological and digital transition. The MISE has allocated resources to Cdp Venture Capital SGR. Cdp Venture Capital will therefore have at its disposal the 2 billion euros allocated by the ministry in implementation of the infrastructure decree, to which will be added 550 million of resources provided for by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR). Another 600 million will be allocated by CDP and third party investors.
D-Orbit – 28/01/2022. D-Orbit, an Italian space transport and services company, will go public on Wall Street thanks to the business combination with Spac Breeze Holdings Acquisition Corp, listed on Nasdaq, in a deal worth 1.28 billion dollars. WHO the data sheet on the Italian Tech db. WHO the news in the American press.
InnovHeart – 28/01/2022 – InnovHeart is a medtech startup that deals with new systems for transcatheter replacement of the mitral valve. Founded in 2015 by Giovanni Righini and based in Milan (it also has offices in Boston), it closed a $ 55 million C round of financing. The round was led by Grand Pharmaceutical Group Limited (Grand Pharma), a company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with the participation of Genextra, Panakes Partners and Indaco Venture Partners. The company closed a 20 million round with Genextra, Panakes Partners, Cdp Venture Capital and Indaco Venture Partners in 2020. WHO the data sheet on the Italian Tech db.
Apparound – 27/01/2022. Apparound, a company founded in Pisa in 2008 that develops software for the management of sales processes, has closed a round of 9 million euros with Italian Investment Fund SGR, through the Italian Technology and Growth Fund (“FITEC”). Which the card on The Italian Startup Database by Italian Tech.
PAGE – 27/01/2022. CASE closed a 3 million round led by CoinFund, Eden Block and Animoca Brands. HAL, founded in London in 2021 by Marco De Rossi and Manlio Poltronieri, has developed a digital asset management platform for developers, protocols and companies to query, activate, monitor and automate blockchain data.
winter – 26/01/2022. Exit per wintertime, Italian ecommerce of used cars, at km 0 and long-term rental, founded by Francesco Banfi in 2016. Cazoo Holdings Ltd, a British auto ecommerce listed on the NYSE, took over the company, for € 80 million.
Covers – 26/01/2022. Covering is a startup that has developed a digital platform to support insurance intermediaries. Founded in 2021 by Alberto Mazzetti, Giuliano Messina and Umberto Lentini, it closed a pre-seed financing round of 500 thousand euros.
Dovevivo – 01/26/2022. Where I live, a co-living company founded in 2007 by Valerio Fonseca and William Maggio (he has a portfolio of about 10 thousand beds in 15 cities in Europe), closed a € 50 million round led by Starwood Capital Group, an investment fund specializing in the real estate sector.
Young Platform – 26/01/2022. Young Platform, a fintech startup based in Turin (founded in 2018) focused on the cryptocurrency market, has acquired Arithmos Trading Ltd., a London-based company (founded in 2020 by Edoardo Degli Innocenti and Matteo Meinardi) specializing in the development of automatic trading systems (they process multiple sources of information at very high speed to maximize profit, minimizing risk and human intervention). Which the data sheet on the Italian Tech db.
WordLift – 26/01/2022. WordLift, a startup founded in 2017 that developed a platform based on Artificial Intelligence for the optimization of websites on search engines, has closed an investment round of 800 thousand euros with the venture capital fund Primo Ventures SGR SpA, which has invested through the Barcamper Ventures and Barcamper Ventures Lazio funds.
Moneyfarm – 01/26/2022. Moneyfarm closed a 53 million investment round with Poste Italiane and M&G. For the society by Giovanni Daprà and Paolo Galvani the overall collection thus rises to 166 million.
Roboze – 25/01/2022. Roboze, an Italian-American 3D printing company founded in Bari in 2013 by Alessio Lorusso, has closed a million-euro round with a pool of international investors.
Cellply – 25/01/2022. CellPly, a startup founded in Bologna in 2013 by Massimo Bocchi and Roberto Guerrieri and specialized in solutions in the field of medical bioengineering, has closed a new capital increase of 810 thousand euros led by Schia Ventures. In December 2021 it had closed a 2 million euro round led by LIFTT and the partners of Italian Angels for Growth.
Leonardo – 25/01/2021. Leonardo launched, in collaboration with LVenture Group, his Business Innovation Factory (BIF), startup accelerator and at the same time the first call for startups. The accelerator, which will be based at the LVenture Group Hub in Rome’s Termini Station, will select 10 startups per year for the next three years, looking for innovative solutions in the Aerospace, Defense and Security sectors.
CreationDose – 25/01/2021. CreationDose, a startup that provides digital marketing services (creates digital conversations between brands and new generations), has closed a 1 million round with the Startup Relaunch Fund managed by CDP Venture Capital SGR. The company was founded in 2018 by Alessandro La Rosa, Raffaele Barone, Antonio Puleo and Jacopo Paoletti.
Techstars – 24/01/2021. Techstars presented the twelve new startups of the acceleration program focused on Smart Cities, investing in companies from all over Europe that want to change the way we live, with new solutions for transport, housing, energy, infrastructure, but also for employment and basic services such as education and health care.
Folks Finance – 24/01/2022. Folks Finance, is a Milan-based fintech startup that deals with loans based on the Algorand blockchain protocol, has closed a $ 3 million round led by Borderless Capital.
Seares – 24/01/2021. Tuscan startup active in the nautical accessories sector, Seares closed a round of 900 thousand euros, led by the Startup Relaunch Fund (managed by Cdp Venture Capital SGR). The company was founded in 2018 by Giorgio Cucè.
Primo Ventures – 19/01/2022. First Ventures closed three new investments of its venture capital fund Barcamper Ventures Lazio (?? established in partnership with the Lazio Region and Lazio Innova SpA): Instakitchen, a startup active in the urban smart kitchen sector, Word lift, company, software that develops semantic SEO solutions, e Find Beers, a marketplace for Italian craft beers. To date, Barcamper Ventures Lazio has invested 3 million on seven companies in the first three years of activity. The other companies are Codemotion, community of software developers, PharmaPrime, mobile application that delivers medicines at home, PunchLab, app for combat sports with a strong presence in the United States e VIS, an online health services platform.
Socialfood – 19/01/2022. Glovo Italia, the Italian subsidiary of the Spanish scale-up for home delivery of food, has signed an agreement for the acquisition of 100% of Socialfood, a food delivery startup founded in 2013 in Palermo by Giovanni Imburgia and Guglielmo Brino.
Thinkinside – 19/01/2021. Startup specialized in services enabled by indoor localization, Thinkinside closed a one million euro round underwritten by the Startup Relaunch Fund, managed by Cdp Venture Capital SGR, and Add Value, a company of the AVM Group dedicated to investments in club deals in private equity, venture capital and real estate. The company is based in Milan and was founded in 2015 by Iacopo Carreras.
Poke House – 17/01/2022. Italian foodtech founded in 2018 by Matteo Pichi and Vittoria Zanetti, Poke House continues its international expansion and invests in Sweetfin, a Californian company known for being the first to bring poke to the United States.
Redo – 10/01/2022. Ocs acquired Redo, a Mobile Instant Lending platform and launches the first fully mobile micro consumer credit solution in Europe.
Skinlabo – 10/01/2022. Skinlabo is a startup that produces in Italy and sells high-end cosmetic products and beauty consultancy services online throughout Europe. The company, founded at the end of 2016 in Turin by Angelo Muratore, closed a 6 million round led by 8a + Real Innovation.
December
Environment Friendly Innovation Award 2021 – 12/15/2021. The seventeenth edition of the Environment Friendly Innovation Award 2021, national competition dedicated to environmental innovation, promoted by Legambiente in partnership con Groupama Insurance. The award is aimed at startups, university and corporate spin-offs, and this year for the first time, it has also been extended to innovative small and medium-sized enterprises with an environmental and social vocation.