The goal is to bring venture capital investments in Italy to 9 billion within three years. Ambitious, considering that in the rosiest of hypotheses this year approximately 2.5 billion will be invested in startups. But possible. The data from Cassa Depositi e Prestiti. This is confirmed by the group’s commitment to making this sector of the country’s economy grow. “Venture capital is one of the key elements of CDP’s strategy. Today we are still behind France and Germany on venture capital investments. But we know that it can be recovered.” He is the CEO of the group, Dario Scannapiecoindicating Cdp’s strategy.
In January 2020 the group launched CDP Venture capital. An initial endowment of 230 million. Today it has grown to 1.8 billion, with 938 million investments made in the first year and a half. An accelerator for the Italian venture capital industry, which took its first steps in the early 2000s. But so far it has had difficulty in recovering the lost ground compared to the main European countries. “In Italy there are still few specialized asset management companies. And the funds are too small. Now is the time to change pace, increase the number of funds, their size, and attract capital from abroad”, adds the manager. in video link from Rome, during a meeting with the press in the Indro Montanelli room of the Milan office of the company.
Resmini: “Our action aims at the entire life cycle of a startup”
Password: closing the gap. Reaching 9 billion of investments in startups between own resources and leverage effect. 0.5% of the Italian gross domestic product. But how? Three directions. The CEO of Cdp Venture capital lists them, Enrico’s Picture: “Attracting capital, convincing investors to invest with CDP; developing infrastructures, such as tech transfer poles and startup accelerators; and making the stories of these companies known to investors, making them understand what they are and why betting on them is a good investment “. In detail, browsing through the data presented by the group’s director of sectoral strategies, Andrea Montanino, Cdp has calculated that on average for every euro invested by the group, 2.7 are those that come from other funds. It is the leverage effect on which the group has focused from the beginning.
22 venture capital funds financed so far, money that CDP goes to asset management companies to increase their firepower in startup investments. And then there are the 18 acceleration programs launched. 5 poles of technology transfer. “Our action is on the entire life cycle of the startup. From the idea to the listing”, adds Resmini.
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The model is what was done in France. “President Emmanuel Macron made it a startup nation. 10 years ago they started from a situation very similar to ours. Then there was a great growth,” he adds. And the subsidiary of the Ministry of Economy today intends to do what Bpi France did in France. Become a driver of this type of investment. “All this is in line with our industrial plan. We said we would try to build ecosystems where Italy still had gaps. And venture capital was one of our gaps. There is an active innovative industry in Italy. These are exciting entrepreneurial stories, which must be known and supported “, explains Scannapieco.
A peculiarity compared to the French model. Cdp has decided to focus more directly on startups active in advanced research sectors. The deep tech, deep technologies, sometimes complex, often the result of university research, of solutions born in laboratories. “This is where the true heritage of Italian industry hides. It is there that we believe there is still largely untapped potential. And our role as CDP is to make it emerge and make it a driving force for economic growth”, adds Resmini.
Scannapieco: “Italy is not in happy decline. We are a dynamic nation”
Among the startups in which Cdp has already invested directly (250) stand out companies that deal with advanced solutions in the energy, environmental, financial technologies, mobility and health fields. “We believe it is important for Italy to invest in those areas”, explains Resmini, responding to our magazine. “It takes 18 months to develop a blockchain-based app. To develop a molecule in the laboratory, up to 5 years. We have to support technologies that need more time and funds to establish themselves,” she adds.
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There was a time when startup meant creating the Airbn of, or the Uber for. Today that time has passed. Italy has its own specificity. It has few raw materials, but an industrial fabric capable of producing everything and a university among the top eight in the world. In the words of Scannapieco, “there is quality, there is industry and there are entrepreneurs able to get involved and assert themselves. Italy is not the country of happy decline, but a dynamic nation”.