This episode explores Italian startups, venture capital, deep tech, robotics, AI cybersecurity, and European scale-up financing at the close of 2025. The hosts break down how Italian startups reached approximately €1.4B in raised capital, driven by a strong Q4 and increased deep-tech momentum. A major focus is Generative Bionics, a humanoid robotics spin-off from the Italian Institute of Technology, highlighting the rise of physical AI and industrial robotics applications. The discussion then shifts to AI-driven cybersecurity, emphasizing continuous automated security testing as a response to increasingly sophisticated AI-powered attacks. The episode also analyzes a €70M European Investment Bank scale-up debt deal, showing how hybrid debt-equity instruments are reshaping European growth financing. Throughout the conversation, the speakers underline a “European-first” scaling mindset and the strategic importance of coordinated public-private capital deployment. The episode closes with reflections on upcoming opportunities in space tech and European innovation ecosystems.
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The hosts start by reviewing how Italian startup funding is rebounding toward €1.5B and why that matters versus previous years. They then dive into Bending Spoons’ $500M acquisition of Eventbrite at roughly a 90% premium, unpacking why a flat-revenue, legacy events platform can still be a powerful margin-optimization play. The conversation moves to Shop Circle’s $100M credit facility and how “acquire, optimize, hold” might become a distinctly European scaling archetype, different from hyperscale VC rounds. They debate whether debt-backed acquisition platforms can become a true alternative to traditional venture capital for profitable but non-hyperscaling companies stuck in “European limbo.” From there, the episode shifts into the future of SEO in an AI-first world, contrasting monitoring tools with execution platforms powered by agents. The guests argue that agent-driven execution is far stickier than pure analytics, because it embeds directly into creators’ and brands’ workflows. Finally, they highlight ontology and structured, machine-readable brand memory as the real long-term moat for SEO in an era where AI agents, not humans, increasingly navigate the web.
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The hosts start by recapping Slush, explaining why it remains one of Europe’s top startup events and how to get real value by planning meetings and side events early. They then dive into the hot question of whether we’re in an AI bubble, debating if and when it might burst and whether investors can realistically stay long innovation while trying to short the AI trade. The conversation shifts to Italy, highlighting how 2025 is shaping up as one of the strongest years ever for Italian VC with robust round volumes. A major focus is a biotech spinoff from Imperial College working on biopesticides, leveraging more than 15 years of gene-editing research and tailwinds from EU plans to cut chemical pesticide use by 2030, backed by new climate-tech fund Algebris. They also cover a deep-tech water measurement startup that uses cosmic neutrons to monitor soil moisture and water flows, opening applications in agriculture, drought management, landslide prevention and leakage detection in city infrastructure. Finally, they unpack the rise of defense tech and dual-use technologies in Europe, including a large new European defense and security fund supported by the European Investment Fund, and reflect on what this means for future Italian dealflow.
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The hosts discuss how Italy crossed the €1.2 billion equity fundraising threshold, driven by major players such as Bending Spoons and rapidly growing biotech companies. They explore AAVantgarde Bio’s €122M Series B round, highlighting its gene therapy innovation and strong international investor mix. The conversation then shifts to Atoptronics, a robotics spin-off developing electrostatic gripping technology with applications in space, logistics, and manufacturing. The hosts emphasize the rising quality of Italian deep-tech and how university spin-offs are becoming viable global contenders. Finally, they unpack TPG’s €1B offer for Nexi’s digital banking assets, analyzing valuation dynamics, interest-rate correlations, golden-power risks, and why the timing could be strategic for TPG. The episode concludes by noting how Italy’s tech landscape is maturing across biotech, robotics, and fintech.
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This episode dives into Bending Spoons, venture capital, startup financing, and crypto infrastructure. The hosts analyze Bending Spoons’ massive $270 million growth round and $2.8 billion debt package, which push its valuation to $11 billion. They unpack how the mix of primary and secondary capital offers liquidity to early shareholders while fueling global expansion and M&A — including the acquisition of AOL. The discussion compares Bending Spoons to Canada’s Constellation Software, highlighting key differences in consumer vs B2B roll-up models and integration strategies. The conversation then shifts to Hercle, a crypto infrastructure startup that raised $10 million equity and a $50 million credit facility from F-Prime Capital, Fidelity’s venture arm. The hosts note how both Bending Spoons and Hercle blend equity with debt to scale faster and attract institutional investors. They close by discussing Italy’s emerging role in tech and how global funds are finally recognizing its innovation ecosystem.
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The episode discusses Caracol’s $40M Series B round, Europe-wide venture capital momentum, and deep-tech additive manufacturing. The hosts underline how Italian startups must stop thinking locally and begin raising from pan-European investors early to scale properly. They highlight Omnes and Move Capital as examples of sophisticated European deep-tech investors backing the deal. The conversation then dives into Caracol’s industrial 3D printing traction — especially a 77% cost reduction in marine parts via additive manufacturing pilots, and the shift from polymer to metal. They stress that this deal is not another AI SaaS hype wave but a “real-tech, atoms-not-bits” case. The episode also covers Maia Ventures’ €55M food/agri-tech fund launch as a counter-cyclical signal in the Italian market. Finally, they discuss whether Europe will match last year’s overall VC deployment, and how deal announcements often lag closing dates, causing misleading end-of-year “spikes.”
Niccolò's newsletter: http://dealflowit.niccolosanarico.com/Watch on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@giacomomolloListen to all episodes on audio:Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3fVynsQGoogle Podcast: https://bit.ly/3thf9RCApple Podcast: https://apple.co/3ElhykqAmazon Music: https://shorturl.at/9Dtd9Get in touch:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/giacxxxTwitter: https://twitter.com/giacomomolloEmail: giacomo@in3.ventures#venturecapital #italy #startup
This episode dives into the week’s biggest startup, tech, and venture-capital stories: Cyberwave, Eoliann, Arduino’s Qualcomm deal, and Italy’s new pension-fund VC law.
The hosts unpack how Cyberwave’s €7 million seed round shows the rise of digital-twin infrastructure for testing industrial robotics safely before real-world deployment.
They then explore Eoliann’s €4.25 million raise, combining satellite data and climate-risk modeling for insurance and infrastructure investors—a sign that space-data startups are entering finance.
Next, they analyze Qualcomm’s acquisition of Arduino, a historic shift that bridges the open-hardware movement with corporate edge-AI power, potentially letting makers build commercial-grade products faster.
The discussion expands to robotics, AI hardware, and the new generation of founders with exits moving into deep tech.
Finally, they break down Italy’s Decreto 95/2025, which lets pension funds invest up to 10 percent in VC by 2027 with tax exemptions.
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The episode focuses on a number of Series A rounds, spotlighting Lexroom’s €16M for AI-assisted legal drafting, Serenis’ €12M amid explosive revenue growth, and Lupa’s €20M veterinary operating system. We argue vertical, domain-trained AI is winning where complexity is high, with “proof of love” (user delight) emerging as the decisive product metric. We highlight increasingly international syndicates and urge Italian founders to pitch EU and US investors from day zero to avoid later-stage bottlenecks. Roman-law commonalities make Lexroom’s expansion across continental Europe logical, while Lupa’s workflow unification underscores ROI-driven adoption. Serenis’ B2B wellness surge signals corporate readiness to fund mental-health infrastructure. Finally, we caution that bold “enterprise value” figures are mostly unrealized, so outcomes hinge on eventual distributions, not headlines.
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Highly syndicated rounds with more international investors backing Italian and European startups. We discuss TIP’s markup implying Bending Spoons’ €5B valuation and speculate on a potential IPO. The centerpiece is BlackRock + EIF’s TrackVC dashboard, giving Europe a rare, official benchmark for DPI, TVPI, and net IRR—albeit with a one-year lag and GP-reported, interim data. We stress the J-curve and argue that judging performance should focus on older vintages (2017–2019) rather than frothy 2021–2022. A key insight: while TVPI gaps look wide between U.S. and Europe, DPI outcomes appear to converge more than many assume. Another takeaway is structural: European funds show a tighter spread between median and 75th percentile, suggesting different risk posture or valuation dynamics.
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We discuss Bending Spoons’ massive $500M debt financing led by JP Morgan and other global banks, and its headline-making $1.38B acquisition of Vimeo, signaling a bold product consolidation strategy. We highlight speculation of a possible IPO and synergies across Bending Spoons’ video and productivity tools. The episode also covers Shop Circle’s $200M Series B round, emphasizing its acquisition-driven SaaS platform strategy and strong founder-led execution. A landmark deal is Mitsubishi Electric’s $1B acquisition of Italian cybersecurity leader Nozomi Networks, a case study in corporate venture collaboration. Finally, we preview an upcoming analysis of BlackRock’s VC report on European fund performance, focusing on metrics like TVPI, DPI, and IRR.
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This episode kicks off with Exein, a cybersecurity startup building a “digital immune system” for IoT devices, which raised €70M and achieved 450% YoY growth, highlighting strong demand for device-level protection. We break down the massive opportunity in cybersecurity, noting unicorn creation and strong ARR multiples.
Next, the conversation shifts to Tulum Energy, a clean-tech firm producing turquoise hydrogen using methane pyrolysis, which raised €27M in a seed round backed by major corporates like CDP and TDK Ventures. We spotlight Nuclearis, a biotech firm working on theranostics (therapy + diagnostics) for precision oncology, backed by Novartis and Italian VC Angelini Ventures. The final segment covers the booming welfare tech space in Italy and why July 2025 has become the most active fundraising month of the year so far—on track to surpass 2024 totals.
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Sibill, a fintech startup, stands out for its innovative approach to automating accounting for Italian SMEs, saving business owners up to five hours a week and streamlining compliance with government agencies and banks. The conversation highlights a broader trend: “boring” but essential business problems like finance and HR are now lucrative targets for modern startups. ZNEXT’s €60M initiative is spotlighted as a unique hybrid venture builder and M&A engine, self-financed by Zanichelli Editore, and focused on human potential technologies spanning education, wellness, and productivity. LIFTT’s transformation into a multi-vertical VC is discussed as a sign of maturity and diversification in the Italian innovation ecosystem, with deep tech investments in energy and quantum computing. The episode also touches on new nuclear ventures in Turin and the increasing professionalism and ambition of Italian startup founders and investors.
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Jet HR, an HR tech startup, just raised €25M in a growth round from Base10 Partners, Exor Ventures, and the Italian Founders Fund. Known for integrating with over 600 government entities and simplifying Italy’s complex payroll system, Jet HR achieved a 6X increase in ARR and now serves over 700 SMEs. The founders—already seasoned entrepreneurs—are steering the company toward breakeven while scaling rapidly. This marks one of the fastest-growing ventures in the Italian ecosystem this year. The episode also covers the M&A exit of VKey, acquired by Zucchetti, signaling a return to liquidity in Italy’s venture market. In the broader context, Italian investors like Neva SGR are backing next-gen tech such as nuclear fusion and quantum computing, suggesting Italy’s quiet but impactful push into deep tech. The conversation ends with Roberto Bonanzinga’s philosophical take on investor-founder alignment, reminding us that capital doesn’t create maturity—only traction does.
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#venturecapital #italy #startup
We begin by discussing a new AI index comparing AI startups on Euronext Growth Milan (EGM) with Italy’s FTSE index—showing AI outperforming by 42%. They highlight a €3.2M round raised by Nova Talent, a talent-tech company blending professional networking with AI-driven recruitment. The conversation reveals how AI companies, including non-AI-native firms, are rapidly integrating AI, and many now generate significant revenue outside the EU. A segment discusses growing demand for AI and data science professionals across Italy, especially in southern regions, with PyTorch expertise leading to premium salaries. The episode closes on how academia may struggle to meet this accelerating demand for AI-skilled workers.
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IAMA Therapeutics, a neuroscience startup, 🇮🇹raised €15m in a Growth round from Indaco Venture Partners SGR, Fondazione Enea Tech e Biomedical, Claris Ventures SGR, and CDP Venture Capital SGR.
WSense, a marine deep-tech startup, 🇮🇹raised €7.2m in an Early-stage round from CDP Venture Capital SGR, Blue Ocean, RunwayFBU, Axon Partners Group, Fincantieri, and Rypples.
Tundr, an employee-benefits startup, 🇮🇹raised €7.2m in a Seed round from 360 Capital, CDP Venture Capital SGR, Azimut Libera Impresa SGR, Vento, Alecla7, and Vesper Holding.
Keplera, a legal-tech startup, 🇮🇹raised €770k in a Seed round from Magic Mind, OpenT, and Frontech.
San Marino-based BKN301 raised €21.5m in a series B round from CDP VC, Azimut, SIMEST, and other investors. (well, kind of international).
Medicud, a medtech startup, 🇮🇹raised €1.3m in a Seed round from CHMBR Partners, 50 Partners Capital Health, and Business Angels des Grandes Écoles.
Exsensia, a robotics startup, 🇮🇹raised €1m in a Seed round from RoboIT, Elettrocablaggi, and Pariter Robotics.
Saturnalia, an agri-tech startup, 🇮🇹raised €600k in a Seed round from Farming Future.
Prensilia, a robotics startup, 🇮🇹raised an undisclosed amount in a Early-stage round from RoboIT, Pariter Robotics, and Toscana Next.
LIFTT 🇮🇹joined a €21.5m round in Sparrow Quantum.
Nextalia Ventures joined a $75m Series B round raised by Rain, a fintech company.
Arising Ventures 🇮🇹acquired Softgen AI.
Neva SGR 🇮🇹invested €2.5m in Galaxia, the technology hub for space technologies.
Stanford published the AI Index 2025.
Jeff Bezos 🇮🇹will be the main guest at the Italian Tech Week 2025.
The European Commission presented the AI Continent action plan. Italy to host one of the 13 supercomputers for AI.
Blubrake, a bike-tech startup, 🇮🇹raised €12m in a Growth round from Algebris Climatech, Fundracer, and Tri-Star group, Growth Capital.
Covision Media, a 3D AI startup, 🇮🇹raised €5m in a Early-stage round from CDP Venture Capital SGR, Redstone, The Techshop, and Business Angels.
GenomeUp, a medtech startup, 🇮🇹🇮🇹raised €4.5m in a Early-stage round from The Techshop, CDP Venture Capital SGR, and OPES.
Next Generation Robotics, a robotics startup, 🇮🇹raised €4.5m in a Series A round from CDP Venture Capital SGR, RIF-T, Cysero EuVeca, Kilometro Rosso, Simest, Pariter Robotics, RoboIT, and Toscana Next.
Axyon AI, an AI-first asset management startup, raised €4.3m in a Growth round from CDP Venture Capital SGR, Green Sands Equity, Montage Ventures, Investment Opportunity 1, and SIMEST.
Collecto, a marketplace for fractional ownership of luxuriy goods, 🇮🇹raised €2.8m in a Seed round from Business Angels.
Arxax, a road transport decarbonization startup, raised €1m in a Seed round from CDP Venture Capital SGR, Zest, and EIT Urban Mobility.
Memori, a conversational AI startup, 🇮🇹raised €500k in a Seed round from TreCuori.
CamGraPhIC Srl, a photonics startup, 🇮🇹raised €25m in a Series A round from CDP Venture Capital, NATO Innovation Fund, Sony Innovation Fund, Join Capital, Bosch Ventures, Frontier IP Group, and Indaco Ventures.
Novac, an energy storage startup, raised €3.5m in a Seed round from Eureka! Venture, CDP Venture Capital SGR, and Galaxia.
Cassandra.app, a martech startup, raised €2m in a Seed round from Italian Founders Fund, PitchDrive, Webranking, Mana Ventures, and Business Angels.
Compri, an AI-driven procurement startup, 🇮🇹raised €1.6m in a Pre-seed round from Italian Founders Fund, DFF Ventures, and Business Angels.
HypeSound, a biotech startup, 🇮🇹raised €1.2m in a Pre-seed round from Eatable Adventures, CDP Venture Capital SGR, Nextup, Vento, Athena, and Ulixes SGR.
An 🇮🇹update about 360 Life II, a (C)VC fund launched in late 2024.
🇮🇹Ten space startups from Italy to follow.
A 🇮🇹tool to drive AI coding assistants with user stories.
Tether Invests in Be Water, Strengthening Its Commitment to Modern Media Innovation | Tether.io
Baillie Gifford writes up investment in Bending Spoons by 89%🤯, as company raises further funding for acquisitions.
Speaking of BS, Silver Point leads Financing of Acquisition of Brightcove Inc. by Bending Spoons.
RESILCO, a waste management startup, raised €5m in a Series A round from 360 Capital, CDP Venture Capital SGR, and Tech4Planet.
BRUM, an edtech startup, 🇮🇹raised €3.5m in a Early-stage round from Italian Founders Fund.
Bevy, a drink delivery startup, 🇮🇹raised €2.5m in a Early-stage round from Linfa, FoodLabs, and Business Angels.
Cyberating, a cybersecurity startup, 🇮🇹raised €1.85m in a Pre-seed round from FNDX.
Quickfisco, a tax management startup, 🇮🇹raised €1.5m in a Seed round from Albemarle asset management.
Genenta Science, a biotech company listed on the Nasdaq, raised €20m through a mandatory convertible bond from ENEA Tech and Biomedical Foundation.
AQUILA.is, a sustainable finance startup, raised an undisclosed amount from Vento.
Pangea Aerospace, a Spanish space tech startup, raised €23m in a Series A round from Hyperion Fund, Primo Capital (through Primo Space Fund), and CDTI Innvierte.
Bending Spoons acquired Komoot.
Primo Climate (a Primo Capital fund) 🇮🇹raised an additional €5m from Fon.Te.
Italian newspaper says it has published world’s first AI-generated edition.