The Week in Italian Startup

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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#venturecapital #italy #startup

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.

Niccolò's newsletter: ⁠⁠http://dealflowit.niccolosanarico.com/⁠⁠

Watch on Youtube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@giacomomollo⁠

Listen to all episodes on audio:

Spotify: ⁠⁠https://spoti.fi/3fVynsQ⁠⁠

Google Podcast: ⁠⁠https://bit.ly/3thf9RC⁠⁠

Apple Podcast: ⁠⁠https://apple.co/3Elhykq⁠⁠

Amazon Music: ⁠⁠https://shorturl.at/9Dtd9⁠⁠

Get in touch:

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#venturecapital #italy #startup

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.

Niccolò's newsletter: ⁠⁠http://dealflowit.niccolosanarico.com/⁠⁠

Watch on Youtube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@giacomomollo⁠

Listen to all episodes on audio:

Spotify: ⁠⁠https://spoti.fi/3fVynsQ⁠⁠

Google Podcast: ⁠⁠https://bit.ly/3thf9RC⁠⁠

Apple Podcast: ⁠⁠https://apple.co/3Elhykq⁠⁠

Amazon Music: ⁠⁠https://shorturl.at/9Dtd9⁠⁠

Get in touch:

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Email: [email protected]

#venturecapital #italy #startup

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: [email protected]#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.

Niccolò's newsletter: ⁠http://dealflowit.niccolosanarico.com/⁠

Watch on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@giacomomollo

Listen to all episodes on audio:

Spotify: ⁠https://spoti.fi/3fVynsQ⁠

Google Podcast: ⁠https://bit.ly/3thf9RC⁠

Apple Podcast: ⁠https://apple.co/3Elhykq⁠

Amazon Music: ⁠https://shorturl.at/9Dtd9⁠

Get in touch:

Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/giacxxx⁠

Twitter: ⁠https://twitter.com/giacomomollo⁠

Email: [email protected]

#venturecapital #italy #startup

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.

Niccolò's newsletter: ⁠http://dealflowit.niccolosanarico.com/⁠

Watch on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@giacomomollo

Listen to all episodes on audio:

Spotify: ⁠https://spoti.fi/3fVynsQ⁠

Google Podcast: ⁠https://bit.ly/3thf9RC⁠

Apple Podcast: ⁠https://apple.co/3Elhykq⁠

Amazon Music: ⁠https://shorturl.at/9Dtd9⁠

#venturecapital #italy #startup

Get in touch:

Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/giacxxx⁠

Twitter: ⁠https://twitter.com/giacomomollo⁠

Email: [email protected]

#venturecapital #italy #startup

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.

Niccolò's newsletter: ⁠http://dealflowit.niccolosanarico.com/⁠

Watch on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@giacomomollo

Listen to all episodes on audio:

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Apple Podcast: ⁠https://apple.co/3Elhykq⁠

Amazon Music: ⁠https://shorturl.at/9Dtd9⁠

#venturecapital #italy #startup

Get in touch:

Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/giacxxx⁠

Twitter: ⁠https://twitter.com/giacomomollo⁠

Email: [email protected]

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.

Niccolò's newsletter: ⁠http://dealflowit.niccolosanarico.com/⁠

Watch on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@giacomomollo

Listen to all episodes on audio:

Spotify: ⁠https://spoti.fi/3fVynsQ⁠

Google Podcast: ⁠https://bit.ly/3thf9RC⁠

Apple Podcast: ⁠https://apple.co/3Elhykq⁠

Amazon Music: ⁠https://shorturl.at/9Dtd9⁠

#venturecapital #italy #startup

Get in touch:

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Twitter: ⁠https://twitter.com/giacomomollo⁠

Email: [email protected]

#venturecapital #italy #startup

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.

Niccolò's newsletter: ⁠http://dealflowit.niccolosanarico.com/⁠

Watch on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@giacomomollo

Listen to all episodes on audio:

Spotify: ⁠https://spoti.fi/3fVynsQ⁠

Google Podcast: ⁠https://bit.ly/3thf9RC⁠

Apple Podcast: ⁠https://apple.co/3Elhykq⁠

Amazon Music: ⁠https://shorturl.at/9Dtd9⁠

#venturecapital #italy #startup

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.

Niccolò's newsletter: ⁠http://dealflowit.niccolosanarico.com/⁠

Watch on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@giacomomollo

Listen to all episodes on audio:

Spotify: ⁠https://spoti.fi/3fVynsQ⁠

Google Podcast: ⁠https://bit.ly/3thf9RC⁠

Apple Podcast: ⁠https://apple.co/3Elhykq⁠

Amazon Music: ⁠https://shorturl.at/9Dtd9⁠

#venturecapital #italy #startup