The Week in Italian Startup Giacomo Mollo

Subscribe to the channel for weekly updates.  Niccolò's newsletter: http://dealflowit.niccolosanarico.com/  Listen to all episodes on audio: Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3fVynsQ Google Podcast: https://bit.ly/3thf9RC Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/3Elhykq  #venturecapital #italy #startup  -   Newronica, a neural devices startup, received a €2.5m grant from EIC.  Billoo, a price comparison service for utilities, raised €1m from business angels.  Not exactly a new fund in Italy, but UK-based Exceptional Ventures (founded by Paolo Pio) 🇮will be hosting a couple of events on the 15th and 16th in Turin and Milan to present their fund and look for startups in the health and wellness sector.  Azimut is raising its third ALICrowd fund, with a target of €40m, on its very own crowdfunding platform (Mamacrowd). ALICrowd II raised +€31m exactly one year ago.  dPixel, a venture advisor and accelerator, announced AG 4 Future Food Accelerator.  Scalapay acquired Cabel IP for an undisclosed amount.  Credimi will allegedly be acquired by Banca CF+ for €5m, plus an additional €5m earnout.  Cube Labs, a health-tech venture builder, is working on a listing on the Euronext Growth Milan (professional segment) and aiming for a pre-money valuation north of €30m.  Digital Magics and LVenture Group, two big players in the startup acceleration and seed investment market in Italy, are working on a merger.  Nutribees was acquired by SecondChef.  CDP VC takes stock of its accelerators’ master project In brief:  180 partners  200 startups accelerated so far  18 active programs  €135m mobilized

A conversation with Andrea T. Orlando, one of the minds behind TechChill Milano 2022 and managing partner of Startup Wise Guys Italy (https://startupwiseguys.com/)  --  This episode is powered by Belka Digital. Belka designs and builds successful digital products that people love to use — https://www.belkadigital.com

Caracol, an industrial additive manufacturing startup, raised €10.6m in a round led by CDP VC and Neva SGR. Existing investors Primo and Eureka! joined the round.  BeDimensional, a new materials startup, raised €10m in a round led by CDP VC alongside Eni Next and NovaCapital.  Angiodroid, a medtech startup, raised €7m in a Series A round led by CDP VC alongside ALIAD and 8a+ Investment.  LimoLane, a premium chauffeur service startup launched by Gellify, raised €4m in a syndicated round led by Fabio Nalucci and Equity Venture Club.  CercaOfficina.it raised €1.7m in a round led by Azimut Digitech Fund.  MamaClean, a laundry-as-a-service startup, raised €1m from business angels and CDP VC.  CyLock, a cybersecurity startup, raised an undisclosed amount from undisclosed investors. Duh.  Dylog group acquired a controlling stake in Cmh.  Marposs acquired Digital Strategy Innovation.  CDP launched a new food-tech accelerator, FoodSeed.

United Ventures led a $21m round in Electra, a Boston-based startup developing battery-optimization software for the automotive market. Other investors include LIFTT, Stellantis Ventures, Club degli Investitori, and BlackBerry Limited.  Microtech, a PC and tablet brand, raised €2.8m in a crowdfunding campaign, with 0.75m invested by Anthilia Capital Partners sgr and 1.2m by Azimut’s AliCrowd.  BeyondTheBox, an edtech startup, raised €650k from POLIMI Graduate School of Management, CDP Venture Capital, and SuperCharger Ventures.  Ittinsect, a biotech startup, raised €625k from CDP VC, Katapult Ocean, Indico Capital Partners, LVenture Group, and business angels.  Holifya, a DNA analysis startup, raised €500k from Growth Engine, Exor and B4i.  Fler, a startup developing hair removal products (i.e. razors!), raised €380k from Bonsai Ventures and Loop srl.  Human Bio Innovation raised an undisclosed amount from Nova Capital.  Wealthype, formerly known as Virtual B, raised an undisclosed amount from Azimut Enterprises.  Napo Therapeuthics S.p.A., the Italian arm of Napo Therapeutics Inc. (a wholly owned subsidiary of Jaguar Health Inc.), raised a private placement round from SPRIM Global Investments.  Tulips acquired Green Project for an undisclosed amount.  Consensys acquired HAL for an undisclosed amount.  Ih1, the investment holding set up by Mamazen, announced its second closing at 3.65m.

A conversation with Francesco Inguscio, Founder and CEO of Rainmakers (https://www.rainmakers.it/) and Nuvolab (https://nuvolab.com/).  --  This episode is powered by Belka Digital. Belka designs and builds successful digital products that people love to use — https://www.belkadigital.com

Aryel, an AR startup, raised €3m in a round led by Prana Ventures with the participation of several business angels.  ABZero, a drone delivery startup, raised €200k from business angels and crowdfunding.  Aspire, a Singapore-based B2B fintech startup funded by two Italian entrepreneurs raised US$100m in a Series C round.  Panakes Partners announced the final close of its Purple fund, at €175m.  CDP Corporate Partners I, a “corporate VC” fund managed by CDP VC, reached €300m§, with the participation of Newlat and Terna as LPs.  The European Investment Bank and 5 EU countries announced €3.75bn fund of funds to invest in VCs that back European scaleups.  Casavo announced a 30% reduction in its workforce.  The Rock Trading, Italy’s oldest crypto exchange, suspended trading and withdrawals, in a move that eerily resonates with similar cases in crypto (FTX?).  Reading this week Looking for new tools to solve specific tasks? There’s an AI for that.  Crunchbase’s January recap: OpenAI raised a third of all funding in the world.  Pitchbook released its European VC Valuations report for 2022.