Vento deploys a new fund of € 75 million for Italian founders, no matter where they live

Over the last 15 years, as European risk capital has shifted into higher equipment, one way to help the ecosystem of the nation to flourish was to invest in the founders from that country, no matter where they were based. This would help to redirect the entrepreneurial way of thinking at home. In Europe, the approach was created in part from Paris -based Kima VenturesS Now a new risk company hopes to repeat this idea from Italy.

VentoOne of Italy’s most active private VCs, it launches its second fund, a solid 75 million euros, in particular to support Italian start-ups at home and abroad.

The Agnostics Sector Fund is descended from the organizers of Italian Technological WeekHolded annually in Turin, who hosts Sam Altman, Reed Hoffman and Elon Musk.

Initially, the event was launched by the Fiat Skhion family John Elkan, chairman of Veno, but also chairman of Stellantis (the parent company of Fiat) and Exor (the AGnelli family holding company, which controls FIAT and other assets).

Understandable of any of its status, Elkan has a vast network in both Europe and the Silicon Valley, which it helps to bring to it. So it may not be a coincidence that the Veno Investment Committee includes such veterans from the technology industry as Diego Piancentini, Mike Volpi (former Index Ventures) and Jean de La Rochebrochard. Ironically, Rochebrochard has recently joined the same Kima Ventures that Veno hopes to emulate after being controversial removed From Newwave, French at -risk clothing last year.

To date, Vento has already invested in 100 start -ups, including Bee, Jethr and Qomodo. Fund II plans to invest in 375 investments in five years, the company said.

Diyala d’Ani, CEO of Vento, told TechCrunch as a call that “Italy is quite backward compared to other European countries, but we believe the trajectory is the same as the rest. That’s why we do this. Italian technological week is a way to bring people outside Italy, on the one hand, to push incredible investors to meet with Italian founders and see the potential of the Italian ecosystem and inspire the talent in Italy to build their own companies. We believe that the fact that there are not many stories of success in Italy is something like preventing the ecosystem from growing. “

Added d’Aveni, “There is no lack of capital. It’s a lack of companies, but we just need some success stories, and then the whole flywheel will start and see what we saw in France. “

The Italian Technological Week fits in use to this strategy, which allows Veno to evaluate over 3500 start -up companies that are applied to appear at the event, maintaining a 2.5% selective conversion rate with a standardized ticket of EUR 150,000 and with some subsequent investments that are made.

But what was the problem with the previous founders of Italian technology that Elkan thought this fund would solve?

“When we launched Vento’s first fund in 2022, we acknowledged that Italy’s technological and entrepreneurial potential was significantly undervalued,” he told TechCrunch.

“The Italian founders have always demonstrated an exceptional … entrepreneurial spirit, but the ecosystem was not there. Vento was designed to deal with this precipice, providing not only capital but also a comprehensive platform that combines direct investment, building risks and network development through the Italian technological week. “

However, the Italian Society legislation is often considered less favorable for starting founders than the vehicles of the United Kingdom or the United States. Does the start -up companies that Vento finance is Italy or will be agnostic?

“Our main commitment is to identify exceptional Italian founders and support them in our global entrepreneurial journey,” he said. “Italy has achieved significant achievements to become increasingly competitive in the international landscape of technology, and we are sure that soon these regulatory differences between the sides will become increasingly relevant.”

To be fair, Italy’s technological scene is improving. According to TransactionsInvestments for risk capital in Italian start -up companies amount to $ 5.72 billion in the last five years (2020 to 2024), which is more than three times an increase over the previous five years, when it reached only $ 1.7 billion.

D’Ani added that there are already plans to reach internationally: “We already have a network of founders outside Italy who send us transactions, as well as microcommunications to Italians in New York, London, Berlin and Paris, among others.”