Turin-based Vento, a non-public early stage enterprise capital fund, introduced at the moment the launch of its second fund – committing €75 million over the following 5 years to search out the “boldest” Italian startup founders globally.
The fund is the flagship funding car from the organisers of Italian Tech Week, a worldwide occasion designed to assist the rising tech ecosystem in Europe and encourage the following technology of Italian tech entrepreneurs.
“We imagine Italy’s technological and entrepreneurial potential has been underserved for too lengthy,” added Diyala D’Aveni, CEO of Vento. “By our three-pronged method combining direct funding, enterprise constructing, and our annual tech convention, we’re dedicated to altering this narrative and positioning Italy as a serious European tech hub.”
Since its inception in April 2022, Vento appears to be a pivotal pressure in Italy’s fast-growing enterprise capital and tech ecosystem, with a mission to establish, assist, and scale the following technology of Italian entrepreneurs globally.
Vento’s fund is chaired by John Elkann, with an Funding Committee together with tech business veterans Diego Piacentini, Mike Volpi, and Jean de La Rochebrochard. It’s a part of a three-pronged method to constructing Italy’s underserved tech ecosystem and serving to to foster a rising tech sector that’s able to rivalling Italy’s greatest international industries.
Vento has now invested in 100 startups together with Bee, JetHR and Qomodo, reportedly making it one of many nation’s largest early-stage portfolios in Italy. Its funding technique focuses completely on Italian founders primarily based within the nation and around the globe, with the US and the UK within the lead, adopted by Germany and France. Fund II expects to put money into 375 investments over 5 years.
The platform has evaluated over 3,500 startups, leading to about 100 investments in Italian Founders worldwide, sustaining a extremely selective 2.5% conversion price with a standardised €150k ticket measurement. Choose follow-on investments are additionally made, serving to the strongest Italian founders on their international scaling journey.
Core to Vento’s mission is its ambition to encourage the following technology of Italian founders, whereas encouraging international traders to grasp the potential of the Italian tech ecosystem. Italian Tech Week – the annual tech gathering that has hosted Sam Altman, Reid Hoffman, Brian Chesky, Daniel Ek and Elon Musk lately – is a focus for Vento’s ambition to attach Founders with worldwide traders and construct the following technology of worldwide profitable tech corporations with Italian founders.
“Nearly three years after launching Vento,” mentioned John Elkann, Chair of Vento. “We’re proud to resume our dedication and again high Italian entrepreneurs with a brand new fund. The fervour behind their modern ventures and our shared successes thus far drive us to pursue much more bold objectives collectively.”
Moreover the fund and Italian Tech Week, Vento additionally operates a 5-month enterprise constructing programme which has created 26 startups from three cohorts.
