The Week in Italian Startup
by Giacomo Mollo
The Week in Italian Startup discusses and analyzes the latest news from the Italian startup ecosystem. Giacomo Mollo is a former academic in philosophy turned tech investor. He is co-founder and partner of iN3 Ventures, a corporate innovation and VC firm. Niccolò Sanarico is an Oxford MBA and a software engineer with a passion for innovation and startups. He is currently an Investment Manager at Primo Ventures SGR, a venture capital firm based in Italy.
Episodes
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Berkshire's $330M Bending Spoons Bet: Its Name Was Worth More Than Its Cash #216
Berkshire Hathaway invested a further $330M in Bending Spoons after its $600M IPO investment, buying 10 million new shares at $33, about 13% below the prior close, and the stock closed at $53.46, up 41%. We discuss the Berkshire effect: Berkshire's name was worth more than its cash, and the…
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This Robot Gives Surgeons Superhuman Hands - MMI raised $125M #215
Italian biotech and medtech led the week: MMI raised a $125M Series D from BioStar Capital, S3 Ventures and Angelini Ventures, and Aptadir Therapeutics raised a €40M seed backed by CDP Venture Capital, Angelini and Italy's biotech angel clubs. MMI's Symani robot filters tremor and scales a...
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Newcleo's Nasdaq Debut: Only $31M of a $209M SPAC Showed Up. Here's Why That's Fine #214
Newcleo went public on Nasdaq via a SPAC merger with NewHold on September 22, raising $247M — but only $31M came from the SPAC's roughly $209M trust account, and $216M came from the PIPE. The press read the debut as bumpy, pointing at a -17% move at the open; we explain why that misreads how…
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Exein Hits $1.7B: Italy Built a Unicorn #213
Exein raised $270M at a $1.7B valuation — roughly €234m at about €1.45bn — making it Italy's newest unicorn in embedded IoT and firmware cybersecurity, with no Italian investor named in the round. We track the climb: a €70M Series C led by Balderton in July 2025 above €350M, then €100M in…
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Miro Sold at 90% Off to Bending Spoons. The Sellers Reinvested $295M. #212
Bending Spoons is buying Miro for $1.355B in enterprise value, all cash, roughly 90% below Miro's $17.5B valuation from January 2022, and some Miro shareholders are reinvesting $295M of their payout into newly issued Bending Spoons shares. Giacomo reads that as a hedge on Bending Spoons'...
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Europe's Biggest AI Round Is Mostly Debt #211
Domyn, Europe's largest AI round, is mostly debt: $1.1B raised, roughly 90% of it borrowed against 6,000 Nvidia chips in southern Italy, leaving an equity cheque of about $110M. That structure is the episode. A deal that began as a substantial Series A in 2024–25 became infrastructure financing,...
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Fewer startups, bigger cheques - H1 2026 in Italian Venture Capital #210
Italian startup funding in H1 2026 came in at €679M according to VeM and €813M according to Growth Capital — two official venture capital reports on the same six months, €134M apart, and both correct. Giacomo Mollo and Niccolò Sanarico break down why the two observatories count differently: VeM...
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Europe's €2.4 billion fusion champion is built by Italians on German Tech #209
Proxima Fusion, nuclear fusion, stellarator technology, Italian founders and CDP Venture Capital anchor this episode on Europe's largest fusion round ever: €411M at a €2.4 billion valuation. The Max Planck Institute spin-out is headquartered in Munich, will likely build its first plant in…
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What Italy's €730M VC Funding Number Hides #208
Italian startup funding, venture capital, D-Orbit, Satispay, WeRoad, CDP and the dealflowit H1 2026 data anchor this episode on why Italy's ~€730M half-year is concentration, not depth. The top three rounds account for roughly 40% of the total and the top five for about 60%, so stripping out the...
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Google Built Search for Humans. Seltz Builds It for AI #207
AI agent search, agentic web search, and the retrieval layer take center stage as Seltz raises a €12.5M seed to rebuild search for AI agents rather than humans. Founder Antonio Mallia — NYU PhD in information retrieval, ex-Amazon AGI, ex-Pinecone — argues agents fire hundreds of precise queries…
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Why startups will fail MORE according to Anthropic #206
Anthropic's Founder's Playbook argues startups will fail MORE as AI shrinks idea-to-product from months to a weekend, removing the forced question every founder used to answer: does anyone want this? The 42% of startups that die building what nobody wants is set to climb, so the real test moves...
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Bending Spoons filed for US IPO. The Details. #205
Bending Spoons IPO, SEC F-1 filing, EV/EBITDA valuation, roll-up acquisition strategy, AI token economics, and Satispay's €60M round anchor this episode on the Italian startup and venture capital ecosystem. The hosts dissect Bending Spoons' valuation ladder — roughly $2.8B in 2024, $11.7B in late...
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The Pope Just Legitimized Anthropic. Here's Why That's Significant. #204
This episode unpacks Anthropic's Milan office launch staged at the Vatican with Pope Leo, Lex's $50M Series B legal tech raise led by Left Lane Capital, and Quantum Bridge Technologies' €8M seed round backed by Primo, Wire, Cadenza and Club University. The hosts argue Anthropic deliberately…
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Did Algorithmiq Just Solve Italy's Talent Problem? #203
Italian quantum software startup Algorithmiq, founded by physicist Sabrina Maniscalco, just closed an €18M round and relocated its global HQ from Helsinki to Milan — the largest quantum bet in Italian history and the first full-startup reshoring case, co-led by CDP. The hosts reframe the brain...
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Smartness vs Booking.com: The Consolidation War Begins #202
The episode unpacks three Italian venture capital deals shaping the ecosystem in 2025-2026: Smartpricing's €47M Series B (the largest vertical SaaS round in Italian history), a €5M Series A in insurtech, and the state of Italian life science fundraising versus France. Smartness's capital stack —...
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3 Signals That Turn a "Growth Round" Into a Rescue — Casavo Hits All Three #201
This episode dissects three Italian venture capital signals: a €12M turnaround round into proptech Casavo led by Picus Capital and Project A, with Bending Spoons founders entering via personal vehicles; Jet HR's launch of an enterprise division and its public commitment to break-even by 2028; and...
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Why Pirelli, Ferrovie and CDP Just Bet €38M On Italian Robotaxis #200
This episode breaks down three signals from the European startup and venture capital ecosystem: the €38M early-stage round into Italian autonomous driving startup Niulinx, the €211M EU-approved Italian state aid grant to deep-tech photonics company CamGraPhIC, and an Italian VC panel debating...
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Why Bending Spoons bought Tractive? #199
Bending Spoons acquires Tractive, an Austrian GPS pet tracker with €100M+ ARR, breaking its software-only acquisition playbook for the first time with a hardware-subscription hybrid. The episode unpacks why a company that built an $11B valuation buying declining digital products like Evernote,...
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This Fund Backed a Research Project. Safran Bought It for €220M #198
The discussion starts from 360 Capital’s €85M first close and argues this is not just another fund announcement, but a stronger institutional bet on turning university research into investable deep tech companies across robotics, semiconductors, AI, and energy transition. A key insight is that...
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This could stop Europe’s Talent Drain to Silicon Valley. Also This Week: UpSurgeOn, Alomana #197
This episode breaks down the EU Inc proposal, stock option taxation in Europe, Delaware incorporation, and Italian startup fundraising rounds. The hosts dissect a hidden clause in the 28 EU Commission regime that would harmonize stock option taxation across all 27 member states — shifting the tax...
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Cleafy Stops Bank Fraud 15 Days BEFORE It Happens; Also: Gyala, Mirai Robotics #196
The conversation opens with a sharp critique of how banks typically fight fraud too late, arguing that the real edge is detecting attacker infrastructure before fraudulent transactions even happen. A major insight is the shift from transaction monitoring to real-time attack-chain reconstruction,...
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How Eight Sleep Became an AI Health Company; Also: Tether, Isaac raising 14M; Techvisory AI #195
The conversation opens with Eight Sleep’s €1.5 billion growth round and argues that the real asset is not the smart bed itself, but the company’s moat: over 1 billion hours of proprietary sleep data collected across 35 countries. A key insight is that in AI, the edge is shifting away from generic...
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Proxima: 400m on Nuclear Fusion; Axelera AI 250M Round; Agentic AI disrupting SaaS #194
he hosts analyze Proxima Fusion’s €400M growth round backed by Bavaria, RWE, and the Max Planck Institute, positioning stellarator-based nuclear fusion on a potential early-2030s commercialization roadmap. They break down why stellarator technology is a contrarian but potentially more efficient...
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Contents raised €7M: orchestration beats AI models; Italian Incentives freeze #193
The speakers unpack Contents’ €7M Series B and argue the market is rewarding workflow/orchestration layers more than “bigger models,” especially in enterprise. They highlight Contents’ fast evolution—from content creation to GenAI to orchestration—plus acquisition momentum as a sign of maturity…
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Inside Newcleo’s MOX-Fuel SMR Bet: Turning Nuclear Waste Into Power #192
The episode breaks down Newcleo’s €75M growth round and why nuclear is inherently capital-intensive, with a bold timeline toward prototypes and operations. The episode clarifies key nuclear concepts—SMRs for deployability, MOX fuel for circularity (recycling nuclear waste into energy), and the...
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CrowdFundMe becomes a startup and SME financing player; TeamSystem in Spain; Genenta evolves #191
The discussion opens with the Smart Capital, CrowdFundMe, and WeAreStarting reverse merger, highlighting how a publicly listed SME finance platform could act as a “finance operating system” rather than a traditional crowdfunding play. The hosts unpack regulatory mechanics like the Whitewash…
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110M for D-Orbit changing space logistics, BRUM, ITA VC Report 2025 #190
The discussion starts with early-year funding momentum in Italy, highlighting structured club deals and their role in smaller and mid-size rounds. A major focus is D-Orbit’s €110M growth round, led by Azimut, showcasing how accredited investor networks and Luxembourg-based SPV vehicles are...
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AI Materials Discovery Is the Real Engine Behind Climate Tech Innovation #189
The discussion opens with fresh 2025 VC barometer data, highlighting Italy’s structural gap in VC funding per capita relative to GDP despite improving deal activity. The conversation then dives into climate deep tech, examining how AI-driven materials discovery could address rare earth…
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Inside Italy’s 2025 VC Data: Growth, AI, Robotics, and Institutional Power #188
talian startup funding, venture capital trends, AI, biotech, robotics, and institutional investors define this episode’s deep dive into the 2025–2026 ecosystem outlook. The discussion highlights how 2025 became the second-best fundraising year after 2022, driven by a record-breaking Q4 with…
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DeepTech in Italy is holding strong; Scale Up Debt as Source of Funding? #187
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...
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Bending Spoons and Shop Circle: Are Credit Deals Beating Venture Capital?; LLM Executing #186
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…
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Biocentis raising 11M, Finapp, Keen Ventures EU Defense Fund #185
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…
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Italy Surpassing 1B in Startup Investing, Nexi received TPG offer - #184
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...
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Inside Bending Spoons’ $11B Play; Hercle: $10M + Powering Stablecoin Settlement - #183
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…
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Caracol raising $40M; Maia Ventures closing 55M new foodtech fund #182
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...
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The Open-Hardware Deal No One Expected; Cyberwave, Eoliann, Italian Pension Funds and VC? #181
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...
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Vertical AI wins: Lexroom. Also: Serenis, Lupa and State of Italian VC - Oct 7, 2025 #180
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”...
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Are European VCs Quietly Matching U.S. DPI? The New Data Says Yes - Sep 30, 2025 #179
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...
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Bending Spoons: 500M in Debt + Vimeo Acquisition Explained ; Nozomi; ShopCircle- Sept 23, 2025 #178
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...
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Exein Built a Digital Immune System for 1 Billion Devices, Tulum, Nuclidium - July 22, 2025 #177
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…
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Sibill Disrupting Italian Accounting, ZNEXT launching a 60M Initiative, LIFTT - July 1, 2025 #176
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...
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JetHR Making Payroll Sexy, Vikey Acquired, Investor-Founder Match - June 25, 2025 #175
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...
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AI Index Outperforms FTSE Italy. Also: Nova raising 3.2M, DataMasters - June 17, 2025 #174
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…
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Moneyfarm vs. Satispay: Is It a Fintech Arms Race? Also: Wetacoo, Novaterra - June 3rd, 2025 #173
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 Amazon Music: https://shorturl.at/9Dtd9...
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Open Banking in Italy: what you need to know - News: BKN301, IAMA - April 24, 2025 #172
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...
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Europe’s $200B AI Bet? Latest Rounds in Medtech and Robotics - April 15, 2025
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,...
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Did Micromobility Just Make a Comeback? Blubrake 12M Round, Covision Media, Axyon AI - April 8, 2025
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...
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Bending Spoon 4.6B Valuation Decoded, CamGraPhIC, Italian Founders Fund - April 1, 2025
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,...
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Network Graph of the Italian VC Ecosystem , Bending Spoons + Komoot, Il Foglio AI - March 26, 2025
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...
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Valo Therapeutics Oy, Lexroom.AI, Vento 75M fund - March 18, 2025
Valo Therapeutics Oy, an immunotherapy startup, raised €19m in a Growth round from Indaco Venture Partners, CDP Venture Capital SGR, Fondazione ENEA Tech e Biomedical, and Freeman Road.Matix, a hardware startup, 🇮🇹raised €2.1m in a Seed round from auxiell, B-Heroes, and Business...
About this show
The Week in Italian Startup discusses and analyzes the latest news from the Italian startup ecosystem. Giacomo Mollo is a former academic in philosophy turned tech investor. He is co-founder and partner of iN3 Ventures, a corporate innovation and VC firm. Niccolò Sanarico is an Oxford MBA and a software engineer with a passion for innovation and startups. He is currently an Investment Manager at Primo Ventures SGR, a venture capital firm based in Italy.
Hosted by
Giacomo Mollo