The “National Innovation Fund” (NIF, in Italian: “Fondo Nazionale Innovazione”) is the government-sponsored program created in 2019 to boost the Italian startup ecosystem.
For more details on the creation of the National Innovation Fund, read: National Innovation Fund: a hope for the Italian venture capital industry?
An amendment to the infrastructure decree approved by the Italian Parliament last week allocates an additional € 2 billion to venture capital. Under the amendment, the € 2 billion will be allocated to the Ministry of Economic Development (MISE) by 31 December. The Ministry will subscribe to quotas or shares of venture capital and venture debt funds set up by Cdp Venture Capital SGR.
This is in line with the announced goal of the 2020-2022 program to reach € 2.5-3.0 billion of VC-managed capital by 2022.
Today, funds managed by Cdp Venture Capital SGR are the following:
- Italy Venture I Fund, dedicated to innovative startups and SMEs in the digital, biotech, medical and high-tech sectors. The fund has € 80 million under management, and it has been active since September 2015;
- Italy Venture II Fund, dedicated to innovative startups and SMEs in the south of Italy. The fund has € 150 million under management, and it has been active since August 2019;
- VenturItaly Fund-of-Fund, dedicated to investments in closed-end venture capital funds, with an investment strategy focused on high-tech companies in the seed, startup and late-stage phases. With € 315 million under management, the fund has been active since February 2020, and it targets to invest € 400 million;
- Accelerators Fund, a fund aimed at supporting the growth of startup accelerators through direct and indirect investments. The fund has € 125 million under management and was launched in May 2020. It targets to invest € 200 million;
- Technology Transfer Fund, a € 275 million tech transfer fund launched in October 2020, with a target of € 425 million investment. The fund invests directly in technology transfer centres and indirectly as Fund of Funds;
- Boost Innovation Fund, a € 50 million fund aimed at supporting the growth of the corporate venture capital market. The fund was launched in November 2020, and it targets € 75 million of investment;
- Startup Relaunch Fund, a € 200 million fund created after the Covid-19 pandemic by the Relaunch Decree (resources allocated to the Venture Capital Support Fund). The fund invests only in co-investment projects with sponsor investors, and the investment is made through a convertible financial instrument;
- Evolution Fund, a € 100 million fund launched in March 2021 With a target of € 200 million. The fund invests Series A and B Rounds with target funding between €2 million and €20 million with a particular focus on DeepTech such as AI, Cyber Security, Biotech, MedTech, New Materials or Quantum Computing;
- Corporate Partners I Fund, a € 192 million fund launched in September 2021 to support post-seed startups by investing and cooperating with the largest Italian companies. The fund targets to invest € 400 million.
Moreover, in addition to the above, Cdp Venture Capital provides capital and support to Startups and SMEs through a series of programs:
- National Accelerators Network: a series of thematic acceleration programs created with the operational support of Italian and international accelerator players (FIN+TECH; FuturED; CyberXcelerator; Motor Valley Accelerator; ZERO; We Sport Up);
- National Technology Transfer Hub: thematic technology transfer centres (RoboIT);
- Digital Platforms: digital tools for the growth of the innovative Italian ecosystem (Digital Xcelerator);
- XJobs: the CDP platform for job opportunities from innovative Italian startups.
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For more info, visit: https://www.cdpventurecapital.it/cdp-venture-capital/en/home.page