2022 is another record year for Venture Capital in Italy. This is confirmed by the research of EY (Venture Capital Barometer Italia 2022), according to which Italian VC investments reached € 2,080 billion with 326 deals, a substantial increase (+67%) from the value recorded in 2021 (€ 1,243 billion with 334 deals of the previous year).
These figures are in line with the research of the Hi-tech Startup Observatory of the School of Management of the Politecnico di Milano in collaboration with InnovUp – Italian Innovation & Startup Ecosystem. They estimated a total equity investment in Italian startups of € 2.1 billion.
International investors played a primary role. They were present in about one out of every two deals, accounting for about 40% of total investments (more than doubled compared to 2021).
Important during 2022 was also the role of large companies that increased their efforts with their own Corporate Venture Capital initiatives.
The average investment ticket increased from € 3.7 million in 2021 to € 6.4 million last year, showing that the Italian market is more mature and registers larger deals.
In general, deals above € 10 million significantly increased. The total amount of investments for deals between € 10 million and € 20 million (about 17 deals) reached about € 200 million. Moreover, investments for deals above € 20 million reached about € 1,400 million, more than double the previous year’s figure.
Investments in 2022 were concentrated mainly in 5 sectors (see graph below).
According to EY, the most significant fundraising rounds of Italian scaleups in 2022 were:
Scalapay is a credit payment method that allows users to purchase and pay it in three instalments of the same amount without interest.
Last year the company raised € 320 million of equity capital from Addition Capital, Block Inc., Tencent Holdings, Fondo Previgest Mediolanum, Coatue Management, Greyhound Capital, and Lightrock.
Newcleo is a London-based company that operates in the energy sector researching clean nuclear energy production. The company’s research centre is located in Turin.
Newcleo raised € 300 million of equity capital from Claudio Costamagna, Azimut Group, Mito Technology, Exor Seeds and LIFTT.
Scalapay is an innovative system that allows customers to buy immediately by paying in 3 equal instalments of the same amount without any interest.
Last year the company raised € 215 million of equity capital in two rounds, mainly from Tencent Holdings, Willoughby Capital, Tiger Global Management, Moore Capital, Deimos Capital, Fasanara Capital and Poste Italiane.
Casavo is an instant real estate buyer, a digital residential platform redesigning the experience of selling and buying homes in Europe.
The company raised € 100 million of equity capital from Exor, Neva SGR, Endeavor Catalyst, Hambro Perks and Fuse Ventures Partners.
Medical Microinstruments (MMI) has developed the first teleoperated robotic platform for suturing in open surgery with wristed microinstruments.
The company raised € 72 million of equity capital from Deerfield Capital Management, Panakès Partners, RA Capital Management, Andera Partners, Sambatech Srl, Fountain Healthcare Partners, and BioStar Capital.
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