Vento, one of Italy’s most active early-stage venture capital firms, has announced a €75 million second fund aimed at backing Italian founders globally, regardless of where they are based.
The firm, originally launched by Italian Tech Week organizers, hopes to ignite Italy’s startup ecosystem by fostering more success stories.
Backing 375 Startups Over Five Years
Vento’s new fund will be sector-agnostic and plans to invest in 375 startups over the next five years. The firm has already invested in 100 companies, including Bee, JetHR, and Qomodo.
CEO Diyala D’Aveni emphasized the need to boost Italy’s tech landscape:
“Italy is behind other European countries, but we believe the trajectory is changing. We just need more success stories to kickstart the ecosystem.”cannot survive them. The firm provides a seamless, automated solution to level the playing field.”
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Leveraging Italian Tech Week & Global Networks
The fund benefits from Italian Tech Week (ITW), an annual event in Turin featuring speakers like Sam Altman, Reid Hoffman, and Elon Musk. ITW provides:
- A pipeline of 3,500+ startup applications yearly.
- A selective 2.5% investment conversion rate, with €150,000 ticket sizes.
- A network of Italian entrepreneurs in New York, London, Berlin, and Paris.
Supporting Founders Beyond Italy’s Borders
Unlike traditional funds focused solely on local startups, Vento aims to:
- Identify and invest in top Italian founders worldwide.
- Provide both capital and operational support to scale startups globally.
- Help attract foreign investors to Italy’s growing startup scene.
Chairman John Elkann, who also leads Stellantis and Exor, noted that Italy’s tech sector has been historically underserved:
“Italian entrepreneurs have always had ambition, but the ecosystem lacked structure. Vento is here to change that.”
With €75M in fresh capital, Vento is positioning itself as a driving force behind Italy’s next wave of high-growth startups, supporting founders whether they build in Italy or abroad.
