I am Niccolò from Primo Ventures. Welcome back to my digest of what happened in the Italian startup ecosystem.
In this issue: Scalapay raises $155m; BlackSheep Ventures announces the first closing at €40m; MiScusi opens in London, Wallapop launches in Italy; Piacentini joins Exor Seeds.
Enjoy the reading, see you on the other side,
N.
The Money
Scalapay, a buy now, pay later startup, raised $155m at a $700m valuation in a Series A (🤯) round led by Tiger Global.
Proptech startup HomesToPeople 🇮🇹raised €1.5m from Sensible Capital and Club degli Investitori. The company also rebranded as Kaaja.
New funds
BlackSheep Ventures, a MADtech fund announced back in March, 🇮🇹announced its first closing at €40m. The fund will be managed by Eureka! Ventures SGR.
Strategic moves
MiScusi, the fresh pasta restaurant group, announced the opening of its first London-based restaurant. The company has raised €26m in venture capital so far.
Borsa Del Credito, a fintech startup specialized in lending tech, rebranded as Opyn and 🇮🇹announced a new European expansion plan. The company reported €6m revenues in H1 2021 with a €2m positive EBITDA. [Fun fact: it seems that Opyn shares the same name as a DeFi options trading protocol]
Second hand goods marketplace Wallapop from Spain announced its will launch its app in Italy.
Piacentini joins Exor Seeds
We met Exor, the holding company of the Agnelli family, a fewtimes in the last issues.
Exor manages Exor Seeds, a specific branch dedicated to venture investments; Exor Seeds has invested in 40 companies so far.
The news is that Diego Piacentini, former Digital Transformation Commissioner for the Italian prime minister and former manager at Amazon and Apple, was appointed as advisor and chairman of the Exor Seeds branch.
From the press release:
Diego Piacentini’s exceptional operational experience in building companies and his leadership insights will greatly benefit Exor as it plans to do more in technology directly and through its companies
The XJobs platform is a free portal listing open job positions from the Italian startup ecosystem, managed by CDP Venture Capital. If you desire, you can apply for free and have your job positions posted on the platform by following this link.
My old job Airtable is still online: you can explore the last open positions here.
Ending Notes
Join the Clubhouse conversation between Giacomo Mollo and myself, commenting on the news every Monday at 6:30 pm CEST. In case you miss the live discussion, you can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify (and other podcast platforms).
The week in Italian startups is a weekly collection of the most interesting news in the Italian startup ecosystem, with a focus on funding rounds, milestones, major partnerships, and innovation news. The weekly email will be in your inbox on Monday morning(-ish).
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This newsletter is supported by VCHub, the association of Italian Venture Capital, investors in innovation, startups, and innovative SMEs.
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