The Money

• BuddyFit, a real-time fitness startup based in Milan, 🇮🇹 raised €5m in an angel round.

• Tau, an e-mobility startup based in Turin, raised €6.75m in a syndicated round with international investors.

• Hlpy, a roadside assistance startup, raised €1m in a syndicated round including the former president of Hertz International, Bene Assicurazioni, and Vittoria Assicurazioni.

• SportClubby, a sport-tech startup offering booking and community management services,🇮🇹 raised €950k from LigurCapital and Finpiemonte.

M&A

• Pellegrini Spa, a food & welfare company, acquired a majority stake in Mymenu, a meal delivery company. The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Wine startups

Among the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, online commerce and delivery services have enjoyed an incredible acceleration. Among them, wine delivery and wine e-commerce startups had a particularly positive 2020. 🇮🇹 Here you can find a roundup article about some of the major Italian startups in the segment (Tannico, Vino.com, Xtrawine, Callmewine.com, and Winelivery), featuring €90m in aggregate sales, one exit (Tannico), and €14.5m in funding during the year.

The year in crowdfunding

Starteed, a crowdfunding technology startup, published its yearly report about crowdfunding in Italy. According to the report, in 2020 alone Italian crowdfunding platforms (donation, debt, and equity) raised €336m, showing strong growth as the market matures.

Readings of the week

• The brief, yet motivating, letter Bezos sent to amazon employees as he stepped down as CEO of the company.

• A NY Times article about the effects of the pandemic on brain drain in Italy.

That's all for this week: apologies for the brief edition - not much news and no much time to focus on extra content this time.

Stay safe,

N.