TWIS #142

United Ventures invested in Electra; Microtech, BeyondTheBox, Ittinsect and others raised funding; a new acquisition for Tulips and an exit for HAL.

Hello,

Welcome back to The Week in Italian Startups. This is Niccolò from Primo Ventures: every week I publish my curated list of the latest news from the Italian startup ecosystem.

The Money

• United Ventures led a $21m round in Electra, a Boston-based startup developing battery-optimization software for the automotive market. Other investors include LIFTT, Stellantis Ventures, Club degli Investitori, and BlackBerry Limited.

• Microtech, a PC and tablet brand, 🇮🇹raised €2.8m in a crowdfunding campaign, with 0.75m invested by Anthilia Capital Partners sgr and 1.2m by Azimut’s AliCrowd.

• BeyondTheBox, an edtech startup, 🇮🇹raised €650k from POLIMI Graduate School of Management, CDP Venture Capital, and SuperCharger Ventures.

• Ittinsect, a biotech startup, 🇮🇹raised €625k from CDP VC, Katapult Ocean, Indico Capital Partners, LVenture Group, and business angels.

• Holifya, a DNA analysis startup, 🇮🇹raised €500k from Growth Engine, Exor and B4i.

• Fler, a startup developing hair removal products (i.e. razors!), 🇮🇹raised €380k from Bonsai Ventures and Loop srl.

• Human Bio Innovation 🇮🇹raised an undisclosed amount from Nova Capital.

• Wealthype, formerly known as Virtual B, 🇮🇹raised an undisclosed amount from Azimut Enterprises.

• Napo Therapeuthics S.p.A., the Italian arm of Napo Therapeutics Inc. (a wholly owned subsidiary of Jaguar Health Inc.), raised a private placement round from SPRIM Global Investments.

M&A

• Tulips 🇮🇹acquired Green Project for an undisclosed amount.

• Consensys acquired HAL for an undisclosed amount.

Reading this week

• Ih1, the investment holding set up by Mamazen, 🇮🇹announced its second closing at 3.65m.

• From zero to research scientist, a github-hosted guide.

• What is ChatGPT, and why does it work?

Fundraising Tracker

Interviews from TechChill Milan 2022

During the last edition of TechChill Milan 2022, Giacomo and I interviewed a few friends. We are now releasing these videos, one per week: please enjoy our conversation with with Jean-Philippe M.L. Schepens, founder and CEO of AxonJay.ai!

Ending Notes

Giacomo Mollo and I comment weekly on the latest news: subscribe to our podcast on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcast, and other platforms to get additional insights on what is happening in the Italian ecosystem.

Have a great week,

N.