Fintech first sector in Italy for venture capital investments

The fintech it is the first sector in Italy for venture capital investments. it is certified byEY Venture Capital Barometer Of EY, the annual EY study which aims to analyze the trend of venture capital investments in Italian startups and scaleups. According to research, the sector in 2022 collected well 712 million euros of investments, thanks to some of the most successful rounds of the year such as Satispay And Scalapay. According to the‘Fintech & Insurtech Observatory of the School of Management of the Milan Polytechnic, in our country 630 fintech and insurtech startups and scaleupsof which 27 established from January to today, capable of collecting over 900 million euros of funding in 2022.

For EY, the other most funded sectors in Italy after fintech were energy & recycling with approximately 346 million euros collected, represented almost entirely by New Cleo. In third and fourth place, health & life sciences And proptech, with 284 and 172 million euros respectively. In last position, with a marked decrease compared to last year in terms of investment value, is the sub-fund foodtech with 119 million euros. The five operations that raised the most substantial equity capital in 2022 are those that involved: Satispay (which raised 320 million euros during the year); Newcleo (with an investment of 300 million euros); Scalapay (which in 2022 closed two rounds for a total of 215 million euros); Casavo (financed for 100 million euros in equity, in addition to a substantial portion through credit lines); MMI (with an investment of 72 million euros).

Venture capital in Italy

In 2022 venture capital investments in Italy reached over 1 2 billion euros (2,080 millionto be precise), up by 67.3% respect to 1,243 million euros of 2021, in contrast with more mature ecosystems in Europe, such as the United Kingdom and Germany, where invested volumes have remained substantially stable.

Geographically, the Lombardy it is confirmed as the most fertile and promising ground for Italian startups, both in terms of the number of operations (166) and in terms of capital raised by their companies (more than 50% of total funding). In general, among the regions that have attracted the most investment Piedmont, Veneto, Tuscany And Lazio; In general, the data from Southern and Central Italy is less reassuring, where, despite a high presence of innovative companies (respectively 26% and 21% of Italian startups and SMEs), there is a lack of potential investors. Marco Daviddi, Strategy & Transactions Markets Leader Europe West by EYcommented:

“In 2022, expectations were met and investments in Italian start-ups and scale-ups saw further strong growth. This has been possible thanks to the impact of adequate public investment policies supported by dedicated intervention tools, which have allowed the enhancement of relations between public and private investors, universities, research institutes, incubators and companies, capable of promoting innovation. We are still far from the international benchmarks in terms of invested volumes, but the positive trend recorded in recent years is confirmed, especially in sectors where the ongoing transformations require the full revision of operating models, such as fintech and in key areas in this historical moment , such as that of sustainability (energy & recycling). From a prospective point of view, various initiatives, also connected to the PNRR, including those promoted by the Ministry of University and Research to promote research and innovation ecosystems, pursue objectives that can allow venture capital to reach a further level of maturity. Certainly important will continue to be the role of public investment funds – which have had and will have an important multiplier effect, integrating with the resources raised by venture capital funds – and that of international investors. We also expect corporate venture capital to assume greater importance, placing itself as a further model of research and innovation, at the service and support of our country’s growth process”.

Gianluca Galganostartup and venture capital leader of EY in Italy, added:

“Another step forward for venture capital in our country, which in 2022 will break the threshold of 2 billion euros in capital raised by our young innovative companies, exactly ten years after the introduction of the Startup Act, the first Italian law to offer a reference framework for the sector. To favor this result for our ecosystem, was the presence of many maxi-roundor individual collection operations exceeding 100 million euros which have seen the interest of many international investors, whose capital represents around 40% of total funding, with a investment growth of more than 50% compared to 2021. The role of large companies was also fundamental during 2022, as they increased their efforts with their own initiatives to corporate venture capital offering new and further possibilities for fundraising”.

Venture capital in Europe

In the main European countries, after years of dizzying growth, in 2022 there was a brief slowdown in venture capital investments. However, per capita venture capital investments remain at much higher levels than in Italy. Galgano concluded:

“In Italy the per capita investment in venture capital in 2022 is 35 euros, against 61 euros in Spain or about 150 euros invested per capita by its French and German neighbors. Far away is the United Kingdom, whose per capita investments amount to 369 euros. There is therefore a very significant margin for growth and if we are able to join forces to fill this gap, it will actually be possible to develop projects capable of affecting the competitiveness of our country”.