The Venture Capital landscape in Italy exhibits promising signs and growth figures in the opening quarter of 2024. Investments surged to 443 million euros, up from 389 million in Q4 2023, accompanied by a rise in the number of investment rounds from 88 to 108, marking a new record in the Italian VC sector. Additionally, there was an increase in the number of exits, with 12 recorded in Q1 2024 compared to 8 in Q4 2023. Smart City remains the sector with the highest number of rounds, while Software leads in terms of total capital raised. These findings are from the Observatory on Venture Capital in Italy, presented by Growth Capital, a leading tech investment bank, in collaboration with Italian Tech Alliance. The report tracks the performance of VC investments in Italy quarterly. The first quarter of 2024 saw Italy bucking the European trend, with investments starting positively at 443 million euros across 108 rounds. Notably, the quarter witnessed the first instance of the number of rounds surpassing 100, indicating significant growth potential. However, it's worth mentioning that a majority of the investment was concentrated in two mega rounds, posing challenges in forecasting for the year.
In terms of investment stage, Pre-seed and Seed rounds accounted for 68% of the total, largely due to accelerator activity. Furthermore, Series C+ rounds represented 57% of the total capital raised. Notably, there was an equitable distribution of rounds across various sectors, with Smart City, Software, Lifestyle, Life Sciences, and Food & Agriculture leading the pack. The top deals of Q1 2024 include Bending Spoons (144 million euros, Growth VC) and MMI (101 million euros, Series C). The exit count increased from 8 in Q4 2023 to 12 in Q1 2024. Commenting on the results, Fabio Mondini de Focatiis, Founding Partner of Growth Capital, expressed optimism about Italy's VC ecosystem's potential and its ability to navigate the challenges of 2024. Francesco Cerruti, General Director of Italian Tech Alliance, anticipates a significant second quarter, highlighted by the presentation of the Startup Act 2.0 by the Government, following the recent unveiling of CDP Venture Capital's investment plans.
