Rome, 13 September 2021 - The Corporate Partners I Fund of CDP Venture Capital Sgr is now operative, the corporate venture capital fund whose aim is to involve leading Italian companies in order to develop the Italian “venture” ecosystem by supporting and investing in innovative startups and SMEs in the most strategic sectors of the country.

In the United States today corporate venture capital contribute by more than 50% to total investments in startups, while currently in Italy this contribution is only in the region of 20% . To help bridge this gap, CDP Venture Capital has decided to promote the development of this fundamental aspect of the ecosystem, through its Corporate Partners I fund.

With initial assets under management of 180 million Euro allocated by CDP Equity and the Ministry of Economic Development, the Fund operates in four sectors: IndustryTech, EnergyTech, ServiceTech and InfraTech, each of which focuses on a strategic supply chain, with the operational participation of the corporates of each specific sector. 

In the first few weeks of operations, the Corporate Partners I Fund has already signed a first important closing of 57 million Euro, in Industry Tech, where the focus is on finding solutions for new technologies in the industrial manufacturing sector, production and industrial automation in the fields of robotics, 3d printing, the Internet of Things, new software and hardware applications for the management and control of processes or solutions for the safety of operators through VR & AR sensors.

Leading companies in the Italian industrial and manufacturing sector, such as Adler Group, a leader in the production of solutions for the transport industry, Camozzi Group, that leads the field of industrial automation and Marcegaglia Group, a leader in steel processing, are indeed the first corporate investors of the Fund that will be completed with the entry of new contacts from the various key sectors in the very near future. 

The other sectors of the Fund, for which funding is open, are:

• Energy Tech, which focuses on issues relating to the energy transition such as streamlining, electric mobility, management and control of distribution network infrastructures, and the exploration of emerging energy vectors such as hydrogen;
• Service Tech, which focuses on solutions for the digital transition of corporates operating in related fields of financial services, insurance and B2B information, whose areas of innovation include payments, wealth management solutions, innovative credit scoring, customized micro-insurance, applications for the field of Big Data Analytics and Cybersecurity technologies and solutions. 
• Infra Tech, that specializes in the design, planning, monitoring and management processes of construction sites and infrastructures;

The goal of the Corporate Partners I Fund is to close funding in all sectors by the end of 2021, with a subscription target of 100 million Euro for each of the four sectors.

"Corporate venture capital is an essential tool to guarantee the development of a country like Italy, that is a world leader or at least co-leader in various supply chains and production processes" says Enrico Resmini, CEO and General Manager of CDP Venture Capital Sgr “Corporates that have already been on the market for years now find themselves facing competition on various fronts every day due to continuous technological progress and the consequent transformation of the markets. At the same time, Italian startups often find it very difficult to find the necessary funds for the early stages of development with respect to similar companies from more structured foreign ecosystems. The Open Innovation approach is therefore crucial both in terms of guaranteeing development opportunities in the country to young innovative companies, and to allow existing companies to keep ahead of new trends with faster response times in the face of increasingly complex challenges”.

The Corporate Partners I Fund is the ninth investment fund launched by CDP Venture Capital Sgr, in line with the goals of the 2020-2022 Business Plan which provides a balanced mix of direct and indirect investments to support the Italian venture capital ecosystem as a whole. 

The Fund is managed by the Manager Marino Giocondi together with Laura Scaramella, Carlotta Orlando, Gregorio Rodriguez d'Acri and Jacopo Volpi.