Rome, June 13, 2025 – Deep Blue Ventures (DBV), the venture capital fund specializing in Deep Tech and managed by Deep Ocean Capital SGR SpA, announces a strategic investment in AI4IV, a deep tech startup developing advanced AI-powered sensors and modules for on-edge vision systems.

The deal represents the second tranche of a total €1.755 million funding round, co-led by Deep Blue Ventures – which contributed a total of €550,000 – and Magic Spectrum, the acceleration program dedicated to the 5G and Internet of Things market of the CDP Venture Capital National Accelerators Network- The program is managed by Zest and co-invested together with Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo,  as lead investors, joined by a syndicate of business angels and industrial investors.

For Deep Blue Ventures, AI4IV is one of seven investments completed in its first eighteen months of operation. The fund was established to support spin-offs and, more broadly, innovation initiatives in the aerospace sector, healthcare, and sustainability—with a particular focus on artificial intelligence technologies, cyber technologies, and quantum computing. It plans to close at least five more deals by the end of 2025. Among its investors are the European Investment Fund (EIF), part of the EIB Group, and CDP Venture Capital SGR through its Technology Transfer fund, both acting as Corner Investors.

Founded in 2021 in Amaro (Udine, Italy), AI4IV operates at the intersection of artificial intelligence, neuromorphic computing, and advanced sensing, with the goal of delivering a new generation of intelligent devices for industrial, automotive, aerospace, robotics, precision agriculture, and smart infrastructure applications.

At the heart of the company’s innovation is FlyEye, a novel neuromorphic sensor that emulates the behavior of human neurons. It enables real-time object recognition even under extreme lighting conditions, overcoming the limitations of conventional sensors that suffer from over- or underexposure. With this technology and a bio-inspired approach, AI4IV is going beyond the capabilities of current artificial vision solutions, offering a true “artificial eye” that closely replicates the functionality of the human eye-brain system.

AI4IV is currently focused on developing the sensing component and is simultaneously designing a proprietary processing module. The ambition is to merge perception and computation into a single integrated system, bringing intelligence directly to the edge.

Thanks to the newly secured capital, the company will complete the initial design and testing phase of the FlyEye sensor, initiate market validation with potential end users, and begin a second development cycle aimed at building a compact, integrated module combining sensing and processing in a single solution.

“We’re excited to have partners like Deep Blue Ventures and Magic Spectrum who share our vision of making artificial intelligence truly pervasive and accessible. This investment allows us to transform our bio-inspired technology into concrete industrial solutions capable of seeing and interpreting the world even where traditional sensors fall short. It’s an important step toward a future in which artificial vision more closely matches the remarkable capabilities of the human eye-brain system,” said Giampietro Tecchiolli, co-founder and CEO of AI4IV. “The support from investors allows us to deepen our dialogue with industrial partners and accelerate the real-world validation of our solutions. We’re addressing a clear need: delivering advanced visual capabilities where they are currently lacking, through intelligent, compact, and ready-to-use devices. The strong interest we are seeing from sectors such as automotive, robotics, and augmented reality confirms that our technology can make a real difference — both in Italy and globally,” added Fabio Gallo, co-founder and CSO of AI4IV.

"We are extremely pleased with the progress of AI4IV, a company that is deeply innovating in a complex field such as computer vision. Through its proprietary FlyEye technology, AI4IV is redefining the boundaries of computer vision, offering advanced solutions capable of operating effectively even under extreme conditions. This new investment not only represents a further vote of confidence in the AI4IV team but also a concrete recognition of the strategic value of the technologies they are developing. We are confident that their vision and expertise will bring increasingly high-performing solutions to the market, contributing to the evolution of the entire sector" said Stefano Molino, Head of the Accelerator Fund at CDP Venture Capital.

“AI4IV is a compelling example of radical innovation applied to a real industrial need, in a field – computer vision – set for exponential growth in the coming years. With this investment, we continue to support Italy’s most promising deep tech ventures, with the goal of strengthening our country’s technological sovereignty and industrial competitiveness,” commented Domenico Nesci, Investment Partner and CEO of Deep Ocean Capital SGR.

“We believe in an innovation model that bridges scientific research and industrial application. AI4IV perfectly embodies this synthesis: cutting-edge technology developed in collaboration with Fondazione Bruno Kessler, a highly skilled and locally rooted team, and global impact potential,” Nesci concluded.

Deep Blue Ventures’ partners include major industrial players in the aerospace and defense sector such as Leonardo, the European Space Agency (ESA), I3P (the innovative business incubator of the Politecnico di Torino), as well as the National Research Council (CNR), GDMH (Fondazione Policlinico Gemelli), and the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT).

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Deep Blue Ventures is a venture capital fund specialized in deep-tech technologies, managed by Deep Ocean Capital SGR SpA. Created to support the most promising tech companies in the aerospace, healthcare, and sustainability sectors—with a particular focus on artificial intelligence, cyber technologies, and quantum computing—DBV invests in startups and spin-offs built on strong scientific expertise and focused on developing high-impact industrial solutions. The fund takes a proactive approach with its portfolio companies, working closely with entrepreneurial teams to accelerate their technological, strategic, and commercial growth. DBV’s mission is to turn deep innovation into industrial infrastructure, strengthening Italian and European technological competitiveness through targeted investments and by enhancing research and business ecosystems. The Board of Directors of Deep Ocean Capital SGR SpA, the asset management company that manages the DBV fund, includes Emilia Garito as Chair, Domenico Nesci as CEO, and board members Paolo Cellini, Marco Simoni, and Alessandro Commito.

AI4IV ("Artificial Intelligence for Intelligent Vision") is an Italian startup founded in 2021 with offices in Amaro (UD) and Trento to develop intelligent vision sensors inspired by the biological functioning of the human eye and brain. The basic ingredient of AI4IV products is a new vision technology that combines the advantages of neuromorphic devices with those of digital CMOS sensors. In fact, with the FlyEye architecture, the process of acquiring 2D images is optimised to capture any information details in any light condition, and the Tensputing processing technology, developed by AI4IV and implemented directly on silicon, allows AI algorithms to extract them on the fly and in real-time. The fusion of bio-inspired sensing and processing approaches makes the information extraction process neuromorphic, allowing the creation of "cognitive" vision sensors, i.e., capable of capturing a scene's image and, at the same time, understanding its information content. For this reason, AI4IV sensors will be widely used in many application areas: from security and surveillance to autonomous vehicles, machine vision to robotics, and precision agriculture. The company has received several awards. In 2023, the "Best Startup" award was given at the World AI Cannes Festival (WAICF), and in 2024, the German specialised portal "InVision" included AI4IV among the 20 most interesting startups at the European level.

For more information:
Deep Ocean Capital SGR e AI4IV 
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