The Italian startup ecosystem faces a persistent funding gap, particularly in its early stages, with per capita venture capital investments significantly lagging behind other leading European countries. In 2023, Italian startups secured only €1.1 billion in venture funding, compared to €10.2 billion in Germany. This disparity limits the number of startups advancing to later funding rounds, constraining their international growth and the ecosystem’s overall progress.
P101 SGR is actively addressing this gap by enhancing Italy’s appeal to both domestic and foreign investors, while supporting the global expansion of Italian startups. Through substantial early-stage capital and strategic support, P101 enables promising companies to scale and gain international recognition, fostering a more dynamic tech environment.
P101 SGR has now closed a €250 million investment fund — a significant milestone for both the firm and the Italian tech ecosystem. The fund, Programma 103, reached its final close in 2024, following an initial close of €150 million in December 2022. This represents P101’s largest fund to date and one of the largest in Italy’s venture capital history.
This closure signals strong momentum in Italy’s venture capital and tech scene, which has recently produced notable successes like Bending Spoons and Medical Microinstruments. Andrea Di Camillo, P101’s founder and managing partner, sees the renewed trust from existing investors and growing interest from new ones as a vote of confidence in Italian innovation. “Our ambition isn’t just to fund startups, but to reshape Italy’s economic DNA for the digital age,” Di Camillo noted.
P101: A decade of Italian VC innovation
Founded in 2013 by Andrea Di Camillo and based in Milan, P101 SGR has emerged as one of Italy’s leading venture capital firms. The firm invests in digital and tech-oriented companies across Europe, with a primary focus on early-stage startups.
The firm takes a hands-on approach, serving as an internal advisor while providing strategic direction, talent recruitment, and operational support over a period of five to ten years. In 2024, P101’s internal recruiters successfully placed 45 C-suite executives within portfolio companies, resulting in a 40% reduction in hiring timelines.
P101 typically invests in Series A and B rounds, with investments ranging from €1 million to over €10 million. While taking minority stakes, the firm provides internal consulting for international expansion, pricing strategies, and ESG compliance. The fund comprises both returning and new limited partners, including notable institutional investors such as the European Investment Fund, Azimut, CDP Venture Capital, Banco BPM, UniCredit, Inarcassa, and the ISP Group Pension Fund, as well as prominent Italian family offices. CDP Venture Capital’s participation is particularly significant as it channels funds from Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) into digital innovation.
Programma 103, P101’s latest and largest fund, commits €250 million primarily to early-stage startups. The fund targets fintech, proptech, edutech, and cybersecurity, emphasising sustainability and digital transformation. For instance, P101-backed Cortilia, a sustainable grocery delivery service, achieved a 30% reduction in food waste through AI-driven inventory management, demonstrating a strong commitment to ESG.
While focusing on Italy and Spain, Programma 103 also invests in other European markets to help startups grow and attract foreign capital. The fund allocates 30% of its capital to Spain and other European markets, reflecting P101’s cross-border strategy and aims to benchmark Italian startups against European peers.
P101’s investments, portfolio companies, and successful exits
P101 has invested in over 50 tech companies and manages more than €500 million across five funds. Its key portfolio companies include Multiply Labs, Strava, Citynews, Cortilia, MusixMatch, and Tannico.
The firm has completed over 100 funding rounds and achieved 15 exits, with portfolio companies generating substantial revenue and international recognition. Notable successes include MusixMatch’s $500 million acquisition by TPG in 2023 and P101’s investment in CyberGuru, which resulted in a 22% reduction in fraud incidents among central Italian banks.
P101’s operational model extends beyond funding: it provides shared DevOps resources to optimise cloud costs, offers ESG toolkits developed in collaboration with Politecnico di Milano, and utilises a dual fund structure that enables retail investors to participate through Azimut’s platform. This approach broadens Italy’s investor base while adding capital and expertise to the ecosystem.
By 2030, P101 expects Programma 103 to create over 3,000 high-skilled jobs, emphasising gender diversity in tech roles, and aims to generate €5 billion in cumulative portfolio revenue, double its previous funds’ achievements. The fund also plans to attract €1.5 billion in follow-on funding from global investors.
