In the first six months of 2024, Italy’s startup financing scene is experiencing a significant growth in terms of the number of operations, with 87 transactions compared to 84 in the previous year. However, there has been a noticeable decrease in the total value of investments. The total collection in Italy is just under 500 million euros, heavily influenced by two large private equity operations. This results in less than 300 million euros invested in innovative companies, showing a significant decline of -47.6% from the previous year.
On a European level, startups raised around 11 billion euros on the continent during this period, a slight increase compared to the previous year but still representing a significant decline of approximately -10% compared to the last quarter of 2023. These findings were presented at SIOS24 Summer, an annual summit organized with SACE, an insurance-financial group affiliated with the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
Despite the overall decline in investment values, positive changes have been observed within the Italian ecosystem. Pre-seed and seed collections have overtaken Series B and Series C rounds, and there has been an increase in investors. The country’s startups have significant potential to increase their competitiveness on a European scale, particularly in areas such as green and digital transition.
Subtracting large operations from overall investment values, it is clear that Italy’s total investment stops at €254,567,500 – a decrease of -47.6% compared to the previous year – despite an increase in transactions from 84 to 87. A detailed breakdown of investments across different sectors and regions is also provided by the report.
Analyzing these investments reveals that Lombardy and Lazio are currently leading investment activity across Italy. Different types of rounds were observed across various sectors and regions during this period. Additionally, there was also a slight increase compared to European startup funding seen during this timeframe.
Overall, despite some challenges faced by Italian startups due to declining investment values
