VC Fund Vento launches €75 million Fund II to back the “boldest” Italian founders

Turin-based Vento, a private early stage venture capital fund, announced today the launch of its second fund – committing €75 million over the next five years to find the “boldest” Italian startup founders globally.

The fund is the flagship investment vehicle from the organisers of Italian Tech Week, a global event designed to support the growing tech ecosystem in Europe and inspire the next generation of Italian tech entrepreneurs.

“We believe Italy’s technological and entrepreneurial potential has been underserved for too long,” added Diyala D’Aveni, CEO of Vento. “Through our three-pronged approach combining direct investment, venture building, and our annual tech conference, we are committed to changing this narrative and positioning Italy as a major European tech hub.”

Since its inception in April 2022, Vento looks to be a pivotal force in Italy’s fast-growing venture capital and tech ecosystem, with a mission to identify, support, and scale the next generation of Italian entrepreneurs globally.

Vento’s fund is chaired by John Elkann, with an Investment Committee including tech industry veterans Diego Piacentini, Mike Volpi, and Jean de La Rochebrochard. It is part of a three-pronged approach to building Italy’s underserved tech ecosystem and helping to foster a growing tech sector that is capable of rivalling Italy’s biggest global industries.

Vento has now invested in 100 startups including Bee, JetHR and Qomodo, reportedly making it one of the country’s largest early-stage portfolios in Italy. Its investment strategy focuses exclusively on Italian founders based in the country and around the world, with the US and the UK in the lead, followed by Germany and France. Fund II expects to invest in 375 investments over five years.

The platform has evaluated over 3,500 startups, resulting in about 100 investments in Italian Founders worldwide, maintaining a highly selective 2.5% conversion rate with a standardised €150k ticket size. Select follow-on investments are also made, helping the strongest Italian founders on their global scaling journey.

Core to Vento’s mission is its ambition to inspire the next generation of Italian founders, while encouraging global investors to understand the potential of the Italian tech ecosystem. Italian Tech Week – the annual tech gathering that has hosted Sam Altman, Reid Hoffman, Brian Chesky, Daniel Ek and Elon Musk in recent years –  is a focal point for Vento’s ambition to connect Founders with international investors and build the next generation of globally successful tech companies with Italian founders.

“Almost three years after launching Vento,” said John Elkann, Chair of Vento. “We’re proud to renew our commitment and back top Italian entrepreneurs with a new fund. The passion behind their innovative ventures and our shared successes so far drive us to pursue even more ambitious goals together.”

Besides the fund and Italian Tech Week, Vento also operates a 5-month venture building programme which has created 26 startups from three cohorts.

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