Venture Capital in Italy: 2025 Data Confirm a More Mature and Selective Ecosystem

In 2025, the venture capital value chain recorded 420 transactions with total investments exceeding €2.3 billion. These figures fit into a path of evolution that, over the past three years, has seen the market move from a slowdown phase to progressive maturation.

2025: Growth in Total Investment and Market Strengthening

On February 18, the Venture Capital Monitor – VeM Italy Report 2025 on venture capital activity in the Italian market was presented. The study was conducted by the Venture Capital Monitor – VeM Observatory, operating at LIUC University in collaboration with AIFI (Italian Association of Private Equity, Venture Capital and Private Debt), and produced thanks to the contribution of Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center and KPMG, as well as the institutional support of CDP Venture Capital SGR and IBAN (Italian Business Angels Association), with the aim of developing permanent monitoring of institutional early-stage activity in Italy.

In 2025, the Italian venture capital market recorded further strengthening, with more than €2.2 billion invested and 346 total rounds, including initial and follow-on transactions involving Italian startups and scaleups, as well as foreign companies founded by Italian entrepreneurs. With regard to investments by both domestic and foreign operators in Italian startups, the amount exceeded €1.6 billion across 314 rounds, up from €1.2 billion in the previous year. The number of transactions also increased (270 in 2024). Investments in foreign companies founded by Italian entrepreneurs declined, amounting to nearly €600 million across 32 transactions (over €700 million in 30 rounds in 2024). Combining these two components, the overall total exceeded €2.2 billion (compared with €1.9 billion in 2024).

This figure represents a significant increase compared with 2024, when total investments stood at €1.9 billion across 300 rounds, confirming a structural recovery after the slowdown observed in 2023.

A key feature of 2025 is the strengthening in the number of transactions, indicating a dynamic and widespread ecosystem, even in the absence of a high concentration of mega-deals. The market therefore appears more widespread, with greater capital distribution across a larger number of startups.

Comparison with the Previous Three-Year Period: From Slowdown to Maturity

2023: A Year of Contraction and Selection

2023 marked a turning point. Investments in innovative Italian startups fell to around €1.1 billion, with reductions in both the amount invested and the number of rounds. The macroeconomic and geopolitical context pushed investors toward a more cautious approach, favoring the selection of more solid projects and penalizing larger-scale deals.

2024: Return to Growth

In 2024, the market showed signs of recovery, with €1.9 billion invested and 300 total rounds. Despite a lower number of transactions compared with peak expansion years, the average round size increased, signaling greater confidence in more mature startups with consolidated business models.

2025: Consolidation and Renewed Expansion

2025 consolidates this trajectory: surpassing the €2 billion investment threshold indicates that venture capital in Italy has regained stability and attractiveness, while maintaining a more selective profile than in the pre-2023 period.

Sources of Capital and the Role of Corporates

In 2025, the significant role of international investors was confirmed, accounting for approximately 44% of total investments, compared with 56% from domestic capital. This highlights the continued attractiveness of the Italian ecosystem beyond national borders.

The presence of corporate investors also remains significant, involved in about one quarter of rounds, both as lead investors and co-investors. This strengthens the link between innovation and the industrial system, fostering strategic synergies and growth opportunities for startups.

Sectors and Geographies: ICT, Energy, and Life Sciences at the Core

From a sector perspective, 2025 confirms a strong concentration in ICT, which accounts for the largest share of transactions (40%). Within ICT, enterprise technologies prevail, signaling growing interest in B2B solutions and enabling technologies for corporate digital transformation.

Alongside ICT, Energy and Environment, Life Sciences, Biotechnology, and Healthcare continue to stand out—sectors that had already emerged as resilient in the previous two years and are now increasingly central to investment strategies.

Geographically, Lombardy hosts the highest number of target companies, with 99, covering 48% of the market (up from 36% in 2024, with 70 companies). It is followed by Lazio (8%) and Piedmont (6%). Internationally, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Switzerland stand out for transactions involving startups founded by Italian entrepreneurs.

Early Stage and Technology Transfer: A Strengthening Value Chain

A particularly significant figure in the 2025 Report concerns the early-stage segment, which—including venture capital, corporate venture capital, and business angels—reached approximately €2.3 billion across 420 rounds, up from €2.0 billion and 406 rounds in 2024.

The weight of Technology Transfer also increased, supported by funds and hubs promoted by CDP Venture Capital SGR and AIFI members. Total investments in Technology Transfer in 2025 amounted to €592 million across 93 transactions, almost tripling the amount invested in 2024. From 2016 to 2025, investments in this area show a steadily growing trend, with an overall leverage effect exceeding €700 million, confirming the strategic role of scientific research as a driver of innovation and the impact of system-level initiatives implemented in recent years, such as Itatech and the TT Funds of CDP Ventures.

With regard to corporate venture capital activity, 2025 confirms recent evidence of strong corporate participation in venture capital rounds. In particular, corporate involvement in investments supporting newly established companies or those in early development stages was recorded in about 27% of initial rounds, in line with 2024.

A More Solid and Quality-Oriented Ecosystem

Overall, the 2025 data describe a more mature Italian venture capital market, less dependent on individual large-scale transactions and more oriented toward project quality, business model sustainability, and integration with the industrial and research systems.

Comparison with the 2023–2025 period highlights a clear evolution: from a phase of slowdown and selection, the market has reorganized and returned to growth, laying the foundations for more structural and resilient development of Italy’s innovation ecosystem.

“2025 was the second-best year ever for venture capital in Italy, with growth that consolidated its recovery, also thanks to significant foreign investments, accounting for 45% of the total” - explains Luca Pagetti, Head of Startup Growth Financing at Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center. “Investment trends confirmed interest in the ICT sector (Information and Communication Technology), with over 40% of invested capital, with particular attention to AI, strong growth in the Energy and Environment sector, at 11% of the total, and the consolidation of Biotech and Healthcare, together accounting for 16%. Through Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center, our Group supports the growth of startups and scaleups by providing innovation advisory and business transformation services, enabling ecosystem initiatives, including investments from the SEI fund (Sviluppo Ecosistemi di Innovazione) managed by subsidiary Neva SGR.”