Digital Magics raises €2M on the AIM Italia-MAC to continue backing the Italian Startup Ecosystem

Milan 30 December, 2013 - The Board of Directors of Digital Magics, a Milan-based certified venture incubator of innovative digital startups  listed since July 2013 on the AIM Italia market a segment of the Italian Stock Exchange (symbol:DM) announced the subscription of newly issued 264,853 ordinary shares for a total amount of € 1,986,397.50, deriving from the divisible capital, excluding the right of option, approved by the Extraordinary Assembly of Digital Magics held on July 4, 2013 .

This resolution provided that the shares not placed at the time of admission during the listing process (the maximum no. 1,500,000 ordinary shares to the IPO on AIM Italy) could be placed among professional investors and third parties, by 31 December, 2013.

The capital increase was subscribed at

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Fondo Italiano di Investimento backs Forgital Group with a €30M investment

Fondo Italiano di Investimento has acquired a minority stake in Forgital Group, the Vicenza-based industrial components manufacturer and systems provider for the aerospace, oil&gas and power generation sectors.

The fund led by Gabriele Cappellini has injected €30 million into the company owned by the family Spezzapria and founded in Vicenza (Italy) in 1873, which operates internationally in the production of rings and other drop-forged components of big dimensions. The company has a turnover in excess of €250 million and employes more than 1,000 staff across 17 subsidiaries around the globe.

The transformation process of the company started in 2008 with the creation, in Trento, of Fly SpA turning from components production to supplier of complex integrated systems destined to high-tech sectors, such as aerospace. The investment made by Fondo Italiano di Investimento aims to accelerate the new growth strategy of the Forgital Group.

Interviewed by tgcom24, Nadir Spezzapria, shareholder and president of Forgital Group said that entry of the Fondo Italiano di Investimento in Forgital confirms the strategic vision of the company, which among others is confirmed by the numerous multi-year contracts subscribed with primary O&M aerospace contractors for a value in excess of $2 billion, a very important target.

The investment in Forgital represents the continuation of the fund led by Gabriele Cappellini of the backing of italian SMEs, with the target to support ther growth and strengthen their national and international competitiveness. Between direct and indirect investments, nowadays are 75 the companies in the portfolio of FII for an overall turnover of €4 billion and more than 24,000 employees. 

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Programma 101 holds first close at €32 million: Azimut SGR and Fondo Italiano di Investimento commit €15M each

Programma 101, the Milan-based brand venture capital firm focused on early-stage investments in the Italian digital space, has held its first close, as reported by Reuters, at €32 million.

As anticipated back this June subscribers includes Azimut SGR and Fondo Italiano di investimento (FII), which made a €15M investment each in the first fund launched and by serial entrepreneur and VC Andrea Di Camillo, dedicated to investments in the digital space. 

Programma 101, which has a fund raising target of €50 million, intends to invest among and €500k and €1.5M in high-tech startup companies. With a past as "business angel" and venture capitalist (has worked together with Elserino Piol in Kiwi), Andrea Di Camillo has built a network of incubators and under his wing there are already potential interesting companies for the fund.

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Christmas Time for VEASYT: a Business Angel under the Christmas Tree

 Veasyt, a Venice, Italy-based startup developing digital solutions to break down communication barriers, held today 17th December 2013, at the Chamber of Commerce of Padua, a press release communicating the investment in the spin-off of the University Ca' Foscari of Venice. The startup, registered to BAN Veneto the business angel network of the Veneto region, with the desire to find an investor which could offer the needed resources to launch the company in the market and who would believe in the entrepreneurial project by accompanying it on a growth path, found its Angel Investor in Andrea Ghello, the 51 years old entrepreneur form Vicenza who in 2000 opened the first italian chain of health and beauty store, which was protagonist in 2006 of the Bersani liberalization and of an elegant operation shareholders' widening thanks to the entrance of GE Capital-Interbanca. 

Active supporter of BAN Veneto as well as of its capacity to develop ideas, last 11th December, 2013 Andrea Ghello realized the investment by entering the share capital and board of directors of the academic spin-off, which a commitment of €170,000 on the base of an agreement of pre-money valuation of the company at €480,000.

Founded in January 2012 by Enrico Capiozzo (Founder and CEO) Lisa Danese (Co-Founder and Community Manager), Gabriele Greco (Co-Founder and Marketing Manager), Bruno Verneau (Co-Founder and CTO) and Anna Cardinaletti,(Co-Founder and Advisor) Veasyt offers digital professional services for accessibility, and communicates this effort starting form its name: VEASYT = visit + easy, for a more easy visit, a simplified visit. VEASYT srl is an innovative startup, pursuant to "Decreto Sviluppo 2.0" (Development Decree 2.0).

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Ergon Capital Partners exits Zellbios to Deutsche Private Equity

 MILAN, 16 th December 2013 - Brussel-based private equity operator Ergon Capital Partners has announced it has entered in a contractual agreement with Deutsche Private Equity for the sell of the majority stake held in Zellbios, the Luxembourg-based leading manufacturer of niche Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs), mostly off-patent, serving the worldwide pharmaceutical market. With 700 employees, a turnover in excess of €130 million and production facilities in Germany (Raubling), Italy (Pavia) and India, Zellbios is the result of the merger of the italian Farmabios SpA and the german Pharmazell GmbH, two highly specialized API players, which has a unique competitive position allowing the company to establish itself as strong player in the global API industry:

• Farmabios: focuses on the production of highly specialized APIs, characterized by low volume, high margin and complexity: (i) sterile and non sterile steroids, (ii) sterile and non sterile cephalosporins, (iii) highly potent substances (HPS) and (ii) antineoplastics.
• Pharmazell focuses on the production of niche APIs, with a global leading market position and high entry barriers such as (i) 5-ASA derivatives and (ii) cysteine derivatives.

In August 2007, Ergon Capital Partners acquired Farmabios from its founders and, in 2011, acquired Pharmazell from Auctus Capital Partners and Lead Equities to form Zellbios. Back in September this year Bloomberg reported the transaction would be valued at almost €200 million ($271 million). 

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Pree-seed funding for Gnammo: Club Italia Investimenti 2 welcomes a new startup in its portfolio

 According to a post on the company's blog, Gnammo the Italian social eating platform, raised a pre-seed funding from Club Italia Investimenti 2. The sum of the transaction was not officially disclosed but Club Italia Investimenti 2 usually invests up to €50k in incubated startups across the country. The company will use the capital to continue expand its operations.

Led by Gian Luca Ranno, CEO, Gnammo allows users (chefs and experienced amateurs) to organize meals and events at their own place meeting new people. The company's free platform provides event organizers with tools to promote their events. To date the startup has helped more than 500 chefs to bring 5,000 Gnammers to their events in 17 regions. Gnammo is incubated within the Turin-based Treatabit.

But what is Gnammo?

Born in January 2011, Gnammo is the first Italian online platform dedicated to Social Eating, putting together great cooking and tasting events at your home. But what is Social Eating?

Join or create gastronomic events, sharing the seats around the table with strangers with whom building a new relationship in a situation in which the food becomes a vehicle for a very special social experience. Gnammo is active since June 2012, and thank to its Facebook page with nearly 9,000 "likes" and 15,000 users, has been able to organize more than 1000 events in 17 different Italian regions.

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H-Farm invests in Travel Appeal

H-Farm, the leading italian venture incubator, has invested an undisclosed amount on a seed round in Travel Appeal, (as reported by finsmes). The funds will be used to continute to develop the company solutions. Indeed, Travel Appeal the thermometer which will revolutionize the rating on the attractiveness of italian turistic destination. Officially presented last 3rd and 4th of December at BTO - Buy Tourism Online - the largest exhibition dedicated to the world of Travel which took place in Florence. The startup incubated within H-Farm venture incubator arises from an idea of Mirko Lalli expert in digital media and travel for over 15 years, which aims to disrupt the way in which operators in this sector communicate each other and make marketing in the digital space. Travel Appeal finds solutions to help the destinations, places and tour operators to draw experience to enhance the touristic offer, providing expertise, digital innovation and tools to improve strategy. The tourism sector is one of the key elements of the Italian economy, and Travel Appeal just aims to provide the conceptual tools to understand the behavior of today's tourists, travelers who choose the destinations and move more and more thanks to digital tools and platforms on the Internet. Consequently, the startup is able to realize digital communication projects in line with the behaviors studied.

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Intertwine receives €110k in seed funding by Digital Magics and 56CUBE

Intertwine is a startup that provides an innovative project in the field of media and collaborative editing. In practice, the objective is to put together the classic features books, digital communications and social networking. The startup is backed by Digital Magics and 56Cube with a funding of €110,000.

Interwine, aims to become the first social network for the shared creativity. Intertwine is a web platform that allows users to create, share, and publish collaborative multimedia publishing works.

The project is supported by 56Cube, venture incubator of innovative digital startups in Southern Italy, and by Digital Magics, certified incubator listed on the AIM market of Italy Italian Stock Exchange (symbol DM), with an investment of € 110,000 and with the support services that cover different areas: from finance to technological development, from strategic evolution to marketing, from administration to logistics.

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CharityStars wins 360 Startup Competition and receives €360k in seed funding

CharityStars, the Milan-based celebrity giving social network which wants to disrupt the no profit sector is the winner of the 360 startup competition. The company, already finalist at the Marzotto prize last week, has won $360,000 offered for the first edition of the 360by360 competition. The competition has been promoted by 360 Capital Partners, a venture capital company involved in whole Europe, with particular focus on France and Italy.

The event was organized by Nuvolab, company accelerator and services company from Milan founded by Francesco Inguscio. Nuvolab proposes itself to create and concretely valorize entrepreneurial opportunities hidden in the national system.

The event took place last Tuesday 3rd December at Villa Contessa Rosa in the province of Cuneo. In favor of the winning project did surely play an important role the good reputation of the founder, Francesco Nazari Fusetti, born in 1987. It is already his second startup experience, after the success of ScuolaZoo, capable of a turnover of €3.5 million.

CharityStars is the first platform for the celebrity raising, already capable to raise more than €65,000 in few months thanks to a really good structured partnership network. The target is to land in the United States, where the charity market is bigger and better organized.

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AeroDron receives €400k in seed funding

Just 5 months after joining the B-ventures startups accelerator launched by Buongiorno S.p.A., AeroDron, a Parma-based (Emilia-Romagna) startup operating in the remote sensing space, has closed a seed round of €400k which will bring to the subscription of a capital increase.

The seed funding is foreseen in two tranches:

• the first tranche of €110k has been concluded on 27th November and has been subscribed by Blom CGR (the general company for air video shots), a leading company in the sector of photogrammetry and remote sensing, and by Capital B! a the financial vehicle controlled by Mauro Del Rio (President and Founder of Buongiorno S.p.A.).
• the second tranche, of the value of €290k, will be subscribed in January 2014 and will see the entrance of important investors and entrepreneurs among its shareholders.

With this transaction AeroDron obtains a further push to its growth thanks to the financial resources and technological competencies brought in by Blom CGR, which enters in the company shareholding as an industrial partner.

Born in Parma in 2012, AeroDron is actually incubated within B-ventures accelerator program launched by Buongiorno S.p.A., uses civil drones to offer professional services of low-flying and high precision air video shots to sustain the activity of analysis, protection, prevention and safeguarding of the territory and environment. It is the only italian realty addressing the public administration and which operates in the field of environmental services with the objective of insert the use of drones in the technology already in use, by substituting traditional aircraft services.

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Turning the Italian Digital Music Ecosystem on: Sounday raises €2m and acquires Kiver Digital

Turin, 28th November 2013 - The market of digital music enriched by a new excellent 100% Made in Italy. positions itself in Italy as digital music ecosystem at support of the growth of the music business through innovative and consulting services. Strengthened by the acquisition (from 2music) of Kiver Digital - specialized in the distribution of digital contents - last Septermber thanks to the investment of €2 million made by Principia, Sounday has launched Sounday Music - digital platform - dedicated to artists and professionals of the sector: the service provides an offer of services and solutions accessible via Web and Mobile, based on a customizable technology, allowing artists, professional operators and music labels to manage the entire music lifecycle, from networking, to the creation and distribution, from the sale and purchase of music goods and services of mixing and mastering up to the management of the identity on the web.

"The music world is nowadays undergoing a phase of deep transformation, with technology being its core. Just think that, according to data released by IFPI, in 2012 fee-based music downloads from web and mobile stores increased by 12% and the number of registered users to subscription services even by +44%. To these numbers, one has to add social networks: music is the preferred topic in conversation among friends on social networks in the 67% of cases and 7 out of 10 most followed celebrities on Twitter and, even 9 out of 10 among those followed on Facebook are music artists". commented Giuseppe Ravello, founder and CEO of Sounday and of Kiver Digital:

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Crowdcube partners with Xandas to launch operations in Italy

Crowdcube, the Exeter, UK-based equity crowdfunding platform, announced its plans to launch its latest international operation in Italy, thanks to the strategic partnership agreement signed with Xandas, a Milan-based company  specialized in launching and operating highly innovative digital ventures.

The announcement follows recent agreements to open in New Zealand and Spain and operations will be Launched in all three countries in early 2014. Crowdcube has now signed partnership agreements in seven different countries (the others are Brazil, Sweden, Dubai and Poland) with the expansion funded with £ 1.5m growth capital raised via their Own equity crowdfunding website.

Led by Fabio Pezzotti, CEO, Xandas focuses on seed and early stage businesses and investment with a management team having a combined 30 years of experience in launching startups, fundraising and exits, international development and management. They have invested in Pointistic and Chupamobile, among others. Commenting on the announcement,

Pezzotti said: «We are delighted to partner with Europe’s leading equity crowdfunding platform, Crowdcube. Italy, which became the first country in Europe to implement equity crowdfunding laws early this year, has tremendous potential. Our knowledge of the local startup and investor eco-system and Italian financial regulations combined with Crowdcube’s state-of-the-art technology and know-how means we can rapidly launch and make a real impact in Italy, akin to what Crowdcube has achieved in the UK».

Led by Darren Westlake, CEO, and Luke Lang, Crowdcube enables everyday investors to fund businesses in return for a share in the company. Since February 2011, more than 50,000 investors have registered with Crowdcube, helping to raise more than £16m for over 80 UK businesses.They expect further agreements to be signed in 2014 and is already seeking potential partners in France, Germany, Canada and the USA.

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Atlante Seed and Digital Magics join forces to shape the Italian Startup Ecosystem

 Milan, November 21, 2013 - Atlante Seed, VC fund managed by IMI Fondi Chiusi SGR dedicated the Seed and Early stage capital, and Digital Magics, the certified venture incubator of innovative startups listed on AIM Italy, a segment of the Italian Stock Exchange, have signed a framework agreement for the joint development of investment activities in digital startups. The partnership aims to increase the ability of investment for startups selected and incubated by Digital Magics, ensuring adequate financial resources for their development.

Atlante Seed enters the Angel Network of Digital Magics and will be entitled to participate in the seed rounds entering the capital of startups with high growth potential, co-investing in companies proposed by the venture incubator.

This operation is part of the indirect investment plan of Atlante Seed, which in July 2013 entered the share capital of Digital Magics within the listing of the company shares on the AIM Italia.

The Angel Network of Digital Magics plays an active role in the selection and strategy consulting of new ideas and business models: it assesses startups, submits new projects to the incubator - thus creating the birth of the dynamics of corporate venture capital - and offers its expertise and industrial financial resources to promote the growth of startups.

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Consilium toward the first closing of its new fund

Consilium SGR, is approaching the closing of its latests fund currently in fund raising, which will be held at €80 million. Consilium SGR operates since 2006 with its closed-end fund Consilium Private Equity Fund (CPEF), with an endowment of €150million, which has a duration of 10 years and an investment period of 6 years. Of the so far realized 8 investments, four are still in its portfolio, while four have been divested. Among these we find Consilium share in Rollon sold to Chequers Capital (20% of the capital) and IGI SGR S.p.A. (70%), while the residual 10% remained in the hands of the management, led by CEO Eraldo Bianchessi, who reinvested. The company, with Headquarter in Vimercate (Milan), is a leading Italian manufacturer of linear rails and actuators. The Group has subsidiaries in France, Germany and USA. In 2010, Ardian (previously Axa Private Equity), the premium independent private investment company and Consilium acquired the majority of Rollon to support its domestic and international growth strategy. According to BeBeez, the transaction occurred on the base of a company valuation, debt included, at roughly €100 million, i.e. 6 times the expected EBITDA for the end of 2013, which is slightly increasing with respect to the €16,2 million in 2012, in the face of a turnover of €53.9 million, the 80% being realized abroad. The acquisition has been financed for the half with equity and for the other half with debt financed by Unicredit. 

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Farman raises €400k in a first seed round from Digital Investments

Digital Investments SCA SICAR, a Luxembourg-based VC investment fund who advisor is dPixel, a venture capital advisor and management consulting firm specialized in the digital seed and early stage space founded by Gianluca Dettori and Franco Gonella,  invested €400,000 by subscribed a capital increase in Farman a Milan and Trani-based (italian) e-commerce startup specialized in the Health & Beauty sector: a transaction that will allow the company to go on with its growth plans since the receives funds will be used to best implement the company business plan with the target to become a reference player in the Health & Beauty space by reinforcing the management team with the entry of Loris Lanzellotti, Investment Manager at dPixel.

Massimiliano Masi, CEO and co-founder of Farman, says that "the entry of Digital Investments witnesses that road taken is the right one, but mostly offers us significant growth prospects for the years to come. We have several initiatives underway and the support of this new investor will enable us to pursue our objectives by increasing investment in technology, communications and logistics." After a strong growth in 2012 ( +112 % increase in turnover with a customer base of about 8,000 clients) 2013 has already confirmed the positive trend of the company. "We believe - continues Lanzellotti - that online sales in the Health & Beauty is segment with a high growth potential."

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56 CUBE and DIGITAL MAGICS launch BUZZOOLE

 Salerno, 12th November 2013 - 56 CUBE, venture incubator born within the certified Milan-based venture incubator Digital Magics listed on the AIM segment of the Italian Stock Exchange, in order to scout cutting-edge innovations from Southern Italy, launches and backs financially with a €180,000 seed investment Buzzoole, the startup which wants to disrupt online users' presence by optimizing and identifying, in a qualitative manner, influencers in a specific field. To accelerate its development, apart the financial backing, 56 CUBE will be providing Buzzoole also with technical, mentorship and marketing services with the support of Digital Magics.

Buzzoole - the italian answer to the US giant of the online marketing Klout - is the first Italian IEO (influence engine optimization) and social media advertising platform, based on an algorithm and an innovative technology that allows companies rethink their concept of influence, by qualitatively identifying influencers of their niche market and to generate word of mouth on their products and services (the so-called buzz marketing), rewarding influencers with dedicated offers such as discounts, product testing, exclusive invitations. Thanks to the technology of Buzzoole, companies can independently plan online marketing campaigns with free and flexible budgets, to identify influencers by level, geographical area, topic and keyword. In comparison to its competitor Klout, which delivers only a quantitative analyzing, by telling how many people a user can reach with his messages, but is unable in revealing which influence his message can have, the algorithm developed by Buzzoole not only identifies the amount of reached people, but also the sectors in which they influence: sport, culture, media and so on. Fabrizio Perrone, founder of Buzzoole,  is very young and bright entrepreneur (29) who finished his studies in record times and started to work in strategy consulting and after a year founded Fan Media is first agency focused on campaigns of social media advertising, which gave him the clue to fill the gap, i.e. provide a qualitative tool allowing the identification of influencers on social media as well as a service of buzz and digital allowing SMEs to experiment the effects of word of mouth, which is the ace in the hole of Buzzoole. 

How does  Buzzoole work:

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Wise raises €1 million in equity financing

 WISE (Wiringless Implantable Stretchable Electronics), a Milan- and Berlin-based medical device company is developing next-generation implantable neurostimulation devices based on their unique and proprietary technology platform. The company has now raised a seed-round of €1 million to advance the development of its first product aimed at the spinal cord stimulation market. High-Tech Gründerfonds, Atlante Seeds and b-to-v Partners co-led the round and were joined by the existing investor Agite!

"We feel honored by the trust Placed in WISE by the investors who recognize how our technology can change the neurostimulation market. Certain we are, did our product features genuinely disruptive properties and wants overcome the limitations of currently available products", comments WISE s CEO and co-founder Dr. Luca Ravagnan. "Completing this financing round gives us the resources at hand to finalize our prototype and fully engage into pre-clinical development".

"We have strongly believed in this project and in the scientific team since the company foundation," adds Agite!'s President Dr. Mario Zanone Poma. "We Consider the participation in this investment round by three of the major seed funds in Europe as a fundamental step forward in the development of WISE towards commercial success".

The electrodes and extensions presently used in neurostimulation come with two major limitations: breakage and dislocation, both caused by the stiffness of the material currently being used and requiring surgical replacement of the electrodes. WISE's competitive advantage is built on a proprietary technology, developed at the University of Milan, that allows the insertion of electronic microcircuits in biocompatible silicones. Based on this technology, WISE is able to generate highly elastic electrodes of supreme reliability which resist stretching and twisting without the risk of dislocation or electrical failure.

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Quercus Assets Selection Acquires a 14MW Photovoltaic Project in Cornwall

The transaction, implemented through the Quercus Renewable Energy Fund II, marks the official entry to the UK photovoltaic market for Quercus.

Quercus Renewable Energy Fund II, a segment of Quercus Assets Selection, a company which specializes in the infrastructure investments with a focus on renewable energies, has completed the acquisition of a 14 MW photovoltaic project in Corwal, which is expected to be connected to the national grid by the end of March 2014. After the successful biomass investment with the UK Green Investment Bank in the anaerobic digestion plant in London concluded recently, Quercus begins its official entry into the competitive UK photovoltaic market, in which the company expects to be highly competitive for at least in the next 18 months, the period defined for the incentive structure. Quercus is currently carrying out due diligence for a photovoltaic projects pipeline totalling around 150 MW in the United Kingdom, which constitutes the first part of an overall portfolio estimating growth to 300 MW by the end of March 2015.

Despite a climate that differs from Southern Europe, the United Kingdom offers interesting investment opportunities, supported first and foremost by a stable and highly efficient market and a particularly low country risk. This allows an easy understanding of the exceptionally simplified regulatory system and a predictable evolution of the incentive structure, essential ingredients for optimizing investment planning. All of this is accompanied, among other things, by relatively low banking rates, a good incentive structure for the investor and highly competitive procurement costs for goods and services, also due to the adjustment of supply to sector dynamics. 

As Diego Biasi, Managing Director of Quercus said

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Musement raises €690k from 360 Capital Partners and IAG (Italian Angels for Growth) to expand internationally

Venture Capital firm 360 Capital Partners and the business angels network Italian Angels for Growth injected €690,000 in the italian, an interesting hub for the world of cultural tourism and art events.  The Milan-based startup has raised a total of 690 thousand Euros by IAG members, 360 Capital Partners and a third investor, amount that will be allocated to the development of Musement's app and platform, expanding the range of services provided, for the geographical expansion and strengthening of the structure and for marketing and communications activities. The startup showcases last 30th April, 2013 at TechCrunch Disrupt in New York, introducing its unique service of its kind with the target to emprove users experience in cultural tourism and art events.

Musement.com - which allows access to more than 60 museums, archeological sites and theaters in 25 cities in Italy and which will launch by the end of 2013 its offer abroad (France, UK and USA) and mobility services thanks also to the agreement with Charta (www.vivaticket.it) and Teleart, the ticketing firms of the Best Union group -  is an Italian project, the brainchild of four entrepreneurs - Claudio Bellinzona, Paolo Giulini, Alessandro Petazzi , Fabio Zecchini - with the aim to bring together in one place all of the cultural market, which still can not "create a system". Its function is also to simplify the organization and thus improving the visit of many tourists traveling to cultivate their passions.

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Club Italia Investimenti 2 backs Sgnam.it with €50k capital injection

The first italian pree-seed vehicle at the side of accelerators, Club Italia Investimenti 2 (Cii2) has entered the capital of Sgnam, a young Bologna-based startup, operating in the home food delivery space. injecting €50k in the company.

The web platform, also available on Android devices, allows to order food to be delivered fast at home, and all this in few click and time money saving, thanks also to discount actions. After having personalized and send the order, the restaurant owner receives it on an ad-hoc created app for the management of the orders, that in few seconds answers giving a feedback on the delivery time. Sgnam's app works only as intermediary between the client and the restaurant owners, and being a delivery-man-free system and being managed on the Cloud, everything is automatic and applicable everywhere.

Founded by Giovanni Cavallo (CEO and Founder), Lorenzo Lelli (CTO) and Alessandro Battaglia (CFO) and launched on the market on 28 November 2012 by after an initial testing phase in Bologna, Sgnam is now present also in Modena, Reggio-Emilia and Florence, with more than 5,000 active orders. At the speed of two cities per months, the company will expand to the remaining university cities, maintaining as target students aged between and 18 and 25 years old. At the moment the company counts 80 among bars, restaurants and pizzerias with more than 5,000 orders. And the most interesting information is the the percentage of users that reordered over the platform, are 43% of Sgnam visitors.

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Prestiamoci raises €550k in seed funding from Digital Magics and a group of angel investors

Milan, 30th October 2013 - Prestiamoci the only Italian startup having a license, as holding company, released by the Bank of Italy for the management of a online P2P lending platform, has raised €190k as part of a €550k capital increase from Digital Magics, the certified venture incubator of innovative startups listed at the AIM Italia segment of the Italian stock exchange, along with Italian and international investors. Thank to the Prestiamoci web platform, investor can lend resources to private persons and companies in a very transparent way, with the professional skills in the credit management typic of the banking system. As of today, Digital Magics, holds 25,61% (€190k) of Agata Spa, the company under which operates the brand name Prestiamoci.

The operation saw the participation of different investors of the Angel Network of Digital Magics - which cooperate with the incubator in the startups' selection, mentorship and co-investment - as well as important private and institutional European and American experts in the field P2P lending on a global level. At the investment round took part also previous lenders who continue to support the business idea of Prestiamoci.

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Ambienta SGR holds first close of its newly launched fund Ambienta II at €147.2 million.

Independent Italian growth private equity investor Ambienta SGR has held a first close for its latest fund Ambienta II on €147.2m out of a total target of €300m, less than six months post launch and above its initial first closing target, which would lead Ambienta to become the largest European fund dedicated to the environmental sector. The fund has considerable additional interest and anticipates further closings to be held in the coming months.

Ambienta SGR led by Nino Tronchetti Provera, with offices in Milan, Munich and London, is focused on the management of private equity funds which have as target companies mainly characterized by interesting growth opportunity whose development drivers are connected with themes like efficient use of natural resources, energy savings, pollution control and efficient  waste management/disposal. 

The closed commitments come from a broad range of investors, including existing investors re-ups, such as those of Intesa SanPaolo, Poste Vita as well as new Italian and international institutions. Indeed, approximately 44% of the first closing commitments in the fund Ambienta II has been signed by eight new European and North American investors, including the European Investment Fund, Credit Suisse, Hermes, Unigestion and some Americans and Germans family offices. Among the investors of this first round there is also the Italian Investment Fund, which has committed to €30m. This is the first commitment of the Italian Investment Fund to a private equity firm with a sectorial investment strategy.

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