Club Italia Investimenti 2 bets in the Italian smart parking app Parkey by providing seed funding

Club ItaliaInvestimenti 2 has invested in Parkey in a seed capital round. Parkey is the new concept of smart parking, a free mobile application developed by Cloud Park, the company that has followed the technological development of the app, available on the iOS and Android platforms, allowing drivers to find out free parking places on the go.

Cloud Park Srl has developed a unique integrated system, named Parkey, an app for iOS and Android devices, which based on Bluetooth 4.0 technology, once uploaded on an iOS or Android smartphones, in addition to identifying and obtaining any kind of information on city parking, not only allows each driver to find and navigate till any public or private parking, but moreover it transforms the smartphone into a remote control that opens and closes any access system to private and public parking. In the meantime, Parkey also executes the money transaction to pay the stop within the parking. Each parking access system recognizes each smartphone as a unique ID through Bluetooth technology installed into the access devices.

By downloading the app and activating the Bluetooth, in just a few simple steps you can locate the nearest car parking garage and reach it quickly, and even the payment for the whole parking time is charged directly to your credit card safely and quickly over your smartphone. With geolocation, you can find the nearest garage and find out if parking is available. By looking at the data sheets, you can

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Pilegrowth Tech raises €500k in seed funding from Quadrivio Capital SGR and Como Venture for the superconductor Made in Italy

Quadrivio Capital SGR - through its TTVenture fund -Como Venture which operates in synergy with ComoNExT business incubator, and the industrial partner LPE spa, after having believed in the entrepreneurial project with a first round held in 2012, took part to a new investment round Pilegrowth Tech Srl, a company operating in the semiconductor industry, by providing financial and industrial resources for a value of over 500,000 EUR. Leonida Miglio, founder and president along with Hans von Känel, founder and CTO of Pilegrowth Tech, commented that "the challenge is doubly difficult, both for the highly competitive sector at global level, and because undertaken at a time of economic crisis equally global, but the confidence and the courage of the investors are the best incentive to pick it up and carry it to success, with as much confidence and courage, even in contrast to the trend of despair that hangs in our country. "

Pilegrowth Tech has the ambitious goal to introduce a radical innovation in the semiconductor industry, based on a new solution discovered by two prominent scientists in Solid State Phisics. The project is based on the discovery of an innovative process that has gained the coverage of the prestigious journal Science and that allows the growth of different semiconductor materials on silicon without producing the "crisis of rejection" that the different atomic structures normally generate. Such technology would allow to combine the industrial and cost advantages of silicon with the performance advantages of high value added semiconductors. It is for example the case of germanium, which is deposited on a silicon surface without producing cracks and could be useful for packaging photovoltaic cells capable of converting solar radiation to higher frequency. This solution represents a major technological innovation: the difficult task of Pilegrowth is to turn this scientific breakthrough into a platform for innovative products (electronic devices to handle the power of many consumer goods, in place of silicon, high efficiency but lighter solar cells,  extremely sensitive and precise x-ray radiation detectors). 

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Cortilia raises €1.5M in Funding from Programma 101 (P101)

Milan, 5th November 2014 - Cortilia, an Italian Online Local Grocery Marketplace, chosen already by more than 500,000 users in Lomdarby with thousands of weekly deliveiers, announced today a €1.5 million round lead by P101, the Milan-based venture capital firm specialized in early stage investments in the digital space.  This new capital injection brings the total funds raised by the company since its founding in 2011 to €2.5 million and represents the first step of a midterm €5 million Investment Plan. The operator of venture capital P101 bets on Food Innovation with the startup Cortilia founded by Marco Porcaro, ready now to conquer new markets and expand the offered products and services.

P101 thus joins a pool of investors who have already bet on the company, providing not only fresh capitals but also a wealth of knowledge and know-how that will allow Cortilia to further develop its business and consolidate its market position.

"I am extremely pleased with this investment, which is the first step of an ambitious plan

we agreed with both the Company’s management and its shareholders," said Andrea Di Camillo, Managing Partner at P101. "Cortilia represents what an investor looks for in a start-up: a young and fast growing company, operating in a very large market with an innovative business model. Thanks to this investment and the resources that we are going to put in place, I believe that, in the medium term, we will able to turn this Italian story into an international success.”

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Ambienta announces final close of its second fund Ambienta II at €325M ($404M) to back european Cleantech companies

After the first successful closing at €147M reached at the end of October 2013 (read here), and the second closing held on 20th December 2013 at €200,2M (read here), Ambienta SGR, the Milan, Italy-based leading private equity firm in Europe focused on the environmental sector, has held the final close of its second fund, Ambienta II, at its hard cap of €325M (approximately $404M). The fund, which started fundraising in late November 2013 with a target of €300M, has exceed its target by 7.8 per cent with the final closing, that was substantially oversubscribed, and represents the biggest european fund dedicated to environmental protection. The Fund Ambienta II attracted a mix of international investors such as pension funds, insurance companies, funds of funds and family offices from Europe and North America. Backers include the European Investment Fund, Generali, HarbourVest, Hermes, Pantheon, RobecoSAM, Stafford Capital Partners, Unigestion and Zurich Insurance Group, as well as Italian LPs such as CNPADC, Fondazione Enasarco, Intesa Sanpaolo, Fondo Italiano di Investimento, and Poste Vita.

The fund will be managed by Ambienta SGR, independent investment firm founded in 2007 by Nino Tronchetti Provera, Rolando Polli and Mauro Roversi (all three founders of Ambienta), as well as by Stefano Bacci and Rudolf Ohnesorge, - supported by a team of more than 10 professionals. The Fund will invest in 10-15 companies in line with the AMBIENTA strategy, focused on an acquisitive growth strategy with targeted investments on cutting edge SMEs with high growth potential and able to make a positive contribution to optimizing the use of resources and reduction of pollutants (resource efficiency and pollution control). The historical scarcity of natural resources and high population density have allowed a number of European companies to develop great skills in these two areas and Ambienta seeks through a heavely engaged industrial approach to supports businesses in the process of management development and growth in global markets, turning them into international industry champions. Ambienta II will continue Ambienta 's strategy of

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United Ventures Closes Fund at $80M, Plans To Take Italian Talent Global

Milan, 28th October 2014 - United Ventures, the European technology-focused Venture Capital firm, has today announced the closure of its first fund with $80 Million (€50 million), well beyond its final target size of €50 million ($63.6 Million). The new fund, entitled United Ventures One, is a significant milestone for the Milan-based Venture Capital firm and signals a renewed interest by investors into the European tech space. The firm to date has already invested over €16 Million in nine companies operating across Europe and North America including significant investments into MoneyFarm, Cloud4WI, Halldis and Appsbuilder as well as 20Lines, Marinanow, LoveTheSign and Badseed.

Investors in the fund are two-thirds comprised of institutions, banks and fund of funds and one-third individuals. The Europen Investment Fund joined other investors in United Ventures, including the Italian Investment Fund, who committed €10M in the first closing while the remaining €20M have been committed by Fondazione Banco di Sardegna, the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca, Banca Sella Holding and Banca Patrimoni Sella & C. "The European Fund historically has invested very little in Italy and it is the first time that it does so in a corporate vehicle".
The investor base sees the participation, beyond the Italian Investment Fund, of other institutional funds - such as Fondazione Banco di Sardegna, Foundation Savings Bank of Lucca, Banca Sella and Banca Patrimoni) and of private investors at the side of the management team, such as Matteo Fago, co-founder of Venere, Marco Corradino co-founder of Volagratis, Edoardo Loewenthal of 6Sicuro, Valerio De Molli of the European House Ambrosetti and Davide Serra of Algebris Investments.

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Bauzaar raises funding from P101

Milan, 28th October 2014 - Bauzaar, e-commerce specialized in food and snacks for dogs and cats, with offices in Milan and Molfetta, announced today that it has raised a funding round of undisclosed amount from venture capital fim Programma 101 (P101), with the participation of Club Italia Investmenti 2, less than a year after the first investment received from venture incubators H-Farm and Boox.

Founded in 2013 by Matteo Valente and Domenico Gimeli, two young entrepreneurs that have decided to challenge the market by launching an innovative e-commerce portal dedicated to food for cats and dogs, Bauzaar is specialized in the online sale of high quality food and snacks for the palate of our four legged friends. In the first nine months of 2014, the company has shipped over 70 tons of products all over Italy, with more than 6,000 processed orders and 4,000 customers. The strength of this small but innovative enterprise lies in its shipment organization, the so-called "Organized Delivery" thanks to which its clients are able to directly plan the frequency with which to receive the chosen products, without having to repeat the order and payment every week or month and to save up to 10% forever.

Bauzaar offers its clients a form of direct contact with an expert, who is ready at the drop of an hat to dispense suggestions on nutrition and general health.

Bauzaar will allocate part of the new resources to the strengthening of the new offer,

continuing to select only the best products for feeding, care and welfare of pets. The company is also engaged in research and development to produce its own line of innovative foods and snacks. On technological side, the startup is rolling out the mobile version of the platform, which enables customers to complete their purchases conveniently and in mobility through smartphones and tablets. 

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Scloby raises €250k im seed funding from Club Italia Investimenti 2

Scloby, the system that turns your smartphone into a cash register, has raised €250k in seed funding from Club Italia Investimenti 2. The startup presented at Smau, the Milan-based international ICT trade exhibition, the new mobile receipt printer that allows you to print receipts and invoices on the move wherever you are. Fully integrated with the rest of the digital services of the system, the printer represents the latest addition in time order for the Turin, Italy-based provider of innovative online and mobile solutions for merchants.

Issueing a receipt or an invoice can be sometimes difficult, especially for those working on the move. Who is required to have them, needs devices that are easy to carry and easily rechargeable. For this Scloby, the system that integrally replaces the traditional cash registers and management software with tablets and smartphones, has created the portable fiscal printer Scloby Mobile. 

The device allows to work in full autonomy and mobility: it can be clipped to a belt and, along with the tablet or the smartphone, will allow you to print receipts and invoices on the move wherever you are. The device is fully integrated with the rest of the digital services. The printer, in fact, allows to get POS payments compatible with the major banks and to keep under control your own stock (central or in mobility). Suitable for those who do home deliveries, but also artisans and professionals, the printer integrates seamlessly with your existing e-commerce. The device offers maximum agility also in terms power supply: the printer can in fact be easily recharged from the mains supply or from the cigarette lighter of your car.

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Growish raises €500k from four business angels

Milan, October 14, 2014 - A group of prominent angel investors has signed a capital increase of € 500,000 in Growish the Milan, Italy based innovative startup incubated within Digital Magics that offers friends and colleagues to raise money and purchase gifts online. 

The investors, who have joined the round, have a proven experience and a track record ind Italian and international digital space: Anna Siccardi, Nader Sabbaghian, Antonio Pisa and Alessandro Rivetti. 

Even the founder Claudio Cubito and the CTO Domingo Sarmiento Lupo have increased their investment in this round. Digital Magics, certified incubator  of innovative startup listed on the AIM market of the Italian Stock Exchange (symbol: DM), has supported and will continue to support Growish - startup of its portfolio - in later stages of development. At the conclusion of the capital Digital Magics will hold 43% of the share capital of the company.

The Digital Magics Angel Network, is  a network of 100 private operators, institutional funds and industrial partners that support Digital Magics in the selection, mentorship and co-investment of proposed ideas and startups in the development stage and already developed by the incubator.

Thanks to the new resources, Growish: will focus on the growth of the company by launching marketing activities and strengthening its positioning in the Italian market - also through important partnerships - and will develop the mobile app for tablets and smartphones.

Growish will increase the team of the startup with the entry of new members: two developers, a sales manager and a digital marketing specialist, that will flank Claudio Cubito (47 years old, Co-Founder and CEO), ex CEO of  a chemical  multinational company and founder of the italian branch of EMP the rock e-commerce number 1 in Europe, Domingo Sarmiento Lupo (27 years old, Co-Founder and CTO), venezuelan engineer expert in digital management and Alessandro Martello (43 years old, Strategic Marketing & Sales), Contract Professor in Brand Management at the University Cattolica - Milan - and ex Marketing Director & Innovation Manager at Henkel.

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Klikkapromo raises €600k in funding

Milan, October 13, 2014 - Klikkapromo, the Milan-based innovative startup specializing in digital couponing and shopping offers, has successfully completed a further funding round which ended up with a share capital increase of €600k and aims now to consolidate its leadership in the digital and mobile couponing space. The operation is follows the capital increase of €1M made ​​in 2013, which has enabled the company to launch the first and only 100% digital couponing platform Pazzi per le Offerte (Crazy about Offers), active both on the web and on the  iPhone and Android mobile store. An innovative service that allows users to purchase products on which a coupon is active at any point of sale, from supermarket to the local store, and then cash-in the rebate in the form of phone cards and gasoline vouchers. 

The innovative KIikkapromo service, which allows users to always have at hand coupons on many essential products and the best brands, counts today 350,000 registered users and in the early months of its activity has involved more than 20 large companies in the large-scale retail channel (GDO - Grande Distribuzione Organizzata) for a total of more than 1 million downloaded coupons that can be used in all distribution channels. 

The capital increase was subscribed by the entire board of Klikkapromo and all other members of the shareholding structure of the company. Thanks to this operation, the two  majority shareholders, Gianluca Andena with Andena Holding and Guido Paolo Gamucci with Bincot - ex partner in the private equity fund Permira - increased their majority stake in the company and hold now two-thirds (65%) of the shares of Klikkapromo. The injection of the new financial resources will be entirely devoted to the strengthening of marketing and communication activities as well as to reach a broader customer base. Indeed the company expects to double the number of subscribers by the end of the current year and to exceed the threshold of 1,000,000 of users in the first half of 2015, with the aim to offer brand companies an innovative promotion channel for an increasingly numerically important public. 

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Programma 101 invests in Waynaut and joins Club Italia Investimenti 2 to push Waynaut's international expansion

Programma 101 (P101), the venture capital fund promoted by Andrea Di Camillo (ex founder of Banzai and Vitaminic) and sponsored by Azimut Holding and the Italian Investment Fund, focused on early-stage investments in the digital space between €500k and €3M, has invested in Waynaut (previously known as Youmove.me), the Milan, Italy-based multimodal transportation platform that allows to integrate in a simple and immediate way detailed information on how to reach any place, by using all kinds of means of transportation from the more traditional ones such as train and plane to the most innovative ones like such Uber and Blablacar. P101 thus joins, in the capital of Waynaut, the venture capital vehicle already present in the company, Club Italia Investimenti 2, who did already invest €50k in the company a pre-seed funding round held in May 2013. The amount raised was not disclosed, by given the investment range of P101 there is to bet that the investment was of at least €500k.

Founded in 2013 by Simone Lini, Waynaut is the first aggregator in Europe of traditional and innovative transportation thought for businesses wanting to enhance their offers or provide an additional service to their customers showing how to reach a destination in a simple and fast way. The company provides information on all means of transportation with a current coverage of 80% of the Italian territory. Waynaut was the first provider in Italy to make available such products in an international context characterized by a

not yet very high competition. It is a virtually untapped market showing attractive growth opportunities. Taking the example of online travel agencies, which are more and more attentive to propose solutions that cover the entire customers' trip, they will be able to offer through the Waynaut API a complete information to guide users door to door. Or just think of any business, website or app for the organization of events that is not satisfied with the only provision of the address or some general information on how to get to the event itself, but wants to give clear guidance on means that at any given time the customer can use along the way. 

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