What does European venture capital think about Italian startups? This is the question that TechChill, a Latvian-born nonprofit organization working in the world of innovative companies, asked itself, and on which it built a survey to measure the sentiment of various investors, venture capitalists, and business angels in Europe about the Italian startup ecosystem, intending to find out their opinion on the current state and future potential of the Italian tech scene.
In search of expertise
According to TechChill’s survey, initially published in the international publication Tech.eu, for more than half of the respondents getting in touch with educated and motivated talent is one of the main advantages of betting on an Italian startup. Low costs, experience with high-end products, and Italian SME culture were also cited as pluses in betting on an Italian startup.
Vigilant investors
According to the survey conducted by TechChill, the vast majority of respondents are open to investing in Italian startups if a suitable opportunity presents itself for their portfolio, and a third of them have already supported the growth of at least one Italian startup. More than half, 52.4 percent, indicated that they are very likely to do so, while 38.1 percent say they are likely to invest.
Bureaucracy holding back
So what is holding back foreign venture capital investment in Italy? Bureaucracy appears in almost half of the responses as the biggest obstacle. It is also an underdeveloped ecosystem, with investors pointing to the disconnect from ecosystems in other countries and the relative lack of recognition and reputation as a brake on the development of the tech sector in Italy.
The most interesting sectors
Dwelling on the sectors in which startups operate, Climate Tech (47.6 percent) and SaaS Software as a Service(47.6 percent) emerge as most attractive, indicated as the verticals with the most potential in Italy by half of the investors, with Deeptech (33.3 percent) and Fintech (28.6 percent) following.
“Our survey highlights the willingness of foreign investors to invest in Italy and their appreciation for local talent. It also highlights how VCs and Business Angels are disenchanted with the current state of the Italian ecosystem and waiting for success stories that can become drivers in other countries, as well as unwilling to engage in the laborious task of developing startups from scratch. First, it is an activity they have already pursued elsewhere, and second, they would struggle against the tide in a socio-economic environment that they perceive as unstructured and often too bureaucratic. To best support local talent, with TechChill Milan, we want to create a strong and concrete connection between the Italian startup ecosystem and the rest of the world to make Italy strategic on the global startup map,” says Annija Mezgaile, CEO of TechChill.
