CDP Venture Capital Sgr announces that it has activated the Corporate partners fund I, which aims to "involve the main Italian companies to grow the Italian venture ecosystem" by investing in innovative startups and SMEs in the most strategic sectors for the country.
The bottom has a initial endowment of 180 million euro – which come from Cdp Equity and the Ministry of Economic Development – and operates in four sectors: Industry Tech, EnergyTech, Service Tech e InfraTech, each focused on a strategic supply chain. The goal is to collect 400 million (100 for each sector) by the end of 2021.
It has already been signed a first closing of 57 million relating to Industry Tech, a sector dedicated to new technologies in the manufacturing industry (robotics, 3D printing, Internet of Things, applications of new software and hardware for process management and control and more).
"Corporate venture capital is an essential tool to ensure the development of a country like Italy, world leader or co-leader in various supply chains and production processes - he comments Enrico Remini, managing director and general manager of Cdp Venture Capital Sgr – Corporates that have already been on the market for years now find themselves facing daily competition on various fronts due to continuous technological progress and the consequent transformation of the markets”.
At the same time, "Italian startups often find it very difficult to find the funds necessary for the early stages of development compared to similar companies from more structured foreign ecosystems - continues Resmini - The Open Innovation approach is therefore crucial both to guarantee opportunities of development within the country for young innovative realities, and to allow existing companies to anticipate new trends and speed up response times in the face of increasingly complex challenges".
