Italy’s angels&incubators and venture capital weekly roundup. News from Scalapay, Cyclando, Credimi, Newcleo and more

Scalapay, an Italian fintech of the BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later) sector, acquired Italy’s competitor Cabel IP and rebranded it as Scalapay IP (see here a previous post by BeBeez). The target operates in Spain and France and has sales of 36 million euros, an ebitda of 3.9 million and a net financial debt of 23 million. Banca Cambiano (29.6%), Trust Pro Bono (20%), Castagneto Banca 1910 (19.5%), Cassa Centrale Banca (7.6%), and other minority shareholders sold their stake.

Cyclando, an online tour operator for cycling itineraries in Europe, raised 0.238 million euros ahead of a 0.4 million target through a crowdfunding campaign on Mamacrowd on the ground of a pre-money value of 2.8 million (see here a previous post by BeBeez). Riccardo Sedola founded Cyclando in 2019 and owns 60% of the company that received acceleration support from Milan-listed LVenture Group. Cyclando’s sales are 0.675 million. Webmapp has 40% of the business.

Newronika, an Italian healthcare company, received a grant of 2.5 million euros from the programme Grant first of the accelerator European Innovation Council (EIC) (see here a previous post by BeBeez). The company will invest such proceeds in research about Parkinson’s disease and the development of Alpha-DBS. EIC shortlisted Newronika out of 1000 applicants and supported a total of 78 firms (5 of them are Italian) that will receive up to 470 million in grants and investments. Alberto Priori and Lorenzo Rossi PhD are the founders of Newronica, which attracted the investments of sector venture capital funds.

Milan-listed Azimut started the fundraising for ALIcrowd III, a venture capital Eltif that already attracted orders of 22.9 million ahead of a 40 million target (see here a previous post by BeBeez). The least ticket is of 10,000 euros. ALIcrowd will invest in innovative startups and SMEs and equity crowdfunding campaigns.

London’s Exceptional Ventures (EV), a fund that Paolo Pio and Matt Cooper created, started its activity in Italy (see here a previous post by BeBeez). EV will target seed and pre-seed investments in the field of wellness, healtcare and food. On 15 and 16 March, Wednesday and Tursday, the fund will meet potential Italian investors in Turin and Milan. Sources said to BeBeez that EV set a fundraising target of 20 million GBPs through three rounds to complete by fall 2023.

Banca CF+ (fka Credito Fondiario) reached an agreement for acquiring the digital assets of Italian fintech Credimi and half of its employees (see here a previous post by BeBeez). Sources said to BeBeez that the five million euros worth transaction needs the authorization of Banca d’Italia for the closing. The vendors may receive a further 5 million earn out in three yearsupon the achievement of targets. Credimi retained Kpmg and Studio legale Gattai, Minoli, Partners as advisors, while PwC assisted Banca Cf+.

On 10 March, Friday, Venture Group (LVG) and Digital Magics (DM), two Milan-listed investment firms, announced the signing of a non-binding agreement for a business combination that may complete in late 2023 (see here a previous post by BeBeez). Luigi Capello is the ceo and founder of LVG and will have the same role in the new entity. Marco Gay is the executive chairman of DM and will have the same role in the new entity. DM and LV may merge with a swap ratio between 61.5%-38.5% and 66.5% – 33.5%. LVG has a market capitalization in the region of 18.3 million euros. DM market cap amounts to 37.4 million.

Newcleo, a nuclear energy scaleup based in Italy and the UK that Stefano Buono founded, signed a collaboration agreement with Milan-listed energy giant Enel for developing plants of fourth generation (see here a previous post by BeBeez). Newcleo is developing reactors that use the polluting waste for generating energy. Enel will support the scaleup with its human resources and granted it an option for investing in the first nuclear plant that will build abroad. The companies aim to build innovative reactors that significantly reduce the current volumes of radioactive waste and plutonium and eliminate the need to mine uranium underground.