Vento rolls out new €75M fund for Italian founders, no matter where they live

Over the last 15 years or so, as European venture capital shifted into a higher gear, one way to help a nation’s ecosystem flourish was to invest in founders from that country, regardless of where they were based. This would help re-patriate the entrepreneurial mindset back home. In Europe, the approach was pioneered in part by Paris-based Kima Ventures. Now, a new venture firm hopes to replicate that idea from Italy. Vento, one of Italy’s most active private early-stage VCs, is launching its second fund, hard-capped at €75 million, specifically to back Italian startup founders at home and abroad. The sector-agnostic fund originated from the organizers of Italian Tech Week, held annually in Turin, which has hosted the likes of Sam Altman, Reid Hoffman, and Elon Musk, among others. The event was originally launched by Fiat family scion John Elkann, chairman of Vento, but also chairman of Stellantis (the parent company of Fiat) and Exor (the holding company of the Agnelli family, whic ... Read full article.