Participated · Series A · Nov 2022

Babaco Market operates a sustainable groceries subscription service that collects cosmetically imperfect but edible produce from about 100 producers and distributes them in curated food boxes. It markets and delivers in four Italian regions: Lombardy, Emilia Romagna, Veneto and Piedmont. The company shipped some 35,000 food boxes in 2021 and expects to more than double that figure this year. Babaco was founded in May 2020 by Francesco Gilberti and Luca Massaeretti, inspired by similar US startups. The startup highlights food-waste reduction as a core mission, noting at least 6% of the EU's greenhouse gas emissions come from food waste and pointing to the end of the EU ban on selling misshapen produce. Following its latest raise, Babaco plans an expansion drive into international markets and the recruitment of additional staff.

Participated · Equity · Jun 2020

Rentuu operates a cloud-based technology platform and franchise network for the equipment hire industry, focused on construction and events. The company is co-founded by Andrea Guzzoni and Dennis Helderman and is headquartered in London with offices in Milan, Amsterdam and Kyiv. It has a development pipeline of more than 300 partners and has secured brand rights for easyHire, easyEventhire and easyToolhire through investment from Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou. Rentuu says it is experiencing rapid growth and has attracted backing from a strong global brand. The company intends to use the funds to continue expanding its business reach into new markets and operations.

Participated · Series A · Feb 2020

2hire is a Rome, Italy-based smart mobility solutions company founded in 2017. It develops intelligent mobility solutions that connect vehicles (cars, bikes, scooters, e-scooters, etc.) and enable remote control via smartphones. Its Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) platform lets rent-a-car and sharing companies monitor, manage and update services connected to their fleets. 2hire was accelerated within LUISS EnLabs. The company already connects over 10k vehicles globally across Europe and South America and serves renting and sharing companies among others. It recently raised venture funding and intends to use the proceeds to continue to expand operations. 2Hire develops a hardware device that plugs into a vehicle's standard OBD port to monitor status in real time and let a smartphone act as the digital key. The product combines on-board hardware with companion software to enable remote vehicle management. The company completed the LUISS ENLABS accelerator in May 2017. 2Hire says it will use the recent funding to accelerate production and industrialization of the device and to speed up software development. The seed financing provides early capital to move the product toward manufacturing and market-readiness. The company is based in Rome, Italy and was co-founded by Filippo Agostino (CEO), Andrea Verdelocco (iOS Developer) and Matteo Filippi (CTO).

Participated · Equity · Jul 2019

GrowishPay is a Milan-based social payments startup that provides an API/SaaS layer connecting with open banking systems to enable viral and social marketing payment campaigns. Its platform supports features such as group payments, gift lists, private network payments via cashback, wallet management and dropping prices, enabling P2P transfers and payments to businesses within networks or communities. The company operates proprietary payments platforms (Growish.com and Listenozzeonline.com) and works with over 1,000 merchants including Mediaworld, Lastminute.com, Volagratis, Uvet Travel Network and LoveTheSign. GrowishPay has over 80k active users who have transacted over €22m on its platforms. Led by CEO Claudio Cubito with Antonino Pisana and Michele Novelli, the company will soon launch ScuolaPay, a system for parents to make payments related to school activities. Financially, the company has raised over €2m to date and recently secured approximately €1m in funding including equity crowdfunding and a grant.

Participated · Series A · Jun 2019

GuestReady operates a tech-driven property management platform and a white‑label PMS that powers its short- and mid-term rental operations and is sold to other managers as a SaaS product. The company sources properties from owners, handles guest bookings and coordinates services such as cleaning, linen and key handovers, automating many manual tasks from centralized support offices. Since becoming operational in 2016, GuestReady has grown to a portfolio of 2,600 properties valued at over €1bn across more than 30 cities including Paris, London, Lisbon and Dubai. The platform has sold over 1.6 million guest nights and generated €60m in rental income this year, reporting a 5.1% EBITDA margin and a 4.8/5 customer rating. Growth has been rapid, with guest-night sales up 740% compared to July 2020. The company intends to use the recent crowdfunding proceeds to support growth in existing markets and expansion into new ones. GuestReady is a Switzerland-based short- and mid-term rental management company that manages homes listed on Airbnb across cities including London, Paris, Dubai, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Porto, Manchester, Edinburgh, and Cannes. It sources properties from owners and rents them to guests while coordinating cleaning, linen services, and key handovers. GuestReady has developed a property management system (PMS) that automates many previously manual services and enables remote delivery from centralized support offices. The company operates a software-only business model and also offers Online Property Management services such as guest communications and revenue management, enabling it to capture around a 6% commission share. Since 2019 it has offered a white-labelled version of its PMS to vacation rental management companies and traditional property managers at roughly a 2% commission on partners' gross rental revenues. Funds from the current Seedrs round will be used to continue development of the GuestReady platform. GuestReady’s platform handles the operational tasks of short-term rentals—cleaning, laundry, and check-in/out services—while integrating with major booking channels. The company says it manages over 2,000 properties across six countries: the UK, France, Portugal, UAE, Malaysia and Hong Kong. It reports annualized booking volume close to $50 million. CEO Alexander Limpert said take‑home revenue has tripled over the last year and burn has fallen, though he declined to provide specific figures. Growth has been driven in part by M&A; GuestReady completed its fourth acquisition with France-based BnbLord, its largest deal to date. The company is pursuing additional acquisitions and plans to focus on current markets with the possibility of adding one or two new cities later. GuestReady provides end-to-end management services for Airbnb hosts, including cleaning, laundry, and check-in/out support across five cities. The company currently manages over 600 properties and has supported more than 20,000 stays. It is roughly one year old and reports apparent profitability in two cities. GuestReady recently acquired Easy Rental to bolster its presence in London and Paris and has exited Amsterdam after limited traction. The company plans to use new funding to grow its tech team, double down on existing markets, and expand into additional cities, targeting Southern Europe and more developed urban areas in Asia. GuestReady is a global short-term rental management company based in London that provides professional services to property investors, homeowners and Airbnb hosts. Its services include listing creation, guest communication, housekeeping, laundry and key management. The company is led by CEO Alexander Limpert and CFO Patrick Degen. At the time of the article it was operating in six cities: London, Singapore, Hong Kong, Paris, Kuala Lumpur and Amsterdam. GuestReady plans to roll into new countries soon and intends to use recent funding for product development and hiring essential staff. The company closed a USD750k angel funding round to support these plans.