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The Venture Codex

Step Ventures

No. 599, Meiyu Road, Jiading District, Shanghai, China

Overview

Step Venture is a venture capital fund investing in early-stage digital startups in fintech, SaaS, IoT, and AI.

Total investments
3
Lead investments
3
Investments · 12mo
2
Active investors
4

Sector focus

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI)
  • FinTech
  • Internet of Things
  • Venture Capital
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Investment portfolio

  • Smartwage

    Led · Seed · Apr 2026

    Founded in 2024 by Marco Gambardella (CEO), with co-founders Felice Cupane (CTO) and Francesco Varuzza (COO), Smartwage offers a platform that lets employees autonomously spend corporate welfare credits with merchants of their choice. The technology integrates regulated digital payment tools such as cards and bank transfers with an AI-based assistant described as a “welfare coach” for employees and employers. Smartwage positions itself to address unused welfare budgets—reporting that over 20% of corporate welfare budgets go unused—and cites a domestic market worth over €7 billion and a broader European market of €80 billion. The company plans to invest in architecture, security, AI model enhancement, and go-to-market execution with proceeds from the pre-Seed round. Zest supports Smartwage via a strategic service agreement focused on governance, financial planning, and investor introductions.

  • Robin Health

    Led · Seed · Jan 2026

    Robin Health is a healthtech company focused on prevention and digital health management. Its mobile platform merges behavioural, biometric, and clinical data into an intuitive interface, converting these inputs into actionable insights for clinicians. The tool specifically supports the daily management of obesity and overweight, enabling a preventive, personalized, and data-driven care pathway. The application is already available for download on both the App Store and Google Play Store. In January 2026 the company secured €2 million in pre-seed capital, providing its first external financing. Robin Health plans to deploy the funds to broaden its operations and accelerate further product development, positioning the company for wider adoption among patients and healthcare providers.

  • Proxicoin

    Led · Equity · May 2019

    Proxicoin is a securities token created and owned by Proxima Media that allows everyday qualified investors to take fractional ownership in film, television, music and other IP. The token is built on the Ethereum platform, has been fully audited, and has signed a deal to be listed on the Fusang Exchange. Proxicoin holders will also be partial owners of Entertainment Stock X (ESX), a planned aftermarket trading platform where individual film and TV projects can undergo IPOs and be publicly traded. ESX has deals for listings on over 30 major feature film projects and aims to serve a significant share of the roughly 600 major films and television shows shot annually; Proxima expected ESX to launch by the end of 2019. The company announced a $100M investment from The Central Wealth Investment Fund of Hong Kong and Step Ventures, providing immediate capital to advance the token and ESX roadmap. Proxicoin’s team includes industry and technology advisors and a front‑end partnership with Hanzo to develop the ESX platform.

Team