Led · Seed · Jul 2026

Beelzebub develops an AI-native cybersecurity platform that operates on an assumed-breach model to detect malicious activity inside networks. Its platform includes Arcangelo for attack simulation, Beelzebub Managed for AI-powered decoy infrastructure, and Caronte, an AI malware analyst that reverse-engineers malware and generates incident reports. The solution is offered as both SaaS and on-premises deployments and is designed to help organisations meet NIS2 compliance requirements. Founded and led by Mario Candela, the company plans to expand its research team and open commercial offices in Rome and San Francisco. Beelzebub has raised €3.3 million in total funding to date following the seed and pre-seed rounds and is focusing commercial efforts on European customers subject to evolving cybersecurity regulations.

Participated · Seed · Jun 2026

Seltz builds a purpose-built search stack—owning its web crawler, index, retrieval models, and ranking—targeted at AI agents and chatbots that require machine-ready, citable information. The system crawls hundreds of millions of pages per day, returns results in under 200 milliseconds, and scores and extracts specific passages, tables, or images to supply agents rather than just human-oriented snippets. Founder and CEO Antonio Mallia previously worked on information retrieval in his PhD and at Amazon and Pinecone, and the team includes multiple PhD holders and veterans of Amazon’s AI efforts. Seltz was incorporated in the U.S. and founded last October, operates fully remotely with about 15 employees split between the San Francisco Bay Area and hubs near European universities in Pisa and Leipzig. The company faces a crowded competitive landscape with better-funded peers, but plans to use its seed funding to advance its search stack, hire, and launch enterprise sales. Its advisers and angel backers span technology companies and academic information-retrieval labs.

Led · Equity · May 2026

Algorithmiq develops end-to-end quantum-classical computing frameworks to simulate complex therapeutics and accelerate drug discovery. The company demonstrated a workflow running on IBM hardware using up to 100 qubits to simulate the activation pathway of a photosensitizer drug currently in Phase II trials. Algorithmiq presented a framework that meets requirements for current-hardware viability, biological relevance, and comparability with modern classical methods. It has partnerships and contributions with Microsoft and IBM, and participated in projects such as the Quantum Advantage Tracker. The company has operations in Italy, Finland, the U.K., Ireland, and the U.S. Dr. Sabrina Maniscalco is CEO and a co-founder.

Led · Series B · May 2026

Smartness develops AI-driven software to support the management of hotels and holiday homes in Italy. Its platform automates and optimizes operations for accommodation providers using artificial intelligence. The company has completed multiple funding rounds, including a €13 million Series A at the end of 2023 and a €47 million Series B, bringing total capital raised to over €60 million. Investors in Smartness include United Ventures, CDP Venture Capital SGR, Partech, Techshop, the founders of Bending Spoons, Azimut Group and Rialto Capital. The fresh Series B funding increases the company's financial runway and investor base. The company is headquartered in Italy.

Led · Series B · Mar 2026

Cleafy is a cybersecurity company focused on the banking sector, offering a platform that analyses digital signals across web, mobile, backend, and network channels to spot fraud and cyberattacks at their earliest stages. By blending these data sources with real-time threat intelligence, the system identifies malicious infrastructure, attacker behaviour, and evolving attack patterns weeks before they can inflict damage. The firm recently launched Cleafy for Workforce, extending its approach to detect insider threats and compromised employee accounts within corporate environments. Cleafy reports zero customer churn over more than a decade, reflecting strong retention among European banks facing new regulations like DORA and NIS2. With fresh capital, the company intends to accelerate development of its predictive security capabilities, expand global threat analysis, and deepen its presence in European and Latin American financial markets. Including the latest financing, Cleafy has raised €22 million to date.