Daniela Castegnaro, an expert in business development and organisational processes, has been appointed venture partner and head of M&A at the IH1 holding company, which is part of the Mamazen startup studio. The role combines expertise in venture capital with strategic management of mergers and acquisitions, and aims to strengthen the strategic team leading the holding company, which over the past year has raised €10 million in funding to support its start-ups – an increase of €3.3 million compared with April 2024.
“Daniela Castegnaro is a top-level professional with years of experience and a forward-thinking vision of the business world,” says Farhad Alessandro Mohammadi, CEO of Mamazen, in a statement. “We at Mamazen are excited about this new partnership, which we are confident will enhance the performance of both the holding company and the start-ups.”
“Why did I join Mamazen? Because throughout my professional life I’ve had to battle against organisations’ resistance to change, scepticism towards new ideas and new technologies, and the ‘we’ve always done it this way’ mentality. Here, however, the paradigm is reversed: we build something new from scratch, without preconceptions, with an open mind, enthusiasm and energy. Not by improvising, but methodically, just as I like it,” says the manager.
Daniela Castegnaro (pictured) has led multinational companies in the chemical, agribusiness and manufacturing sectors. An electronics engineer who graduated from the Politecnico di Milano, she held positions of increasing responsibility within global groups such as Dow Chemical, DuPont, AkzoNobel and Monsanto, eventually becoming CEO of Monsanto Italia and Business Director for Southern Europe and the Middle East. Subsequently, as managing director, she oversaw the integration of ECB Company – an industrial firm with three plants in Italy producing pet food ingredients – into the European Saria group, leading its industrial relaunch and profitability growth. More recently, she served as group managing director of Arrigoni, which specialises in plastic and textile covers for agriculture. At Mamazen, she brings the ability to support start-ups during the acceleration and scaling phases, structuring them to maximise enterprise value at exit.
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