“We are delighted to welcome Bnbkit, Ecosmic, Homepay, Lexsa, Monetunes and Qodeup to A-Road. These six scale-ups have impressed Growth Capital, Growth Engine, and A-Road’s CEOs and mentors, demonstrating the determination and potential to embark on an ambitious journey towards a Series A round. With the support of our mentors and partners, we are confident they will achieve significant results, as the companies from previous batches have already demonstrated,” said Fabio Mondini de Focatiis, founding partner at Growth Capital, as he presented the seventh batch of the A-Road programme, which was launched five years ago and has to date supported 33 scale-ups that have recorded average year-on-year revenue growth of over 70%. Alumni from the first five batches have raised a total of over €150 million in capital and completed five exits, with a success rate of over 90%.
The start-ups and scale-ups that took part in the six previous editions are: Agora Labs, Barberino’s, BonusX, Cosmico, Cubbit, Displaid, Elsa, Freedome, GoVolt, HiNelson, Holifya, Rexer (formerly Homepal), Indigo.ai, Karrycar, Kippy, PayDo, Spiagge.it, StarTric, TextYess, TimeFlow, TrueScreen, Tundr, Wetacoo, WithLess, WordLift and Yocabe. Meanwhile, those selected for the seventh batch are:
Bnbkit, a digital logistics and last-mile delivery platform designed for BnB hosts and short-term rental providers. The mission is to bring a hotel-style approach to the operational management of short-term rentals, integrating logistics, cleaning, maintenance and technology into a single urban platform serving hosts and property managers. The start-up was founded by Matteo Campodonico (co-founder and CEO) and Maurizio Losi. It will be supported by Paola Bonomo, vice-president of IAG and non-executive director of Admiral Group, Inwit and Faac.
Ecosmic develops intelligence systems for safe and scalable space operations. The software integrates a variety of ground-based and space-based data sources for space domain awareness, using validated algorithms to support collision avoidance, orbit determination, asset recovery and anomaly characterisation. The start-up was founded by Benedetta Cattani (CEO), Imane Marouf (CCO) and Gaia Roncalli (CPO). Micol Fornaroli, operating partner at FSI and senior advisor at McKinsey Life Sciences, will support Ecosmic.
Homepay is a payment infrastructure designed specifically for the property sector, with the aim of making every property transaction secure, simple and transparent. The start-up was founded by Edoardo Ribichesu (CEO), Mikel Amilburu (CCO) and Carlos Carrión (CPO). Tommaso Gamaleri, Group Executive VP at Younited, will support Homepay on its growth journey as a mentor.
Lexsa is a vertical agent-based operating system for the tax and accounting sector. It handles the entire process from start to finish and delivers finished work to firms and companies, from document analysis and tax database queries to the drafting of pre-litigation and litigation documents. Built by tax specialists for tax specialists, for complex, specialised workflows where general-purpose tools fall short. The start-up was founded by Simone Hong (CEO) and Claudio Cama (CTO). Andrea Mignanelli, former group CEO of Cerved, will be Lexsa’s mentor.
Monetunes is an AI-powered rights management platform that helps songwriters, producers and record labels collect royalties, manage catalogues and monetise intellectual property globally with transparency and speed. The start-up was founded by Antonio Di Puorto (co-founder and CEO) and Mark Stanbury (co-founder and CRO). Alessandro Petazzi, CEO of Lastminute.com, will support Monetunes on its growth journey.
Qodeup is a smart platform for restaurants which, starting with simple, app-free digital payments, integrates high-value services such as verified reviews, loyalty schemes and personalised in-store experiences. All with a single goal: to improve customer satisfaction and optimise restaurant operations. The start-up was founded by Fabio Marniga (CEO and co-founder) and Stefano Allegra (CTO and co-founder). Qodeup will be supported by Duccio Vitali, CEO of Alkemy Group, on its journey through A-Road.
The selected scale-ups receive an initial investment of €200,000 from Growth Engine, a venture capital investment holding company specialising in pre-seed and seed funding. Founded by Michele Appendino, Marco Ariello, Andrea Marangione and Fabio Mondini de Focatiis, it has a portfolio of over 50 portfolio companies, 12 successful exits and one write-off.
The scale-ups will receive ongoing one-to-one support from their dedicated mentor, who, drawing on extensive experience in rapidly scaling highly successful companies, will guide them through the entire acceleration process. The programme’s mentors include: Paola Bonomo, Micol Fornaroli, Tommaso Gamaleri, Andrea Mignanelli, Milena Mondini de Focatiis (Group CEO, Admiral), Alessandro Petazzi, Duccio Vitali and Andrea Zocchi (Managing Director, Deliveroo Italia).
The programme includes training workshops, professional services and bespoke consultancy from partners such as McKinsey & Company, Amazon Web Services, Legance and Carter&Benson, as well as experts and events featuring speakers from the innovation ecosystem, successful entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. Finally, the programme provides fundraising support: Growth Capital will offer a personalised approach by identifying the most suitable investors and investment structure, and minimising the time required to reach the Series A round quickly (pictured in the opening photo are the founders of the selected start-ups).
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