The innovative start-up Finapp, founded as a spin-off of the University of Padua and operating since 2022, has announced that it has closed a Series A investment round worth \u20ac8.64 million to accelerate its internationalisation and industrial growth. The round was led by Linfa, an Italian agrifoodtech fund managed by Riello Investimenti, for which Finapp is the fifth investment, with follow-up from existing partners: Mito Tech Transfer, a fund of Mito Technology, Cr\u00e9dit Agricole Italia and Tech4Planet, the national technology transfer hub for environmental sustainability promoted by CDP Venture Capital. <\/p>\n\n
Founded in 2019 as a spin-off of the Department of Applied Nuclear Physics at the University of Padua, Finapp develops and manufactures patented probes based on CRNS (cosmic ray neutron sensing) technology, which measure the amount of water in soil and snow by detecting neutrons generated by cosmic rays. Finapp technology enables real-time, large-scale measurements of soil moisture and snow water equivalent, applicable in precision agriculture, environmental monitoring, landslide, flood and fire prevention, and water network leak detection. <\/p>\n\n
“We are extremely proud of the completion of this round: we would like to thank the lead investor, the Linfa fund of Riello Investimenti, and all the investors who have believed and continue to believe in Finapp, in particular the existing investors who participated in the follow-up: Mito Technology, Cr\u00e9dit Agricole Italia and CDP Venture Capital’s Tech4Planet technology transfer hub,” said Luca Stevanato, CEO and co-founder of Finapp (pictured with the team), in a statement. “This round is not a point of arrival but a starting point, marking a new beginning for us: the opening of Finapp to the world. Our partners will support our internationalisation and industrial growth, with the aim of bringing the water measurement revolution not only to Italy and Europe, but globally. We are radically changing the way the planet measures a resource that is not only strategic but increasingly critical for industry, agriculture and climate change mitigation.” <\/p>\n\n
The funding will enable Finapp to open two new operational offices in France and the United States, expand its team to support the growing demand for CRNS solutions in international markets, and upgrade its production and research lines in Italy. CRNS technology, also supported by the FAO for the promotion of resilient and sustainable agricultural practices, allows the number of neutrons generated by cosmic rays to be correlated with the amount of water present in the soil or snow. Finapp’s patent covers the hardware, a lightweight and compact probe capable of validating measurements in real time by analysing muons, another subatomic particle generated by cosmic rays, which allows the primary source of the signal to be calibrated. <\/p>\n\n
Just six years after its foundation, Finapp has reached operational breakeven, installing its devices on every continent, including Antarctica, and winning international awards such as the EIC Accelerator 2023, the UN’s AI for Good Award and an award at COP28 in Dubai.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The start-up, a spin-off from the University of Padua, develops technology based on cosmic rays to measure water.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":125,"featured_media":148474,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1317],"tags":[1471,1143,1137,1136,1337],"companies":[3061],"journalist":[1518],"class_list":["post-148471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-funding-news","tag-agrifood-en","tag-investments","tag-italy-en","tag-startup-en-2","tag-sustainability","companies-finapp-en","journalist-editorial-staff-en"],"featured_sizes_urls":{"thumbnail":{"src":"https:\/\/www.startupbusiness.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Team.webp","width":113,"height":150,"crop":false,"srcset":false,"alt":"acqua sostenibilit\u00e0"},"large":{"src":"https:\/\/www.startupbusiness.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Team.webp","width":768,"height":1024,"crop":false,"srcset":false,"alt":"acqua sostenibilit\u00e0"},"2048x2048":{"src":"https:\/\/www.startupbusiness.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Team.webp","width":768,"height":1024,"crop":false,"srcset":false,"alt":"acqua sostenibilit\u00e0"}},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n