Zest, a company listed on the Milan Stock Exchange that operates in the field of start-up acceleration and open innovation programmes and is one of Europe’s leading players dedicated to promoting the growth of the innovation ecosystem, acquires a 20% stake in Eureka! Venture SGR. (asset management company), an independent investment company authorised by the Bank of Italy and specialising in the promotion and management of alternative investment funds in private markets.
The transaction represents a significant step towards the creation of an integrated platform capable of covering the entire innovation value chain, from acceleration to the exploitation of scientific research, through to the more advanced stages of venture capital and entrepreneurship through acquisition.
“This partnership represents a fundamental step towards building a complete value chain in the world of innovation, as shared with Marco Gay, executive chairman of Zest, and in line with our business plan,” said Luigi Capello, CEO of the Zest Group, in a statement. “The collaboration with Eureka! allows us to extend our activities, which range from accelerating early-stage start-ups to open innovation, and from promoting research results to tech transfer. With the possibility of launching new funds in the future, we will complete a unique supply chain in the Italian landscape, from the creation of start-ups to their development. Following the merger in 2024 between Digital Magics and LVenture Group, a pioneer in venture capital in Italy with over 20 years of experience in the market, we are now entering the segment of supervised intermediaries, an indispensable tool for acquiring institutional capital such as that of social security funds, pension funds and banking foundations.”
The agreement paves the way for the launch of new venture capital funds, with the addition of new professionals to the company’s investment teams, and for the strengthening of Eureka! Venture’s capital base, also with a view to future consolidation operations with other operators in the sector.
“With Zest joining our capital,” comments Stefano Peroncini, CEO of Eureka! Venture, “we are strengthening a national innovation chain that can now count on complementary skills and a shared vision: from Zest’s acceleration and corporate innovation, from promoting scientific research and deep tech with Eureka! Fund I – Technology Transfer, to digital investments in AI with BlackSheep Fund and new investment tools in SMEs and search funds with ETA I – Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition, which recently launched its first investments. We are at a historic moment in which operators must achieve critical mass in order to respond in a solid and structured manner to the demands of increasingly sophisticated investors and the challenges posed by innovation and the asset management industry, which are becoming increasingly global and complex.
Thanks to this strategic alliance, unique in the current Italian financial landscape, a listed operator and a private investment company are combining their experience, expertise and track record to jointly promote new initiatives supporting technological entrepreneurship and the sustainable growth of the Italian innovation ecosystem. The new projects will therefore complement the funds already managed by the SGR, which currently has €130 million in AUM (assets under management), and the joint ventures for open innovation programmes developed by Zest, APSIDE and OpenT, in collaboration with the Intesa SanPaolo Group and Tinexta.
At the same time, the Board of Directors of Eureka! Venture was renewed with the addition of Luigi Capello, CEO of Zest and serial entrepreneur, formerly a business angel and private equity fund manager, and Enrica Acuto Jacobacci, President and CEO of Jacobacci & Partners, one of Europe’s leading intellectual property protection firms with over 100,000 patents and 120,000 trademarks under management on behalf of more than 10,000 clients, who takes on the role of independent chair of the Board of Directors of Eureka! Venture.
Stefano Peroncini has been confirmed as CEO of SGR, supported by Anna Amati, director responsible for institutional relations, and Sandro Moretti Cane, director responsible for BlackSheep funds.
The Board of Directors is completed by Filippo Berneri, a chartered accountant with experience in anti-money laundering, legal and regulatory assistance in the provision of collective asset management services, acting as AML representative for Eureka! Venture, in accordance with the supervisory regulations of the Bank of Italy.
The Board of Statutory Auditors was also renewed, with the appointment of Giovanni Crostarosa Guiccardi (member of numerous boards of directors and boards of statutory auditors in financial and industrial companies including Zest, Digital 360, Salvatore Ferragamo, Elemaster) as chairman and the confirmation of auditors Simone Zucchetti (equity partner at Studio Tremonti Partners with experience in Italian and international taxation) and Stefania Mancino (chartered accountant and statutory auditor, former auditor of companies in the Intesa Sanpaolo group, Snam, Fintecna and the HPC-National Research Centre for High Performance Computing, Big Data and Quantum Computing Foundation).
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