UVnewsletter
Dear Friends,
Just like that, August has started, summer is in full swing, and here we are to wrap up the recent months at United Ventures, which have been rich with news about our amazing portfolio companies. Among the key highlights, which you will find detailed below:
We invested in Avaneidi
We celebrated a major exit, with Fiscozen receiving a strategic investment from Visma
Futura and Exein secured new funding rounds with international investors
xFarm Technologies is making strides towards becoming the European leader in agritech
Plus, we have special summer reading suggestions with an Olympics twist 🏋️♂️
Best wishes for a relaxing and recharging holiday season, and stay tuned because we’ve been working on a few exciting deals that we can’t wait to disclose 🔜
The United Ventures Team
🫧 New Investments
In June, we announced our investment in Avaneidi, leading their €8M Series A funding round. Avaneidi is revolutionizing enterprise storage with a focus on robust security and sustainability—a critical need as AI becomes increasingly central to business operations. Their innovative approach addresses one of the main bottlenecks to wider AI adoption: secure and efficient data management.
Data fuels artificial intelligence, and secure storage and management are crucial when dealing with sensitive information. Avaneidi's advancements in storage technology deliver exceptional performance, enhance security, and reduce energy consumption. We firmly believe that data security and governance are fundamental to the responsible development of AI. While large language models often dominate the conversation, secure physical data storage, especially sensitive information, is essential.
Avaneidi's founder, Rino Micheloni, has over thirty years of experience in the semiconductor industry and is one of the world's foremost experts in flash memory technology and solid-state drives. We're excited to partner with Rino and his team to empower organizations to leverage AI technology confidently, knowing their data is managed securely and responsibly.
🦪 Exits
In April, our portfolio company, Fiscozen, secured a strategic investment from Visma, a leading European software provider with over €2Bn in annual revenues. This marked a successful exit for United Ventures, allowing us to return capital to our investors with a more than gratifying multiple. But we are even more happy because this deal also reinforces the strength of Italy's tech ecosystem, attracting significant international investment and encouraging further growth.
Fiscozen’s mission has always been to simplify the complexities of tax management for freelancers and small businesses, empowering them to focus more on what they do best. With Visma's support, Fiscozen is set to enhance its offerings and extend its reach, ensuring that more “Partite IVA” can navigate the often daunting world of tax bureaucracy with ease and peace of mind.
All credit goes to Enrico Mattiazzi, a former team member at United Ventures who bravely transitioned from investor to entrepreneur, and Vito Lomele. Enrico and Vito's vision and leadership have been crucial in Fiscozen's success, guiding the company towards impressive business results and fostering one of Italy's best startup company cultures.
🐚 Portfolio Highlights
A couple of weeks ago, Exein announced its €15M Series B. The round was led by 33N Ventures, a specialized cybersecurity and infrastructure software investor, with participation from new investor Partech. United Ventures, eCAPITAL, and Future Industry Ventures also continued their support as existing investors. TechCrunch has more here.
Exein provides advanced embedded security for the rapidly growing Internet of Things (IoT). Manufacturers need seamless, robust security solutions in a world where connected devices are ubiquitous—from homes and cars to critical infrastructure. Exein delivers precisely that, leveraging cutting-edge AI to protect over 80 million IoT devices daily across the industrial, automotive, and aerospace sectors.
Exein's success story perfectly exemplifies our investment thesis: identifying and supporting transformative technologies before they hit the mainstream. When we first invested in Exein in 2018, embedded security was a niche concern, largely overlooked. Today, its critical importance is undeniable.
This latest funding will fuel Exein's ambitious global expansion plans, including new US and Asian offices (with a new Taipei office driving growth in the region) and a projected doubling of its headcount within the next year. We're looking forward to our continued partnership with Gianni Cuozzo and the entire Exein team as they set the global standard for embedded cybersecurity and make the digital world safer.
In May, Futura successfully raised €14M in Series A funding. This marks the largest round in EdTech in Italy, led by Eurazeo and joined by Axon Partners Group. As an existing investor, we have doubled down on our investment in Futura following our Seed investment in 2022.
Futura, founded in 2020 by Andrea Chirolli, Francesco Salvatore, and Lorenzo Pinto, develops algorithms that personalize and optimize learning trajectories. The company's innovative adaptive learning platform uses AI to create tailored study plans and simulations based on each student's unique profile and needs—a personalized approach to education that helps bridge preparation gaps and makes high-quality education affordable and accessible for all students.
With this new round of funding, Futura will accelerate its growth and further establish itself as a leader in the EdTech space, expanding its personalized learning solutions across Europe and building a robust ecosystem focused on educational excellence. The future of education is bright, and we believe Futura is at the forefront of this exciting new era.
xFarm Technologies has successfully integrated Greenfield Technologies, a Spanish company specializing in soil characterization to optimize crop management, and SpaceSense, a French startup providing climate intelligence services using satellite data and AI. These operations reinforce xFarm Technologies' position in regenerative agriculture and geospatial AI, enabling the company to create new value and contribute to the agri-food industry at a pan-European level.
This represents a significant acceleration in xFarm's international expansion, which began two years ago with its presence in the Iberian Peninsula and continued into France, Germany, and Poland. An even larger, more international, specialized team will now support this growth.
Agriculture is a critical sector in Europe and globally, employing millions of people and feeding us all every day. We are proud to be on xFarm's side as they accompany farms worldwide on their digital transition and lead toward more sustainable agriculture. Huge congratulations to Matteo Vanotti, Matteo Cunial, and the entire xFarm Technologies team on the amazing work they are doing; welcome Miguel Córdoba Pérez, Abel Francisco Paz Gallardo, Jyotsna Budideti, and Sami Yacoubi.
🪸 Other portfolio news
Aindo, which we backed last October by leading their €6M Series A funding, continues to make strides in AI deployment across healthcare, finance, and public administration. Their synthetic data platform tackles one of the most significant hurdles in AI deployment: the lack of extensive and unbiased data. Aindo generates privacy-compliant and bias-free synthetic data, enhancing AI model accuracy and overcoming data scarcity.
A recent milestone is Aindo's Europrivacy™/® certification. They are the first company certified under this scheme for generating synthetic data in the healthcare sector. This certification recognizes Aindo's dedication to protecting personal data while supporting transparency and fairness in processing activities. With this certification, Aindo’s synthetic data technology can drive innovation in healthcare and pharmaceutical research while ensuring full privacy compliance.
Fraud is evolving, but fraud management isn't keeping pace. As financial interactions move online, the risk of cyber-fraud is increasing, driven by real-time payments and sophisticated hacking techniques. Cybercriminals continuously find new ways to compromise digital systems, causing significant financial and reputational damage. Cleafy, which we backed last year with a €10M round, has developed an innovative fraud prevention software solution to address this challenge.
What sets Cleafy apart is its adaptability and ability to monitor all digital channels, including web apps, mobile apps, and open banking. This provides proactive defense against even the most sophisticated attacks. Cleafy detects and prevents fraud in real-time using advanced machine learning algorithms and behavioral analytics.
For example, in July, Cleafy announced the discovery of a new Medusa Android banking Trojan variant. This sophisticated malware represents a significant threat to global cybersecurity, evading detection with advanced tactics and targeting financial institutions worldwide. Medusa is identified in multiple regions and poses a severe risk to financial institutions and their customers. Cleafy’s Threat Intelligence Team released an in-depth report on this new variant, revealing its compact and efficient nature. Fox News also reported Cleafy’s analysis, highlighting the urgent need for advanced, adaptive security measures.
Entando has signed a strategic collaboration with the Ministry of Investment, Regional Development, and Informatization (MIRRI) and the National Agency for Networking and Electronic Services (NASES) of the Slovak Republic to support Slovakia’s ambitious digital transformation strategy. The Entando platform has been adopted for its ability to support a composable architecture that aligns with modern needs for flexibility and scalability in digital solutions.
GovTech, using technology to enhance and transform public services, is a critical area of focus for driving efficiency, transparency, and citizen-centric government operations. As the European Union prioritizes digital transformation as a pillar of sustainable growth, it's great to see portfolio companies like Entando Inc. supporting these initiatives. Congratulations to the Entando team on this important partnership!
Last but not least, it was gret to see many of United Ventures' portfolio companies featured in Sifted’s 50 Southern Europe Leaderboard, recognizing the fastest-growing startups in the region based on revenue growth. Congrats to Fiscozen, Exein, Babaco Market, Trustfull, and all the other companies on the list 🏅
🎪 Events
In June, United Ventures had the pleasure of collaborating on the Fondazione NOVA Reunion 2024 in the beautiful setting of the IBM Studios in Milan. The event focused on the theme of "artificial humanism," with a series of speeches exploring the question: in an era of rapid technological progress, how can we ensure that innovation is driven by values and nurtured by a new generation of talent?
We were inspired by Prof. Enrico Zio, scientific director at Datrix, as he discussed the concept of "artificial humanism" and the risks and opportunities that technological advancements pose; we heard the stories of Enrico Mattiazzi (Fiscozen), Daniele Panfilo (Aindo), Federico Sforza (Banca AideXa); we discussed the VC mindset, ready to explore uncharted territory, the evolution of the European VC landscape, and the shifts created by AI in tech investing in a chat featuring Pietro Sella (Sella group) and Carlotta Riganti (Balderton Capital); we reflected on the evolution of corporate leadership in the age of AI with insights from tech CEOs Irene Boni (Talent Garden), Lorenzo Cerulli (Deloitte), Vittorio Martinelli (Olympus Italy), and Stefano Rebattoni (IBM Italy). We made lasting connections.
Thank you to all the speakers who shared their experiences with us, the participants, and especially the students and mentees at the core of Fondazione NOVA's mission.
📅 Save the date for two upcoming events to meet with the United Ventures team this fall
Italian Tech Week in Turin from September 25 to 27. We look forward to meeting old and new friends at the most important gathering for the Italian technology ecosystem. This year's edition promises to be exceptional—get your ticket before they sell out!
0100 Conference Mediterranean in Milan from October 28 to 30. This international private equity and venture capital conference brings together fund investors and managers interested in the Mediterranean region. We will discuss on-stage venture fundraising, its key drivers and challenges, and LP-GP dynamics.
🏊 Beach reads
A handful of reading suggestions inspired by the day's hot topics: AI and the Olympics.
AI is omnipresent in tech discourse, but did you know it's also transforming world sports? The Olympic Games have embraced AI, with a governance and oversight framework to identify and mitigate risks.
In Nicholas Thompson’s newsletter, I discovered that AI helps athletes with everything from optimal strategies for corner kicks to the highest-scoring way to ride a wave to analyzing the characteristics of an arrow in flight. Some of the most exciting research uses AI to identify young talents who may become future Olympians.
A Nature article explores three ways AI is changing the Olympic Games:
Athlete performance and training: AI enhances performance by designing custom athletic shoes and optimizing nutrition and training schedules. The roots of using technology to study athletes trace back to 1900 when French scientist Étienne-Jules Marey used high-speed chronophotography to capture athletes in motion.
Refereeing decisions: AI helps referees make accurate decisions, even in challenging conditions like water polo. Olympics water polo referee Frank Ohme, an astrophysicist, uses AI in his day job to hunt for signals of colliding black holes and applies similar precision in officiating.
Personalized highlights: AI could provide personalized highlights, making future broadcasts more engaging. Computer-vision AI platforms may soon offer viewers tailored highlight reels.
A side story that caught my interest in the last few days is the widespread criticism around Google’s “Dear Sydney” Olympic ad, which uses AI to help a father write a fan letter. This raises concerns about a future dominated by homogenized modes of expression, where AI erodes the richness of human language and culture. Shelly Palmer puts it well:
“I want to live in a culturally diverse world where billions of individuals use AI to amplify their human skills, not in a world where we are used by AI pretending to be human.”
For a deeper dive into AI's future, check out Leopold Aschenbrenner’s tech essay “Situational Awareness.” Aschenbrenner, a former researcher at OpenAI, explores the trajectory toward Artificial General Intelligence and eventual superintelligence, offering a thoughtful analysis of the challenge of aligning machines with human values and needs.
👀 ICYMI
The recent CrowdStrike outage exposed a critical weakness in our digital world: over-reliance on centralized systems. While centralization has driven incredible technological progress, can we afford to build upon a foundation that is so vulnerable to disruption? This vulnerability demands we explore a different path: embracing decentralization and pushing control and intelligence closer to users for a more resilient and secure internet.
We've championed this shift for the past decade, investing in companies building a decentralized future as an alternative to established, centralized models. Companies like MainStreaming (proprietary streaming services), Exein (decentralized security), and Avaneidi (on-premise data storage) exemplify this commitment.
Transitioning to a decentralized future requires rethinking our approach to digital infrastructure. But the potential benefits—increased resilience, enhanced security, and greater user control—are too significant to ignore. The CrowdStrike outage highlights the need for a more distributed and secure digital future. You can learn more about our investment thesis in our blog post: A Wake-Up Call for a Decentralized Future.
Earlier this year, Massimiliano Magrini joined Aarish Shah on Nothing Ventured, a podcast highlighting stories and challenges within the tech and venture ecosystem.
The conversation covered topics such as Massimiliano's early career founding the Italian offices of Altavista and Google, and his transition to venture capital, which led to the founding of United Ventures. They discussed the evolution of search engines and how they demonstrated the value of putting tech into consumers’ hands.
Massimiliano addressed the lack of late-stage funding and growth venture players in Europe, and the mismatch between European policy and private capital. He highlighted the importance of harmonized legislation and best practices and the need for adequate capital availability for Italian startups. The discussion stressed that ecosystems cannot be isolated and must be interconnected.
They discussed the importance of serendipity, balancing capital and founder DNA in venture capital, and why startups are inherently “imperfect.” They also highlighted the importance of encouraging a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in Europe and the role of personal experience and education in fostering entrepreneurial mindsets.
…and much more. The full podcast delves deeper—give it a listen 🎧
That’s all for today!
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