Private markets refer to the trading of assets that are not listed on public exchanges. Private market transactions involve private equity, private debt, real estate, infrastructure, and natural resources. Participants include institutional investors like pensions, sovereign wealth funds, endowments, and family offices who provide the capital, and fund managers who source deals and manage the assets. Private markets aim to generate higher returns compared to public markets by taking on more illiquidity and leverage. They are also less regulated. The private markets ecosystem spans venture capital, growth equity, buyouts, distressed debt, mezzanine financing, real estate, infrastructure, and energy investments globally.
he third edition of 0100 International — organized by Zero One Hundred Conferences in partnership with the Milan City Council’s Department of Economic Development and Milano&Partners — brought together the global private markets community for a high-signal, execution-focused gathering held from October 27–29.
François Candelon, Partner for Value Creation & Portfolio Monitoring at Seven2, shares how the firm aligns every investment around a clear “exit animal”—a vision of the company at exit—and uses disciplined execution, AI-driven transformation, and sustainability as levers for resilience and premium valuations. From reengineering core processes with AI to embedding decarbonization into business strategy, Candelon explains how Seven2 builds companies that are not just exit-ready, but future-proof.
Private markets are entering a new era where trust, compliance, and technology converge. While public markets enjoy automation and transparency, private assets still depend on paper-based, fragmented systems. Antonio Chiarello, CEO of Weltix, argues that the next leap forward is not just digitization, but the creation of digital infrastructures that redefine ownership. In this conversation, he discusses why friction is structural rather than technological, how regulation enables innovation, and how programmable liquidity and transparency can channel more private capital into real economic growth.
