Transforming Italian Venture Capital: Insights from Andrea Di Camillo, Founder & Managing Partner at P101

Over the past decade, Italy's venture capital ecosystem has experienced remarkable growth, with investments soaring nearly sevenfold. Andrea Di Camillo, Founder & Managing Partner of P101, has been at the forefront of this transformation. In this interview, he shares his insights on the key drivers behind Italy's VC boom, the evolving investment landscape, and the pivotal role P101 is playing in fostering innovation. From the rise of new sectors like SpaceTech and Energy to the challenges of scaling European startups, Andrea sheds light on what’s next for the Italian venture capital market.

Andrea will be at the opening panel "PE & VC Environment in Europe and the Mediterranean region. Current State & Future Perspectives" at the upcoming 0100 Conference Mediterranean taking place in Milan from October 28-30th The opening panel will also feature industry leaders Massimo Vendramini from AURELIUS, Wadih Manneh, CFA, from Arab Bank (Switzerland) Ltd, Nicolas Petitjean from Partners Group, and Andrea Mazzaferro, from Capital Dynamics.

Over the past decade, the Italian VC ecosystem has grown significantly, with investments increasing nearly sevenfold. What have been the key drivers behind this transformation, and how has the market matured during this period?

In ten years, Italian venture capital has transformed from a handful of players who invested 152 million in 2013 to an industry with over 300 operators who in 10 years have invested 8 billion euros in innovative companies, increasing their value tenfold to 67 billion euros.

Local players like P101 have stepped up, providing much-needed capital and expertise to early-stage companies, and playing a critical role in fostering growth. In the meanwhile, they also started to give back money to investors reinforcing  the credibility of the industry and so attracting new capital.

Some of Italy’s private wealth has been increasingly directed towards homegrown innovation. This is encouraging young Italians to consider starting companies locally, which is a positive shift.

Italy’s entrepreneurial spirit has taken off, with more tech startups emerging. Recent graduates and PhDs are increasingly seeing entrepreneurship as a viable career path, which is great for innovation.

There’s a dynamic cycle at play. Successful entrepreneurs are reinvesting back into the ecosystem—what we call the "Startup Flywheel." On the other side, the "Investor Flywheel" is gaining momentum as experienced investors continue to deepen their involvement, creating a stronger network and attracting more capital.

And, last but not least, the Government started to support the ecosystem: I was part of the team that in 2012 wrote the Startup Act, the law that for the first time defined and regulated the startup ecosystem. The new law and initiatives like tax incentives and the Smart&Start program have certainly helped create a more supportive environment for startups. But, there's still a need to streamline processes and reduce bureaucratic hurdles to make Italy even more attractive for VC investments.

Looking ahead, what are the most significant opportunities and challenges that you foresee for the Italian VC market in the next five years? How is P101 preparing to capitalize on these opportunities?

Despite the significant progress Italian VC has made, there is still work to be done. To accelerate growth, stronger collaboration between European countries will be essential, facilitating dialogue between large institutional funds and creating more exit opportunities for startups and scaleups across Europe. The next phase will bring new opportunities and increased competition, especially from international investors who are increasingly recognizing Italy’s potential.
We actively build partnerships with international funds and institutional investors from Europe and the US, promoting co-investments and shared opportunities. We see ourselves as a gateway for international investors looking to engage with the Italian startup ecosystem, and as a partner of startups that want to grow at the international level.  

We are working on new business models while remaining committed to fostering growth within Italy's innovation ecosystem.

With a shift from pandemic-driven sectors like HealthTech and FinTech to emerging areas such as Space and Energy, what trends do you see dominating the Italian venture capital scene over the next few years?

Also in Italy, the focus is now shifting to sectors like Space, Energy, and Transportation. Clean energy, electric vehicles, and advanced mobility technologies are gaining traction, and SpaceTech is starting to build a solid foundation. Our latest fund, P103, is very much aligned with these trends. We’re diving deep into areas like space tech, novelAI, cybersecurity, semiconductors, and robotics, which match well with Italy’s push for sustainability and next-gen tech. Enterprise Software remains a stronghold, reflecting ongoing demand for digital transformation and efficiency solutions. SaaS continues to be an attractive model for businesses.

We expect to see the rise of niche-focused funds in areas such as AI, sustainability, deeptech, semiconductors, and robotics

Many European startups face challenges in scaling due to the market's size and access to talent. How is P101 helping portfolio companies overcome these hurdles and facilitating their international growth?

At P101, we’re deeply committed to helping our portfolio companies overcome the challenges of scaling and expanding internationally. A key aspect of this is our follow-on investment strategy: we reserve a substantial portion of our funds (60-65%) for follow-on rounds, ensuring that we can continue to support our companies as they grow. Equally important is our focus on building strong partnerships with co-investors, which allows us to bring in additional growth capital and resources.

Our dedicated portfolio team works closely with each company, providing hands-on operational support to help them navigate growth challenges and enter new markets. Many of our companies are already poised for international expansion, and we actively facilitate this through our global network and co-investment strategies.

One of the biggest hurdles in scaling is access to later-stage capital, which can be limited. To address this, we offer strategic guidance, connect companies with international partners, and support their cross-border growth efforts. We also prioritize building relationships with international funds and institutional investors from Europe and the US, fostering co-investments and shared opportunities.

P101 has made significant strides in digitalizing its operations and leveraging AI to enhance investment decisions. Could you share some of the key results or successes you've seen from these initiatives so far?

P101 was one of the first firms to embrace the digital revolution in the venture capital industry. We created the "Data Insight" business unit, aiming to boost the efficiency and effectiveness of our investment process by integrating data-driven practices into our decision-making and workflows. This was a thrilling challenge, both technologically and culturally.

We’re expanding our team to include more engineers, developers, data scientists, and product managers and we’re investing heavily in digitalizing our operations and integrating advanced data practices into how we operate, also if the human touch of the business – intuition and expertise – remain crucial.

We’re all about leveraging AI for smarter investment decisions. For example, we built a fully automated investment pipeline that can identify and analyze opportunities from various sources, structure unstructured data in our CRM, and score them against our investment thesis. This speeds up our screening process by over 50%, improves accuracy, and reduces biases.