Innogest

Innogest concentrates on four core sectors: digital health, enterprise software, fintech, and industrial tech. The firm avoids broad generalism and has passed on popular Italian consumer-tech plays in favor of B2B and regulated-industry startups. This focus reflects a conviction that Italian technical talent clusters in these verticals and that exit paths are more predictable than in consumer internet.

Many Italian venture firms launched after 2018 operate with Cassa Depositi e Prestiti as a cornerstone LP through the government's Fondo Nazionale Innovazione. Innogest predates that wave by more than a decade and has raised capital primarily from private institutional investors and family offices without a government anchor. That independence forces fee discipline and alignment with net returns — the firm cannot rely on subsidized management fees.

Innogest takes board seats in the majority of its portfolio companies and maintains an operator-heavy involvement style. Claudio Giuliano and his partners work directly with founding teams on product-market fit and go-to-market execution — a model that emerged from necessity in a market where experienced startup operators are scarce. The firm does not view passive minority investing as viable in Italian early-stage.