9 Billion for Startups in Italy Over 10 Years. Less Than Half of the UK in Just 2025

In Italy, the venture capital market has amounted to €9.6 billion in the ten years from 2015 to 2025. The most intense year was 2022, which saw €2.3 billion in investments, and we are now witnessing a decline.

StartupItalia has captured a snapshot of the Italian situation, showing that there is now greater selection of funded entities that favors those capable of building sustainable growth models.

Is Venture Capital in Italy Heading Towards Maturity?

The peak of funding from venture capital entities in Italy was recorded in 2022, with €2.3 billion in a single year. Since then, investments have halved, stabilizing around €1 billion. 2025 was the year with the highest number of agreements, totaling 204, but with lower amounts at stake compared to the past. This trend is observed across the rest of Europe: in 2022 there was a significant peak, which has since returned to pre-pandemic levels, again, more modest.

The StartupItalia survey found that in Italy there is now a greater selection: investors are paying more attention to the financial sustainability of businesses and therefore prefer those entities that demonstrate a higher potential for growth. However, there remains the challenge of transforming startups into scale-ups, that is, large companies capable of competing internationally.

According to StartupItalia, this indicates maturity: investors are no longer casting wide nets but are selecting those entities with real growth potential. Italy clearly positions itself in terms of startup types: 80% is still focused on digital B2B, followed by high-tech manufacturing. This is not surprising, as our country is heavily centered on manufacturing, and innovative companies predominantly arise to meet the needs of this sector. Nowadays, there is still a burgeoning of entities focused on artificial intelligence, security, and operational efficiency, in line with what is also seen internationally.

Comparison with Other European Economies

The Italian market remains significantly behind compared to other major European economies of similar size, namely the United Kingdom, Germany, and France. The latter has seen investments exceeding €40 billion between 2016 and 2024, more than four times as much in a shorter period; in the first half of 2024 alone, investments are estimated at €4.3 billion, while projections for 2025 suggest over €8 billion.

In Germany, which is the second largest market in Europe for venture capital activity, between 2015 and 2024, it reached €66.7 billion; in 2024 alone, the turnover was €7 billion, almost equal to the entire period of 2015-2025 in Italy.

The UK is the country with the most activity, with a huge gap from other countries: in 2025 alone, it reached €20 billion, more than double that of Italy in the previous decade.

There is still much to be done in the Bel Paese from the perspective of business culture, the startup model, and its financing, as well as the risks that investors can (and must) take. Italy still seems very much tied to a traditional model, with all its limitations.

"The decade's balance is not that of linear growth, but of a system that has learned to navigate through market phases: experimentation, expansion, selection. Today, the Italian ecosystem appears more aware and more demanding. The challenge is no longer merely to create startups but to build companies that remain competitive in the next ten years," says Chiara Trombetta, CPO of Pull the Rabbit and director of media and events for StartupItalia.

"The next decade will be less driven by an abundance of capital and more by the ability to execute. The challenge is not to create more startups but to support the best in becoming global enterprises. We need continuity in investments, more exits, and an ecosystem that truly works as a system. If we can build even just twenty Italian technological champions with a stable presence in global markets, then we can say we have completed the leap in maturity," stated Simone Pepino, CEO of Pull the Rabbit, StartupItalia, and Hoopygang.