Vertis Venture 3 Technology Transfer holds €40m first close

Amedeo Goria
14 September 2017

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Vertis Venture has held a first close on €40m for its third vehicle Vertis Venture 3 Technology Transfer.

The transaction saw ITAtech, an Italian fund-of-funds launched in December 2016, commit €40m to Vertis Venture 3. The fund has a €60m target, which it aims to reach within the next 12 months.

Italian foundation La Compagnia di San Paolo – formerly part of Italian bank San Paolo – is also aiming to commit capital to the vehicle, having signed a partnership agreement with ITAtech, unquote" understands.

The European Investment Fund (EIF) and Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) committed an equally split amount in ITAtech, providing investment firepower of €200m. The vehicle targets technology transfer-dedicated VC funds and operates through a fiduciary agreement under Luxembourg regulation, with EIF as its fiduciary, unquote" understands. Currently, La Compagnia di San Paolo owns a 1.6% stake in CDP.

ITAtech expects to complete one additional investment as anchor investor in an Italian technology-transfer-dedicated vehicle by the end of 2017, according to a source familiar with the LP.

Investors
As part of ITAtech's commitment, EIF provided €20m through InnoFin – EU Finance for Innovators, a financial vehicle launched under Horizon 2020, the EU's research and Innovation-dedicated programme – while CDP committed the remaining €20m.

Investments
Launched in August 2017, Vertis's third VC fund focuses exclusively on the technology transfer process, which aims to translate business-relevant ideas originated in universities and other research institutions into the market.

It targets investments from a pre-seed stage to an early stage, mainly across the automation and robotics sectors, exclusively in Italy. Equity tickets could range between €50,000-1.5m and the management team expects to sign up to 25 pre-seed transactions, six seed rounds and a handful of larger funding rounds, according to a source familiar with the matter. The vehicle has a five-year investment phase and a five-year divestment phase.

People
Vertis Venture – Nicola Redi (investment director).