Programma 102 closes on €100m

In addition, Italia 500, a fund launched by Azimut Libera Impresa and managed by P101, has collected €40m, which will be deployed in co-investments with P102. Of the total €140m raised, 24% has been already deployed, Unquote understands.

"The VC industry has benefited from the new digital and smart trends fuelled by the pandemic," P101 founding partner Andrea Di Camillo told Unquote. "Everything that is innovative and digital, every company that helps people adapt to the big changes that they have been facing, is attracting the interest of both consumers and investors. We have seen strong growth across the entire industry, with a substantial increase in demand in almost every sub-sector. This will benefit companies looking for new funds to support their expansion, as well as those that are already in the portfolio of VC funds."

The VC also plans to launch a new vehicle by the end of the year, with a €100m target, which will focus on complementary asset classes within the VC industry, including venture debt. With the launch of this new project, P101 intends to further expand its investor base, currently composed of 98% Italian investors, by attracting a larger number of international LPs. 

"We plan to expand our strategy by embracing new investment products across the same industry, where we have applied our expertise and know-how, developing a strong track record of successful investments," said Di Camillo.  "This diversification achieved through different platforms will allow us to support a wider array of companies in different stages of their expansion, while satisfying the need of our institutional investors for a highly diversified asset allocation."

P101 is also managing the portfolio of its previous fund, Programma 101, which closed on €66.7m in 2016. The vehicle made 26 investments, including shoe producer and online retailer Velasca and Milkman, which develops home delivery mobile applications for e-commerce businesses. The fund has recently sold its stake in Tannico, an Italian online wine marketplace, to Milan-listed premium spirits specialist Campari Group.

Investors
Programma 102 has an investor base primarily composed of Italian institutional investors, including Fondo Italiano d'Investimento, CDP Venture, the European Investment Fund (EIF), Fondo pensione BCC and Cassa Forense, which make up around 65% of the capital. The remainder was provided by various Italian family offices and private investors, which re-upped from the previous vehicle.

Investments
Programma 102 invests in European digital and technology startups offering B2C and B2B services to the food, fashion, design, education, healthcare, logistics, travel and financial industries.

Di Camillo said: "Our second fund is targeting a wider range of sectors than its predecessor, including very promising segments of the VC industry such as B2B logistics for the optimisation of e-commerce services, remote education and digital content, healthtech and digital personal care services."

The fund invests in companies generating revenues in the €1-20m range, with high growth potential and need for capital to boost their development and expansion plans. It typically provides equity tickets between €1-12m, as lead or co-lead investor, financing at least 50% of the round.

Geographically, the fund plans to deploy two thirds of its capital in Italy and the remainder in the rest of Europe, with the possibility of investing in strategic opportunities in the US.

Recent investments made by the fund include Barcelona-based online flower delivery specialist Colvin; Codemotion, an e-learning platform for software developers; and Soplaya, an Italian startup that offers an online marketplace for food producers and restaurants.

In addition, Programma 102 has just announced a new $2.2m round in London-based cybersecurity platform Keyless.

The fund will also make a new investment this autumn in the digital education sector, the VC told Unquote.

People
P101 – Andrea Di Camillo (founding partner).

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