Some months you build. Some months you reflect. And then there’s April, when everything happens at once. 🌸
We kicked off with a burst of momentum: registration for Italian Tech Week opened, and Super-Early Bird discounted premium passes sold out in a flash. Thank you for the trust, we can’t wait to see you there. 🚀
Early Bird premium passes are now live, so if you haven’t grabbed yours yet, you can get them here.
The energy continued with one of the highlights of the month: the Investment Committee of our Venture Building program.
After months spent working closely with the teams, we came together to make some bold decisions on which startups we're backing; and left the room more energized and proud about what’s ahead.
What made it even more special? We had the incredible opportunity to be joined by a leader from Sequoia Capital and one of the early legends of Airbnb.
Their insights, their questions, and the energy they brought to the room sparked real magic and made it a truly unforgettable day for all the founders, and honestly, for us too.
The waiting list to join the next Cohort of the Venture Building program is live here.
We also had the pleasure to host Raffaele Fitto, Executive Vice President of the European Commission, and Gaetano Manfredi, President of ANCI, for a conversation with John Elkann, Vento team, and our founders. It was a powerful exchange about how institutions, academia, and innovation can work together to build what’s next.
Adding to the excitement, we hosted our very first Advisory Council meeting, bringing together an outstanding group of advisors to help us shape the future, and we can’t wait to introduce them properly in the next newsletter. 👀
And because April wasn’t done bringing good things our way…
We’re thrilled to share that Camilla is back from her maternity leave! 💛 It’s been so special to see her step back into the team with all her usual energy and enthusiasm. We’re so glad she’s here!
🌎 News from Vento
Our portfolio keeps growing. Here’s a sneak peek on one of our latest deals:
Notte
What does Notte do? Notte turns websites into structured, text-based instructions for language models. With the fastest and most reliable agentic browser framework, Notte empowers teams to build smaller and smarter web agents that scrape, act, and automate any task on the internet at scale. Github.
Who’s behind it? Andrea Pinto & Lucas Giordano: ML researchers in LLMs & AI agents with backgrounds from MIT, Oracle Labs, ETH Zurich and EPFL.
They've helped scale AI startups while bringing experience from IBM Research and Amazon.
🔮Wisdom Pills from our Network
"Play a different game."
That’s the mindset Sarah Guo believes the next generation of founders must embrace.
At Italian Tech Week 2024, we had the incredible honor of welcoming Sarah Guo, one of today’s sharpest early-stage investors and the founder of Conviction, who has backed transformative technologies and helped shape the future of AI and software.
Her message? Clear and compelling: the biggest opportunities come when you reject the obvious paths and invent new ones.
Here’s what stuck with us:
Default skepticism. The world doesn’t need another copycat. The best founders question the status quo, and reimagine it from first principles.
Conviction above all. Building something truly groundbreaking demands not just vision, but the willingness to stand alone when necessary.
Efficiency is the edge. The real advantage comes from knowing how to deploy resources with greater impact, clarity, and strategic insight.
Her message to builders?
In this cycle, capital alone won’t cut it. Win on execution. ⚙️
🫵 We want you! (Openings)
Looking for growth opportunities? Our companies are looking for bright individuals.
Give it a shot!
Pillar is looking for a Founding Sales Intern.
Tundr is looking for a Senior Account Executive.
Allelica is looking for a Sales Specialist.
🤝 The Network Effect (only for our Portfolio Companies)
We are not just a fund: we are a partner. And we support our founders to the best of our abilities. How do we do it? Well, among other things we create synergies with companies to offer dedicated perks and help our founders work better, spending less!
🖥️ Boost productivity with Kuse. An AI-powered workspace to streamline operations, enhance decision-making, and speed up research and collaboration.
Startups in the Vento network get 30% off subscription with the promo code VENTO.
🧠 Simplify tech recruiting with Welyk. A recruiting-as-a-service platform connecting company culture and tech talent for stress-free, lasting hires.
Startups in the Vento network get a 10% discount on all their services using the code WENTO.
📩 Manage your customer relationships with Brevo. An all-in-one platform for marketing across email, SMS, chat, and more.
Startups in the Vento network get 75% off annual marketing plans (up to 1M emails/month) using the promo code VentoVentures.
To get to these perks and 50+ other partnerships we have in place:
✨ The 3 Ls: Learned, Loved, Laughed
🤓 Learned
Obsessing Over Onboarding for 10+ years- First Round;
The Urgency of Interpretability - Dario Amodei;
Everyone’s an Engineer Now - Lenny’s Podcast.
😍 Loved
Super Early Bird passes sold out for ITW 2025! Early Bird passes available here.
Sequoia Capital and one of the first team members of Airbnb joined our IC.
Beer Tuesdays, our bi-weekly founders' meet-up with big personalities in tech, are powered by Cortilia’s amazing products.
😂 Laughed
In April, we organized a team dinner to celebrate the closing of our new €75M fund. We booked a table at a restaurant and headed there straight from the office. For some unknown reason, we decided not to take a taxi but to make full use of the shared mobility services that Turin offers.
We left the office fairly late and split into teams: Marco and Elena took an electric moped, Marti and Tommaso rode electric kick scooters, while Diyala and Isa grabbed electric bikes. Everyone set off in the same direction, and with the time it took to locate and unlock the vehicles, it quickly turned into a Mario Kart race through the streets of Turin, spotting each other, waving, and laughing at every corner.
Spoiler: the electric moped won.
🦄 If you
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If you are a founder and you are fundraising, apply here.
If you want to be a founder but don’t know where to start, click here.