It's difficult to write this month's intro because so many things happened that it feels like we need to summarize a whole year of life, but let's try.
We were on the West Coast. Seattle and San Francisco.
Seattle was a real discovery. Kind of like the Turin of the West Coast, if you'll allow me. People don't talk about it much, and when you think of the West Coast, you don't think of Seattle. But when you get there, you realize how this city with an industrial past has managed to transform itself and give birth to some of the world's largest tech companies, two above all: Microsoft and Amazon. No pressure on Turin, eh.
San Francisco. What can you say? All the stereotypes are true. It really is the place to be, especially in this AI wave. But certainly the most exciting part was going to YC's demo day and seeing 6 companies with Italian founders. The change we hoped would happen is finally before our eyes - literally.
At this point, a little soft landing in Paris for Vivatech. And here, of course, dinners, aperitifs, breathtaking views of the Arc de Triomphe, and an event to bring together all the Italians who are doing business in the homeland of the Aristocats. We didn't all sing "Everybody Wants to Be a Cat," but it went really well - and jazzing remains our specialty.
Oh, and all this happened in just one week. And then? Then there was the big party for the end of the Venture Building program - and yes, Marti climbed into the kebab truck again this year - we hosted ZeroUno, an event in Milan for founders or aspiring founders, I managed to get a fever with 40 degrees outside, and many other things I'm surely forgetting.
June, you made us sweat, but we loved you.
Also, we are looking for people who wanna be part of the success of Italian Tech Week, so what are you waiting for? Apply here as a volunteer!
🌎 News from Vento
Our portfolio keeps growing. Here’s a sneak peek on one of our latest deals:
This month, we’re excited to announce that every Italian-founded startup in the latest Y Combinator cohort has joined the Vento portfolio. Meet the teams and what they’re building:
Eloquent AI
Founders: Tugce Bulut, Aldo Lipani
Eloquent AI is revolutionizing financial services with an AI Operator that automates complex, regulated customer service operations, with no APIs or engineering required. Their platform learns from existing workflows, securely automating up to 96% of tasks and delivering 24/7 compliant support for fintech and insurtech.
Combinely
Founders: Tom Invernizzi, Arthur Granacher
Combinely is the AI coworker for accountants. It proactively takes on the repetitive work in Outlook, from answering client queries to drafting deliverables, freeing up 1-2 hours per employee per day and helping firms scale without burnout.
Cua
Founders: Francesco Bonacci, Alessandro Puppo
Cua is building “Docker for computer-use agents”, an open-source framework that lets AI agents control full operating systems inside secure, high-performance virtual containers. With up to 90% native speed on Apple Silicon, Cua enables safe, scalable AI automation for any desktop workflow.
Plexe AI
Founders: Vaibhav Dubey, Marcello De Bernardi
Plexe is an open-source agent that builds predictive ML models from a simple prompt. Users connect their data, describe their problem, and Plexe’s self-correcting team of agents experiments, evaluates, and deploys the best model, making production-grade ML accessible to all.
SAVA
Founders: Jakob Knudsen, Vedic Patel, Alessio Toniolo
SAVA is rebuilding American manufacturing with autonomous factories. Their robot operators for sheet metal machines slash production cycles from days to hours, bringing modern intelligence to a legacy industry.
ValueMate
Founders: Anir Prativadi, Pietro Demichieli
ValueMate streamlines real estate appraisals with AI-powered LiDAR scans, producing regulator-ready reports in minutes instead of days. Their platform helps valuation firms meet new compliance standards and drastically reduce turnaround times
🔮Wisdom Pills from our Network
"Building a startup in Europe is challenging."
That’s the reality Melissa Klinger, Partner at Dig Ventures, laid out during one of the most energizing Beer Tuesdays in our Venture Building program.
But for founders who are ready to play at the highest level, Europe isn’t a constraint—it’s a competitive edge. Melissa shared sharp, honest insights on what it really takes to scale from this side of the world.
Here’s what stuck with us:
Fundraising matters, early and late. Getting capital is hard in the beginning, and it doesn’t magically get easier later on. At some point, you’ll need to access international capital, much of which still sits in the U.S.
Top talent is already here. Europe produces some of the best AI researchers in the world. But talent doesn’t just show up; you have to earn it. That means tackling bold, meaningful problems, using cutting-edge tools, and building a culture that outperforms even the best of Big Tech.
Her advice to founders?
Yes, Europe is challenging, but if you’re serious about building, there’s never been a better time to do it here. 🌍
🫵 We want you! (Openings)
Looking for growth opportunities? Our companies are looking for bright individuals.
Give it a shot!
ReportAId is looking for a DevOps Engineer.
Always Friday is looking for a Product Manager.
Bizaway is looking for an Enterprise Sales Lead.
🤝 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!
🛡️ Get certified with Complaion. A platform that helps startups and SMBs achieve ISO certifications quickly and effortlessly.
Startups in the Vento network receive a 20% discount on the first year.
💳 Simplify corporate welfare with Tundr. A fintech solution that digitizes company benefits. Startups in the Vento network get a 20% discount on the monthly fee.
🎨 Build and launch websites with Framer. The fastest no-code platform to design, publish, and scale high-performance sites, all in one place.
Startups in the Vento network enjoy 1 year of Framer’s Launch Plan for free.
To get to these perks and 50+ other partnerships we have in place:
✨ The 3 Ls: Learned, Loved, Laughed
🤓 Learned
Andrej Karpathy: Software Is Changing (Again) - YCombinator;
Sam Altman: The Future of OpenAI, ChatGPT's Origins, and Building AI Hardware - YCombinator;
AI Fluency - Anthropic.
😍 Loved
We took the stage at Vivatech and hosted a truly memorable event.
We joined YC DemoDay, connecting with inspiring founders and investors.
The application for volunteering at Italian Tech Week is now open here.
😂 Laughed
We were in Paris, bouncing from one side event to another, so many connections, handshakes, and chances to meet founders. By Friday night, we were all exhausted. Elena, ever the optimist, suggested we recharge with a galette, before going to sleep, so we headed over to Place de la Contrescarpe.
Just as we were about to leave, we suddenly heard someone shouting, it was Roberto Carnicelli (a.k.a Bobbi), CEO of Eoliann, and Federico D’Albenzio, Biz Dev at Eoliann, surrounded by ten more friends. In an instant, any plans to call it a night vanished, and the cozy Parisian setting (now fueled by shots of tequila) evolved into a joyful, endless Italian table.
Galettes were great, by the way!
🦄 If you
If you work in VC and want to receive updates about our Portfolio Companies, get in touch with us here.
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.