The Vento Post | March 25
Our monthly pills for founders, wannabe founders and Vento’s friends.
March-ing into a new year… Vento just turned 3! 🎉
We blew out the candles and made a wish actually, three: to meet even more incredible founders, help build an even bolder ecosystem, and to be in a world open enough to have Reginaldo attending every business call.
Big news: this March, we announced our brand new €75M fund, which means we’ll be investing in 375 companies over the next five years. And yes, we’re extremely excited about it.
We are also having a two-day coaching session for VB teams, that we are also using to celebrate our birthday and the new fund announcement, and yep, this newsletter is coming to you live from Acqui Terme.
Fun fact: totally unplanned, but this just happens to be at Le Piagge, where Isa worked her very best summer job at 18. Full circle moment? Maybe. These days have been kind to us (and we even met a donkey, photo below 🫏).
In other heartwarming news from March: we have met for the first time the tiniest new member of the Vento team: Alma, Camilla’s beautiful baby girl 💛
Meanwhile, we opened, and very swiftly closed, applications for our Italian Tech Week internship. The response was incredible, and we’re so excited to welcome our new teammate soon!
Speaking of ITW… pre-registrations are officially open! Head over here to save your spot. October will be here before we know it — and trust us, you won’t want to miss it.
Here’s to Year 3, and to everything that’s ahead 💨
🌎 News from Vento
Our portfolio keeps growing. Here’s a sneak peek on one of our latest deals:
Excellence AI
What does Excellence AI do? Excellence AI is reinventing STEM education for middle and high school students by combining AI tutoring with human mentorship. Through a daily personalized program, the platform helps students master math and science with long-term retention and real-time support.
Who’s behind it? A team of former quants, mathematicians, and physicists led by Mattia Mauro. Excellence AI is part of Y Combinator’s W25 batch.
🔮Wisdom Pills from our Network
"Burn the ships."
That’s the mindset that built Silicon Valley, and the one Doug Leone believes every founder should adopt.
At Italian Tech Week 2024, we had the rare privilege of hosting Doug Leone, the legendary investor and longtime steward of Sequoia Capital, who helped shape some of the most iconic tech companies of our time: Apple, Google, Airbnb, WhatsApp, Square.
His message? Bold and unmistakable: when you’re building something big, the only way is forward.
Here’s what stuck with us:
No safety net. The best founders operate as if there’s no going back. No cushy job waiting. No “plan B”. Just one path: forward.
Risk is not optional. Building a company means betting on yourself, fully. Half-measures don’t lead to breakthroughs.
Courage is contagious. That level of commitment inspires teams, attracts talent, and turns ideas into movements.
Doug reminded us that building a startup isn’t about playing it safe, it’s about playing for real.
You don’t need to be reckless.
But you do need to be all in. 🔥
🫵 We want you! (Openings)
Looking for growth opportunities? Our companies are looking for bright individuals.
Give it a shot!
eSteps Health is looking for a UX UI Designer (PFE).
Qomodo is looking for a Product Manager.
Jet HR is looking for an Account Executive.
🤝 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!
🧠 Support mental well-being with Serenis. A digital platform for psychotherapy and psychiatry with licensed professionals and flexible online paths.
Startups in the Vento network can access 5 sessions at €10 each.
⚙️ Build software without code with Softgen.ai. An AI-powered development platform to launch full-stack apps without writing a single line.
Startups in the Vento network get 20% off all plans for the first 6 months.
🗂️ Organize your work with Notion. All-in-one workspace for notes, docs, project management, and wikis, fully customizable.
Startups in the Vento network get 6 months of Plus Plan and AI features for free, along with exclusive founder resources and community access.
To get to these perks and 50+ other partnerships we have in place:
✨ The 3 Ls: Learned, Loved, Laughed
🤓 Learned
How to Operate- Keith Rabois;
How to Build a Billion Dollar Marketplace - First Round;
Guide to SaaS Pricing Strategy - Tomasz Tunguz.
😍 Loved
Pre-registrations are open for Italian Tech Week 2025; save your spot here.
TechCrunch featured the announcement of our new €75M fund; read the article here.
This article from Andrew Chen on how to structure MVPs in 2025, here.
😂 Laughed
There are moments in life when your skills perfectly align with an opportunity, moments born from dedication, persistence, and hard-earned experience. When you find yourself applying those principles to something you genuinely love, it's simply one of life's greatest joys.
This is precisely such a story, a story about love.
In Turin, there is a special electric bus called "Star," operating on a short, rather obscure route and usually running half-empty. Under normal circumstances, this might seem reason enough to discontinue the service. Yet, two passionate advocates staunchly disagree: the municipality of Turin, committed enough to continuously invest in new electric vehicles for that route, and Didi, whose daily commute to the office always involves the Star.
A couple of weeks ago, Didi was presented with the opportunity of a lifetime. On one particularly memorable morning, the Star had a new driver who, surprisingly, did not know the designated route. The driver asked the passengers if anyone could guide him. Didi seized the moment without hesitation. At every turn, she confidently gave directions, proudly demonstrating not only her deep knowledge of the Star's route but also her profound affection for it.
As the saying goes, luck is when preparation meets opportunity. Didi had prepared for this moment without even realizing it, and when her chance arrived, she embraced it fully.
🦄 If you
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