EIF IN
ITALY
Investing in the future of Italian SMEs
Small and medium-size enterprises are the heart of the Italian economy.
Representing 99% of all businesses and more than two thirds of the workforce, Italy's 3,500,000 SMEs are responsible for driving innovation as well as spurring on growth, and their daily routine is what ensures the competitiveness of the Italian economy. But to do that, they often need finance.
At the same time, as the smallest actors in the economy, they are often the hardest hit when the economy encounters turbulence, which is why it is so crucial for them to have financial options in order to maintain and eventually grow their businesses.
At the EIF, our mission is to improve access to finance for small businesses across the EU. In Itay, we have been supporting SMEs using a broad range of instruments, including many tailored to the needs of the Italian market and designed with the Italian government and local authorities.
As a result, we've been able to support more than 400,000 Italian businesses, ranging from kindergartens to agri-businesses, and from medical devices to film production, making sure they have the financial fuel they need to pursue their ambitions.
Our intention is to continue to extend this type of support to the Italian market, making access to finance easier as we collectively move towards a greener, digital and more inclusive Europe.
Success stories
Federico Bono
Success stories
Federico Bono
“Most degrees focussed a lot on computer science and engineering. I wanted something different, and I found that at EIT Digital,” explains Federico Bono, from Treviso, about his Masters studies. “The project has different phases—first a kick-off in Tallinn, the first year in Milan Polytechnic, a summer school in Madrid, and then a second year in Stockholm.”
Federico is doing a double Masters degree, focusing on data science and a minor on innovation and entrepreneurship, with courses on management. At the EIT Digital Masters School, he is able to focus on his studies without having to worry about finances. Already freelancing as a software engineer, Federico is keen to help small businesses digitalise: “I specialise in designing, coding and developing software that clients need. My main focus is the digitalisation of company processes.” In the second year of his Masters programme in Sweden, he will focus on data mining, distributed systems, and business intelligence.
Adler Ortho
“People like my grandmother just tended to sit around, not doing much. Today, 75-year-olds can still be very active.” Osteoarthritis and osteoarthrosis come with age and are quite common in Europe, with our higher life expectancies, creating a very large market for artificial joints that can be used to alleviate painful conditions.
Adler Ortho is an Italian company specialised in design, production and commercialization of joint prostheses and other orthopaedic surgical devices. Based in Milan, the company has manufacturing subsidiaries in both southern Italy and in the north, with markets stretching beyond Europe to Japan, the US, Australia, and New Zealand. “If you look back," says Edgardo Cremascoli, Director, "people like my grandmother just tended to sit around, not doing much. Today, 75-year-olds can still be very active. With ageing populations, this market is growing significantly,” he adds.
Tampieri
“We are entrepreneurs, we like to build ventures in new sectors and make a success of them. That means we also have a lot of data going back and forth, and in this age of global digital business, we need to find the best way to use it to offer optimal value proposition,” says Maurizio Sottili, CFO at Tampieri.
Starting as an oil seed crushing enterprise, Tampieri is a family business that has grown into a group of five B2B companies active in sectors as diverse as medical devices, green energy, and wastewater treatment. “We have truly leaped into the digital space now and we don’t intend to stop here. Our aim is to achieve full digitalisation across all our companies. We want to stay true to our belief that innovation is the best pathway to staying competitive and crucial for the success of our group.”
Le Tate Matte
“We were all experienced teachers already and we really wanted to do our own thing,” explains Simona Amoretti, “It’s the dream of every kindergarten teacher actually—to do things their way and run their own shop. What held us back at first was the high financial risk that such a project entails. Nevertheless, we took a deep breath and took on the challenge. That’s why we called ourselves ‘Tate Matte’ – because we thought we were a bit crazy for making the leap of hope and starting this adventure.”
Founded in 2009 by three kindergarten teachers—Simona, Nicoletta and Elisa—the project started as a “baby parking,” hosting children only for a few hours but has since expanded. “We combine the classic pedagogical methodology with elements inspired from the Montessori and the Reggio Emilia approaches. Aside the traditional activities, we organise transversal educational workshops, swimming class at the local pool, mini circus workshops and theatre performances. We also believe in the importance of a closer contact with nature, that’s why we offer sessions of pet therapy, farm visits and even harvesting—unforgettable experiences for children growing up in the city.”
Movimento Films
“It starts with a doctor in Trieste who witnesses a car accident. He rushes to the scene to offer his help, but decides to step back and let the man die,” says Mario Mazzarotto, Director of Movimento Films. “Non Odiare is a film about the aftermath of this decision.”
Founded in 2008 a stone’s throw from the Colosseum Movimento Films produces and distributes documentaries, series, and feature films for television and cinemas, and its titles have been selected by major international film festivals such as Berlin, Venice, Cannes, Rome, Locarno, Sundance, and Rotterdam. “The audiovisual funding environment is tough. There are only a few banks with the expertise and willingness to support film production in Italy today,” says Mario. “This is why it’s so important to find support from sources like the EU. We need to move as fast as possible, so it’s important that there are no unnecessary delays.”
Abiomed
“In our fields, in the warm Sicilian climate we produce all sorts of fruits and vegetables. From artichokes to carrots, peppers, zucchini, aubergines, but the top product is our cherry tomato,” says Luciano Caruso, Director at Abiomed, “We sell them fresh, sun-dried as tradition dictates, or even as a sauce.”
Abiomed is an association of agricultural producers founded in 2001 by 10 producers. It has since grown to a network of 434 producers located in the provinces of Ragusa, Agrigento, Catania, Caltanissetta, Syracuse and Trapani. They also work with local schools to promote nutrition. “Good, locally-sourced food is itself a great investment in future generations,” Luciano explains. “Producers play an active role in our community, collaborating with local schools and sports teams, helping to put on athletics, cycling, and volleyball activities, and campaigning at the same time about good nutrition for youth and athletes. Training starts at the table.”
Key figures
Over
of EIF financing
Transactions with financial intermediaries
Equity investments since inception
Guarantees support since inception
made available for
Italian businesses
Mandates in focus
The EIF continues to deploy capital in Italy under a wide range of strategic programmes and mandates. Below are brief summaries of our main initiatives in Italy.
InvestEU
The InvestEU programme provides the EU with crucial long-term funding by leveraging substantial private and public funds in support of a sustainable recovery. It is helping to mobilise private investments for the EU’s policy priorities, such as the European Green Deal and the digital transition. The InvestEU Programme brings together under one roof the multitude of EU financial instruments previously available to support investment in the EU, making funding for investment projects in Europe simpler, more efficient and more flexible. The programme consists of three components: the InvestEU Fund, the InvestEU Advisory Hub and the InvestEU Portal. The InvestEU Fund is implemented through financial partners that will invest in projects using the EU budget guarantee of €26.2 billion. The entire budget guarantee will back the investment projects of the implementing partners, increase their risk-bearing capacity and thus mobilise at least €372 billion in additional investment.
RCR
The EIB’s Risk Capital Resources (RCR) is the core pillar of the EIF’s equity activity. It has enabled us to pursue our equity strategy in the venture capital and growth segments for more than 25 years. In 2023, RCR accounted for 25% of our equity activity, committing €1.4bn to financial intermediaries.
EFSI
The European Fund for Strategic Investments formed part of the EU’s Investment Plan for Europe, launched by the European Commission in 2015. EFSI addressed market gaps in financing - whether in infrastructure, research, energy efficiency or risk finance for SMEs – and mobilised private investment into these areas. Through EFSI the EIF deployed €10.5bn in resources of the European Commission, the EIB and the EIF to improve access to finance for SMEs and small midcaps.
SME Initiative
This programme to stimulate SME financing in Europe deploys funds from the EU, the EIB Group, and participating Member States. The EIF implements the initiative (SMEi) through guarantees and securitisation, providing financial intermediaries with partial risk cover on loans to SMEs.
REPowerEU
The EU launched REPowerEU in 2022 to reduce dependence on fossil-fuel imports and accelerate the green transition. To support the plan, in October 2022, the EIB Group developed a package of measures focussing on renewable energy, energy efficiency, electricity networks and on deepening its engagement in green innovation and breakthrough technologies. Under REPowerEU, the EIF will invest €4.5bn by 2027 through EIF equity products.
AI Co-investment Facility
The AI Co-Investment Facility is a €150m joint equity instrument targeting companies in the field of artificial intelligence. Launched in December 2020, it is deployed over a period of four years, to support the European AI ecosystem and the European Digital Strategy of the European Commission; and to target the "second equity gap” that companies face when they move into the growth phase of their life cycle. The co-investment structure of this Facility allows the EIB to invest alongside EIF-backed fund managers and private investors.
Social Infrastructure Partnership with CDP
In 2023 we set up a €300m instrument with Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) Real Asset SGR that constitutes the EIF's first national social housing programme in Europe. The agreement will enable the EIF and Fondo Nazionale dell’Abitare Sociale (FNAS—National Social Housing Fund) to support real estate projects that will have a direct impact on social inclusion and urban regeneration in Italy. FNAS’s main objectives include supporting the creation of around 10,000 new beds for students as well as housing solutions for self-sufficient elderly people, with a strong focus on ESG principles. The EIF will play a dual role vis-à-vis FNAS, namely, as a consultant to pinpoint and assess the investment opportunities and, subsequently, as a co-investor in the funds identified, resulting in an overall commitment to Italy’s social housing sector of up to €300m shared equally between the EIF and FNAS.
EGF
The European Guarantee Fund was created by the EIB Group with contributions from Italy and other Member States to protect companies struggling in the crisis caused by COVID-19. With almost €25bn in guarantees, the EGF allowed the EIB and EIF to swiftly offer companies, mostly SMEs and mid-caps, access to loans, guarantees, asset-backed securities, capital and other financial instruments. The EGF forms part of the package of recovery measures put in place by the EU, with the objective of providing a total of €540bn to support the hardest hit sectors of the European economy.
ITAtech
Launched in 2016 in partnership with CDP, ITAtech focuses on the development and support of the technology transfer (TT) sector. By targeting the earliest stages of the value chain – and notably by collaborating with key partners such as universities and research centers – ITAtech was designed to help bring ideas to market. Under ITAtech, €200m are made available on the Italian market for investments into TT funds. The programme is now fully deployed, having invested in 5 TT teams, and a new initiative to further support TT has been launched in 2021 in collaboration with CDP Venture Capital.
ETCI
The European Tech Champions Initiative was launched in February 2023 with EIB Group resources alongside contributions from Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and hopefully soon, also other EU Member States. Managed by the EIF, this is the first of its kind growth stage fund-of-funds in Europe, with and endowment of €3.75bn of capital to tackle the European scale-up gap.
Social Impact Italia
Social Impact Italia is the first impact investing platform of its kind in the country. Launched in 2017 with €100m in funding, the EIF joined forces with CDP in order to actively support and encourage innovative entrepreneurship and social inclusion – a sector which traditionally is financed by public and non-profit players – via the use of risk capital. These resources are invested in specialised market players such as investment funds, accelerators, microcredit institutions and banks specialising in social impact. To date, Social Impact Italia has already supported 3 specialized investment funds and 2 microcredit institutions.
Alpine Growth Investment Platform (AlpGIP)
In 2017 the AlpGIP investment platform was launched in collaboration with five regional investors from northern Italy: Lombardia, Valle d’Aosta, Alto Adige, Piemonte and Liguria. It is the first macro-regional fund of its kind, making €48m available to the region for investments in late Venture Capital and Private Equity and aiming to help the development of companies with high growth potential. The platform is now fully deployed, having supported 3 private equity funds and 3 venture capital funds.
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