Dear All,
we’re excited to share the latest news regarding our portfolio companies and to bring you up to speed on all their great achievements.
We’ll have a peak at all the new openings including Novac’s brand new HQ and Caracol’s tech assembly and innovation facilities.
Moreover, we’ll learn more about Endostart’s first Hospital case as well as Caracol’s latest partnership which took them all the way to Japan!
Don’t miss the interview on Il Sole 24 Ore to our one and only Umberto Bottesini on the AI Act and the opportunities for Europe.
Let’s start and enjoy the reading!
Portfolio Companies
NOVAC
Congratulations to the team of our portfolio company Novac for inaugurating their new HQ and laboratories in Modena. This new opening marks one step forward towards Novac’s mission to revolutionise the mobility sector thanks to fully mouldable, safe and high-performance solid-state supercapacitors.
Novac’s team went through incredible growth, from the TAAC (Training for Automotive Companies Creation) acceleration path of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia to the first investment round of Eureka! Fund and Motor Valley Accelerator by CDP Venture Capital SGR and Plug and Play Tech Center, CRIT.
ENDOSTART
Shout out to Endostart for performing its first case at Hospital CTO in Iglesias (Sardinia). Doctor Cadoni and his team easily completed the procedure by using the Endorail set and system.
Endostart seems to be really unstoppable! Another successful case was also performed at the Hospital of Garbagnate Milanese, led by Dr. Enzo Mandelli. Thank you Endostart for helping people with your technology.
CARACOL
With the launch of the new Technology Assembly facility and Innovation Hub near Milan (Italy), Caracol kicked off the year opening the doors of its European HQ to the public - partners, customers, and opinion leaders in industrial tech & 3D printing from all over the world joined to celebrate this milestone.
Our Italian facilities are the heart of our global operations, and this expansion will further enable our team, partners, and clients to succeed in adopting these technologies and pushing towards a new paradigm in production.
Francesco De Stefano, CEO & Co-founder of Caracol
Caracol also announced a partnership with 株式会社3D Printing Corporation, to bring advanced robotic large-format additive manufacturing to Japan and South Korea. 3D Printing Corporation will be installing a Heron AM platform within their facility to manufacture large-scale parts locally, becoming part of Caracol’s Manufacturing Partners network, as well as supporting the distribution of these machines.
BEDIMENSIONAL
BeDimensional joined forces with WINDTEX VAGOTEX SPA to introduce on the market a groundbreaking membrane for wearables: BeLeaf. This cutting-edge product is based on BeDimensional’s B-LEAF two-dimensional hexagonal boron nitride and represents a remarkable synergy of innovation, durability, and functionality.
What sets this collaboration apart is the world-first, successful application of 2D-boron nitride to a large mass market – a global milestone.
BlackSheep MadTech Fund’s portfolio company iGenius announced Modello Italia, the new Foundational Large Language Model developed in partnership with CINECA (the largest Italian computing centre) to help companies and Public Administration leverage Generative Artificial Intelligence.
This is Modello Italia, a Generative AI model representing not just our language but one of the most sophisticated cultures through art, culture and everything we’re so well known for.
Uljan Sharka, CEO & Founder of iGenius.
As promised here’s the full interview to Umberto Bottesini, Co-founder and General Partner of BlackSheep MadTech Fund, by Il Sole 24 Ore on the development of AI technologies in Europe and worldwide. Among the topics discussed, the impact of the new AI Act regulation and the opportunities for Europe to become a global leader in the development and use of artificial intelligence. Enjoy!
Meet-up with Eureka!
Our CEO Stefano Peroncini attended the following exciting events:
Madrid, 18 January – Science for Industry – a meet up with researchers, universities, investors, policy makers, corporate and opinion leaders aiming on turning Deep Science into truly sustainable industry.
Rome, 23 January – KnowledgeShare - in occasion of the platform launch Knowledge Share 2.0: “Where Innovation Happens”. Along with Anna Amati and Anna Tampieri, the team couldn’t miss this exciting event. Knowledge Share platform is a joint venture involving Netval, the Italian Patent and Trademark Office (UIBM) at MIMIT (Ministry Of Enterprises and Made in Italy) and the Politecnico di Torino. It showcases R&D technologies developed by Italian Universities and Research Centres, in pursuit of collaboration and commercialisation opportunities. Knowledge Share is a platform dedicated to the exploitation of research results fed by universities, IRCCSs and PROs in the Country.
Things worth sharing
In 2023, venture capital investments in Italy amounted to € 1.17 billion, down 37% from € 1.86 billion in 2022 and a slightly decreasing number of rounds (339 in 2022 vs. 325 in 2023).
These are the numbers estimated by the Observatory on Venture Capital in Italy, conducted by Growth Capital, a tech investment bank in the venture capital industry, in collaboration with Italian Tech Alliance, the Italian association of venture capital, innovation investors and innovative start-ups and SMEs.
The good news is 2023 marked an all-time high in exits, totaling 44 (41 M&A transactions and 3 IPOs), up 16% compared to 2022.
That’s all for today!
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