United Ventures, a Milan-based venture capital firm, has announced the launch of its new fund, United Ventures III, with a target fund size of €150 million. The company has finalized the first closing and received commitment from Italian and international institutional investors. Upon completion, the total volume of funds undermanaged by United Ventures, which already manages two early-stage funds and a growth fund, will reach €500 million in total.
United Ventures III will invest in 15 to 18 early-stage European technology companies, with initial investment tickets ranging in size from 1 to 8 million euros. The investment focus is on companies that develop innovative technology solutions to revolutionize as-of-yet undigitized sectors in order to improve people’s quality of life and promote a more sustainable development of society.
“United Ventures’ new fund will focus on investing in visionary entrepreneurs who tackle critical issues, and that are often underestimated in their early stages. We believe that these companies have the power to make meaningful societal advancements by harnessing innovations that fall outside the tech sector’s typical hype cycles,” said Massimiliano Magrini, co-founder and managing partner at United Ventures.
Founded in 2013, United Ventures has established itself as one of the leading players in the Italian technology ecosystem. The company currently has a team of 15 professionals with diverse backgrounds and skills and a successful track record with 35 investments in Europe and the United States. In 2022, United Ventures made international exits (FACEIT and Musixmatch) with over 10x return on investment.
“Raising a fund in the midst of a challenging macroeconomic environment is a testament to United Ventures’ strong reputation in the industry and our ability to identify the most promising investment opportunities. It also represents a vote of confidence in the potential of our ecosystem to drive innovation and create value,” commented Paolo Gesess, co-founder and managing partner at United Ventures.
At the same time, the Italian VC firm is being strengthened with the appointments of Giulia Giovannini and Sara Lovato as Investment Partners of the new fund, the appointment of Jacopo Drudi as Operating Partner to support the growth of portfolio companies, and the addition of philosopher Mariarosaria Taddeo as the second independent member of the Board of Directors.
Professor Taddeo is an expert in the field of artificial intelligence and works on the ethics of digital technologies and defense technologies at the Oxford Internet Institute of the University of Oxford and at the Alan Turing Institute. She is a member of the Ethics Advisory Panel for the British Ministry of Defense, a member of the Board of the Italian Institute of Technology, and a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Leonardo Foundation.
