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A-Road, Growth Capital’s acceleration and fundraising program dedicated to scaleups aiming for the Series A round, announces the four companies selected to participate in the fifth batch: they are Agora Labs, Holifya, TextYess and Utwin.
The scaleups join the entities selected in the previous four batches of A-Road: Barberino’s, Cosmico, Cubbit, Freedome, GoVolt, HiNelson, Homepal, Indigo.ai, Karrycar, Kippy, PayDo, Spiagge.it, Startric, Timeflow, Truescreen, Tundr, Wetacoo, and Yocabè.
“We are excited to welcome the four new leading ladies of A-Road. Agora Labs, Holifya, TextYess, and Utwin will have the opportunity to benefit from the support of our CEOs & Mentors, partners and experts as part of a program specifically designed to enhance the growth of the company and the founding team, guiding them in tackling complex challenges and seizing growth opportunities effectively and quickly,” Fabio Mondini de Focatiis, founding partner, Growth Capital, comments in a note.
Scaleups
Founded by Davide Zaccagnini and Minos Garofalakis in 2022, Agora Labs is active in the healthtech sector that decouples privacy from personal data by lowering the costs of AI research and development at scale by connecting diverse players, markets, and countries. In fact, the company provides hospitals, patient associations, mobile apps and pharmacies with remunerated sharing ofreal-world data in complete anonymity, eliminating the risk of incurring HIPAA and GDPR privacy violations. Agora Labs will be supported by Micol Fornaroli, EQT industrial advisor, as a mentor for the program.
Founded by Alessandra Cestaro and Marco Brustia in 2020, Holifya is digital health startup that offers personalized nutrition and prevention pathways with a scientific and data-driven approach, thanks to the combination of video consultations with specialized professionals and analysis of the individual’s genetic and medical history data. Holifya has developed a digital platform that allows the physician and nutritionist to set personalized and more effective nutrition and prevention plans through advanced analysis of the individual’s genetic, health and lifestyle data. Holifya will be supported by Tommaso Gamaleri, CEO Europe Younited, as a mentor for the program.
Founded by Riccardo Russo and Edvaldo Gjonikaj in 2023, TextYess is WhatsApp’s AI assistant created to help grow e-commerce. The TextYess AI software answers any customer questions, sends automated and marketing campaigns on WhatsApp, and enables purchasing via chat through the text-to-buy option offering a conversational experience that quintuples the conversion rate compared to the traditional shopping experience. TextYess will be supported by Duccio Vitali, CEO of Alkemy, as a mentor for the program.
Founded by Roberto Demarchi and Leonardo de Bellis in 2020, UTwin is a proptech startup focused on enhancing real estate and infrastructure data through digital twins. UTwin’s software supports property owners, managers and developers in managing data in an aggregated and collaborative way, starting with a “twin,” or a digital replica of an existing property or infrastructure. UTwin will be supported by Alessandro Petazzi, co-founder and former CEO of Musement, board advisor TUI Musement, as a program mentor.
The program
The selected scaleups access an initial investment of 200 thousand euros from Growth Engine, a venture capital investment holding company with an early-stage (pre-seed to pre-series A) focus founded by Michele Appendino, Marco Ariello, Andrea Marangione and Fabio Mondini de Focatiis, venture capital professionals with a portfolio of more than 40 investees. In addition, they can receive up to an additional 300 thousand euros from co-investors, with priority given to CEOs, to get to the series A round with early commitment from professional investors.
Scaleups receive ongoing one-on-one support from a dedicated mentor who, leveraging a proven track record of rapidly growing highly successful companies, will accompany them throughout the acceleration process. CEOs & mentors for the program include: Marco Ariello (ex-chairman Moleskine), Paola Bonomo (investment committee member in NEVA and non-executive director in TIM, AXA,FAAC), Micol Fornaroli (industrial advisor EQT), Tommaso Gamaleri (CEO Europe Younited), Milena Mondini de Focatiis (CEO of Admiral Group), Alessandro Petazzi (board advisor TUI Musement), Duccio Vitali (CEO of Alkemy) and Andrea Zocchi (director emeritus McKinsey).
Training workshops, professional services and ad-hoc consulting frompartners, such as: McKinsey & Company, Amazon Web Services, Legance, Carter&Benson, Sisvel, Studio Notai Associati Ricci and Radaelli, Studio CS and Press Play, and experts.
Finally, the program ensures fundraising support: Growth Capital will provide a customized approach by identifying the most appropriate investors and investment structure and minimizing timelines to get to the Series A round quickly. (Photo by Anne Nygård on Unsplash)
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