The first venture-building project launched by CDP Venture Capital, which is leading, together with a series of industrial, institutional and financial partners, the initiative entirely dedicated to the digital transition of Italian SMEs operating in the nautical and port-logistics sectors.
Through the Boost Innovation Fund, CDP Venture Capital, in agreement with the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy, has facilitated the establishment of a special-purpose company dedicated to building and launching new business initiatives that will develop products or services for the digitalisation and innovation of SMEs operating in the nautical and port-logistics sectors.
With an investment of EUR 8.7 million, the objective of the ‘Nautical and Port Logistics Sector Venture Builder’ project is to create 10 new enterprises over the next three years that will be the subject of subsequent equity investments by CDP Venture Capital’s Boost Innovation Fund (the SGR’s corporate venture building fund) in the amount of about EUR 30 million, which will generate an additionality effect on the market that will bring total investments to about EUR 70 million. The new businesses generated will be able to help bridge the process and technology gaps of SMEs developing components and services in the shipbuilding, yachting, cruise and port logistics sectors.
Investors in the venture building project include Bridgemaker, a German venture builder, Cariplo Factory, an open innovation hub, which will operate in joint venture as venture builder partners managing the construction of the new initiatives, Fincantieri, which operates in the shipbuilding industry, PSA Italy, which has three container terminals in Italy and accounts for 25% of the country’s import-export, Intesa Sanpaolo Group through Fondo Sei, Sviluppo Ecosistemi Innovativi of Neva Sgr, the Group’s venture capital company, Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo, which supports the development of the Genoa and Liguria area, and Friulia, Finanziaria della Regione Friuli-Venezia Giulia, which supports the development of the regional territory.
The Intesa Sanpaolo Group will also contribute through the consultancy of Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center, a company dedicated to the promotion and development of innovation, which controls Neva Sgr, and will support the interaction between the project management and the ecosystem of SMEs belonging to the production chains involved.
Other institutional partners include the Municipality of Genoa, which will host the company’s Genoa operational headquarters in the spaces of the Genoa Blue District, the Friuli-Venezia Giulia Region, which will host the company’s Trieste operational headquarters in its spaces, and Confindustria Genova.
The nautical and port-logistics venture builder programme will operate in its two permanent locations in Trieste and Genoa.
“Maritime transport is a key element of the global economy and Italian port areas have driven the development of our country for centuries. The economy of the sea is made up of a network of small and medium-sized enterprises that today must be able to cope with the profound technological and production transformations that are taking place – Agostino Scornajenchi, CEO and General Manager of CDP Venture Capital, said in a note -. The venture-building project for the nautical and port supply chain starts from a system approach that was created thanks to a strong impulse from the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy and gathers the needs expressed by the large industrial groups at the head of the supply chain, in order to support the SMEs that represent its backbone, developing the individual components and ensuring the competitiveness of the entire model”.
“The venture building project for the nautical and port supply chain is one of the most ambitious innovation initiatives, not only in Italy but also at European level. Launching 10 start-ups in three years is a great challenge, but we are convinced that, thanks to the involvement and contribution of industrial, financial and institutional partners, we will be able to accelerate the competitiveness of the entire sector, – adds Enrico Noseda, CEO of the company created and chief innovation advisor of Cariplo Factory – . The international team we have built for this project, made up of innovation specialists from Bridgemaker and Cariplo Factory, will be operational both in Genoa and Trieste and will work starting from the innovation needs of the supply chain and then identify high-potential solutions to be developed through MVPs (minimum viable products). From these prototypes, then, new companies will be born to be brought to the market”.
Pierroberto Folgiero, Chief Executive Officer and General Manager of Fincantieri, says: “Fincantieri sees in this ambitious programme conceived by CDP Venture Capital an extraordinary opportunity to accelerate the digital transition and innovation of SMEs operating in the shipbuilding and port sectors. As a supply chain leader, we firmly believe that our role is to connect the dots and make things happen, including by fostering the development of business ideas and innovative solutions and turning them into active market realities. This initiative will not only bridge existing technological gaps, but also represent a decisive step towards a sustainable and highly competitive future for our industry. We thank the City of Genoa, the Friuli-Venezia Giulia Region and Friulia for believing in the project”.
“Innovation, sustainability and competitiveness: PSA Italy has chosen to be a partner in this project in order to be part of the process of technological acceleration of the logistics and port supply chain, which is increasingly necessary as much as inevitable,” says Roberto Ferrari, CEO of PSA Italy. This is a project that, thanks to important capital partners such as the Intesa Sanpaolo Group and the Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation, and the institutional support of Confindustria Genoa and the Municipality of Genoa, will lead to the development of new tools that will give added value not only to our company and its innovation process, but also to the SMEs operating in the logistics and port supply chains, contributing to a sustainable and highly competitive future for the entire sector”. (Photo by domenico farone on Unsplash)
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ©