Analysis

October 9, 2023

Italy used to be a startup desert. Now there are signs of life

More successful Italians are returning home to build and family offices are backing more tech companies


Amy O'Brien

8 min read

When Italian entrepreneur Riccardo Zacconi cofounded King.com — maker of the wildly popular Candy Crush mobile game — in 2003, it wasn’t in his home country, but the UK.

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Chart showing the number of Italian-founded unicorns with an Italian HQ, vs Italian-founded unicorns with their HQ abroad.
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Scalapay's founding team
Scalapay’s founding team
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Diego Piacentini, chairman of Vento
Diego Piacentini, chairman of Vento
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Amy O'Brien

Amy O'Brien is a freelance reporter covering Italian tech. She was previously Sifted's fintech reporter

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