# Italy

The 16 Italian and Spanish startups with 200%+ one-year revenue growth
Pro
Leaderboard
May 28, 2026
The 16 Italian and Spanish startups with 200%+ one-year revenue growth
An alternative cut of Sifted 100: Southern Europe data reveals the startups accelerating fastest in their latest reported year
Jonathan Sinclair
The top investors behind Sifted’s Southern Europe 2026 leaderboard
Pro
Most active investors
May 22, 2026
The top investors behind Sifted’s Southern Europe 2026 leaderboard
Italian public fund CDP Venture Capital leads the ranking, with investments in 15 of the 100 startups
Ruggero Di Spigna
Lexroom CEO: Anthropic won’t kill vertical AI companies
Pro
Interview
May 21, 2026
Lexroom CEO: Anthropic won’t kill vertical AI companies
Paolo Fois, who raised $50m this week, isn’t worried about competition from big LLM players
Éanna Kelly
The unusual business idea that tops Sifted’s latest ranking
Pro
Interview
May 20, 2026
The unusual business idea that tops Sifted’s latest ranking
Milan-based holiday booker Hotiday has added a dash of Airbnb to its offering — and grown its revenues over 1000% in three years
Éanna Kelly
Meet the Sifted 100: Southern Europe's fastest-growing startups of 2026
News
May 20, 2026
Meet the Sifted 100: Southern Europe's fastest-growing startups of 2026
Italian hotel booking site Hotiday tops latest Sifted ranking
Éanna Kelly
Exclusive: Quantum software startup Algorithmiq raises €18m, relocates to Italy
Pro
Exclusive
May 11, 2026
Exclusive: Quantum software startup Algorithmiq raises €18m, relocates to Italy
The startup recently demonstrated ‘quantum advantage’ in an experiment conducted in partnership with IBM
Daphné Leprince-Ringuet
French-Italian VC 360 Capital raises €85m for deeptech fund backed by European defence prime
Pro
Exclusive
March 23, 2026
French-Italian VC 360 Capital raises €85m for deeptech fund backed by European defence prime
The new fund will back up to 25 startups and spinouts in areas like semiconductors, cybersecurity, robotics and the energy transition
Anne Sraders
Italian defence prime Leonardo ‘hungry like a wolf’ to acquire more startups
Pro
Interview
November 28, 2025
Italian defence prime Leonardo ‘hungry like a wolf’ to acquire more startups
The defence prime says it’s thinking of partnering with companies like Helsing and Anduril
Anne Sraders
Italian LPs poised to invest more in VC
Pro
Analysis
October 31, 2025
Italian LPs poised to invest more in VC
Fiscal incentives for LPs to funnel money into Italian VCs could boost the ecosystem, but investors remain cautious about the market
Anne Sraders
Bending Spoons raises $270m at $11bn valuation
News
October 30, 2025
Bending Spoons raises $270m at $11bn valuation
The announcement comes a day on from the company raising $2.8bn in debt financing
Kai Nicol-Schwarz
Defence startups 'getting their foot' in the door with Italian primes — but the ecosystem still lags
Pro
Interview
October 30, 2025
Defence startups 'getting their foot' in the door with Italian primes — but the ecosystem still lags
Local deeptech VCs at Join Capital are cautiously optimistic the Italian defence ecosystem will grow
Anne Sraders
Maia Ventures closes €55m fund to back early‑stage foodtech startups
Exclusive
October 14, 2025
Maia Ventures closes €55m fund to back early‑stage foodtech startups
As ‘tourist funds’ abandon the sector, nisch investors are bullish
Mimi Billing
Italy’s answer to OpenAI eyes €1bn fundraise
Pro
Exclusive
October 2, 2025
Italy’s answer to OpenAI eyes €1bn fundraise
Milan-based Domyn is targeting LLMs for defence and AI gigafactory builds
Kai Nicol-Schwarz
Italian unicorn Bending Spoons in talks to buy AOL for $1.4bn
News
October 2, 2025
Italian unicorn Bending Spoons in talks to buy AOL for $1.4bn
Last month, Bending Spoons snapped up US video platform Vimeo
Freya Pratty
10 Italian startups to watch, according to VCs
Pro
Investor survey
September 23, 2025
10 Italian startups to watch, according to VCs
Sifted asked investors from P101, United Ventures, Ulixes Capital and Prana Ventures for their top picks
Maya Dharampal-Hornby
Italian unicorn Bending Spoons to buy Vimeo for $1.38bn
News
September 10, 2025
Italian unicorn Bending Spoons to buy Vimeo for $1.38bn
Milan-based Bending Spoons is a prolific acquirer
Freya Pratty
Lakestar and Balderton back IoT cybersecurity startup Exein in €70m raise
Exclusive
July 16, 2025
Lakestar and Balderton back IoT cybersecurity startup Exein in €70m raise
On-device security startup plots global expansion following fresh fundraise
Martin Coulter
Italy’s midyear scorecard: deal count high but funding low
Pro
Sifted data
July 11, 2025
Italy’s midyear scorecard: deal count high but funding low
A silver lining, say techies: more foreign VC firms circling
Éanna Kelly, Jonathan Sinclair and Ruggero Di Spigna
The 10 fastest-growing Italian startups
Pro
Fastest-growing startups
June 23, 2025
The 10 fastest-growing Italian startups
B2B SaaS dominates Italian entries on Sifted’s 2025 France and southern Europe leaderboard
Éanna Kelly, Hessa Alabbas and Ruggero Di Spigna
Bending Spoons CEO Luca Ferrari: ‘We're trying to build one of the most successful companies of all time’
Pro
The big interview
April 23, 2025
Bending Spoons CEO Luca Ferrari: ‘We're trying to build one of the most successful companies of all time’
The Italian unicorn plans to spend over $1bn on acquisitions this year
Amy Lewin
Early-stage Italian VC firm P101 closes €250m investment fund
News
April 21, 2025
Early-stage Italian VC firm P101 closes €250m investment fund
The firm’s leadership described the raise as a ‘positive signal’ for the Italian ecosystem
Martin Coulter
Inside Ithaca, the Berlusconi heir’s secretive startup investing firm
Pro
Analysis
April 15, 2025
Inside Ithaca, the Berlusconi heir’s secretive startup investing firm
Ithaca Investments doesn't have a website — but it sits on the cap tables of all the most talked-about Italian-founded startups
Amy O'Brien
Meet the eight startups using AI to fight malicious AI
Pro
Analysis
February 27, 2025
Meet the eight startups using AI to fight malicious AI
The founders defending humans from AI bots, copyright theft, disinformation and deepfakes
Éanna Kelly
EU lawmakers split on DOGE for Europe: ‘We need something like this.’
News
January 22, 2025
EU lawmakers split on DOGE for Europe: ‘We need something like this.’
The EU wants to simplify regulation but critics say they need to go further
Martin Coulter

# Italy

The 16 Italian and Spanish startups with 200%+ one-year revenue growth

The top investors behind Sifted’s Southern Europe 2026 leaderboard

Lexroom CEO: Anthropic won’t kill vertical AI companies

The unusual business idea that tops Sifted’s latest ranking

Meet the Sifted 100: Southern Europe's fastest-growing startups of 2026

Exclusive: Quantum software startup Algorithmiq raises €18m, relocates to Italy

French-Italian VC 360 Capital raises €85m for deeptech fund backed by European defence prime

Italian defence prime Leonardo ‘hungry like a wolf’ to acquire more startups

Italian LPs poised to invest more in VC

Bending Spoons raises $270m at $11bn valuation

Defence startups 'getting their foot' in the door with Italian primes — but the ecosystem still lags

Maia Ventures closes €55m fund to back early‑stage foodtech startups

Italy’s answer to OpenAI eyes €1bn fundraise

Italian unicorn Bending Spoons in talks to buy AOL for $1.4bn

10 Italian startups to watch, according to VCs

Italian unicorn Bending Spoons to buy Vimeo for $1.38bn

Lakestar and Balderton back IoT cybersecurity startup Exein in €70m raise

Italy’s midyear scorecard: deal count high but funding low

The 10 fastest-growing Italian startups

Bending Spoons CEO Luca Ferrari: ‘We're trying to build one of the most successful companies of all time’

Early-stage Italian VC firm P101 closes €250m investment fund

Inside Ithaca, the Berlusconi heir’s secretive startup investing firm

Meet the eight startups using AI to fight malicious AI

EU lawmakers split on DOGE for Europe: ‘We need something like this.’