Atlante Seed, the Intesa Sanpaolo Group Fund and start-up incubator Digital Magics have signed an agreement for the joint development of investment activities in digital start-ups.
The goal of the partnership is to increase investment capacity for the start-ups selected and incubated by Digital Magics, guaranteeing adequate financial resources for their development.
Atlante Seed will join the Digital Magics Angel Network and will have the right to participate in the seed rounds, forming part of the share capital of high growth potential start-ups, co-investing in the companies proposed by the incubator.
This operation forms part of an indirect investment plan developed by Atlante Seed, which in July 2013 joined the share capital of Digital Magics when the latter floated on the AIM. The Digital Magics Angel Network plays an active role in the selection of ideas and new businesses and in providing strategic consultancy: it assesses start-ups, proposes new projects to the incubator – thus generating corporate venture capital dynamics – and provides its industrial expertise and financial resources to assist in the growth of the start-ups.
“The agreement with Digital Magics fits perfectly with our strategy, which seeks to develop a strong network of partnerships with leading venture incubators and accelerators in order to contribute to the creation of an ecosystem of domestic and overseas tech start-ups,” says Andrea Ballestri, investment director at Atlante Seed. “During its first year of activity Atlante Seed has already concluded numerous direct investment operations in start-ups, accompanying them on a path of growth and creation of value. We plan to continue our scouting and co-investment activities, exploiting the potential of the Intesa Sanpaolo international network, which we regard as a genuine asset available to our fund."
“This agreement with a financial partner like the Intesa Sanpaolo Group which, like us, has been working for years to construct the venture capital segment, represents an important alliance for the Italian digital sector,” says Enrico Gasperini, founder and chairman of Digital Magics “Partnerships between investment funds, incubators and industrial operators are key for the growth of our ecosystem. We created our Angel Network with this aim in mind. A community that is open not only to investors that already participated in the flotation of Digital Magics, but also to future shareholders and partners.”
