In a recent interview with Francesco Antonioli for La Repubblica, Luca Remmert shared his perspectives as the president of Neva Sgr, the venture capital company of the Intesa Sanpaolo Group based at OGR Torino. Remmert, who led the Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo from 2014 to 2016, highlighted the achievements of Neva First Italia, a fund managed by Neva Sgr, which completed its investment allocation period ahead of schedule on June 30, 2023, instead of the initially planned closing date of August 2025. This success was announced just last week.
Remmert attributed this early success to the urgency of the economy, explaining that the economy requires speed, emphasizing that Neva Sgr chose to invest immediately instead of holding capital within the Italian innovation ecosystem. He noted that there are numerous emerging entities in Italy deserving attention from investors.
Regarding the fund's financial data, Remmert revealed that "the fund, dedicated to highly innovative Italian startups and subscribed to by Neva Sgr, the VenturItaly fund of funds, and the Mise Co-Investment Fund – both managed entirely by Cdp Venture Capital Sgr – has invested a total of seven million euros in nine startups to date". However, of these startups, only xFarm, located in Alessandria, is based in Piedmont. "Turin is no longer lacking in other hubs. The point is that in Italy, the venture capital mentality is less widespread. Around 70% of this market is still overseas, dominated by Israel and Silicon Valley. Those who invest in these entities, as well as the founders themselves, are not content with a good income; they intend to rapidly multiply the company's value and then exit, making a profit to reinvest in other projects“.
Remmert explained that this is both a matter of scale and approach, highlighting that Turin has worthwhile startup entities but smaller ones due to the presence of numerous university incubators. The difference lies in more efficient growth models and a different mindset that leads to choosing to take more ambitious risks rather than progressing in small steps.
To address current challenges and overcome resistance to greater risk exposure, Remmert recommends strengthening mechanisms for sharing experiences, best practices, and success stories among entrepreneurs and aspiring ones. For this reason, Neva Sgr is organizing an event on September 13 at the OGR, where companies, investors, and banks can interact and reflect together.
In our city, there is a growing number of entities engaged in social investing, with a related increase in companies and startups committed to corporate sustainability. For this reason, Neva Sgr has recently focused on an internal restructuring to be more aligned with ESG parameters and, as Remmert noted, companies are also developing this culture internally. That's why Neva intends to support them to ensure that it's not just a superficial change and to give "substance to sustainability".
Finally, Remmert proudly stated, "In less than two years, the Neva First Italia Fund, in collaboration with Cdp Venture Capital Sgr, has contributed to the growth of the Italian innovation ecosystem, facilitating a total collection for those 9 highly innovative startups of over 160 million euros, with 33 million coming from the Neva First Fund, Neva Sgr's global investment vehicle. Finally, capital is not lacking in Piedmont either: young people with a good business idea must demonstrate vision, courage, intuition, and a hunger for the future to find the support they need, as investors are not in short supply“.
(Source: La Repubblica)
