A new impetus for the Piedmontese space economy comes from Neva SGR and the Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation, which are focusing on Galaxia to encourage the creation and growth of new companies in the aerospace sector: 2.5 million euros allocated to the national technology hub created by CDP Venture Capital in collaboration with Obloo Ventures in 2023, with the aim of supporting startups from the world of scientific research applied to aerospace.
This injection of capital will not only be financial: the initiative also provides for the active involvement of skills, relationships and resources, with the aim of building an ecosystem capable of uniting public institutions, universities, innovation centers and private companies. With this contribution, Galaxia completes its fundraising round, reaching 30 million euros, and is preparing to become a point of reference for the strengthening of the space economy in the area.
The range of technologies that will benefit from the investments is wide: from propulsion systems to rockets, up to satellites and solutions for telecommunications and satellite navigation.
According to Alberto Anfossi, secretary general of the Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation, the aerospace sector represents one of the most important industrial assets for Piedmont. Galaxia, he says, is a strategic node in the technology transfer chain, generating value from research results and encouraging the development of innovative solutions in line with the objectives of the Foundation’s 2025-2028 strategic plan, which sees risk-taking as a lever for change.
Piedmont, on the other hand, has been able to transform the space industry into a pillar of its economy. Currently, the sector involves over 35 thousand workers and 450 small and medium-sized enterprises, with a turnover that has reached 8 billion euros. 20% of national exports in the aerospace sector come from the region. In the last five years, 15 thousand new jobs have been added and over 100 new companies have been born, which have contributed to increasing turnover by a further billion. Further impetus will come from the Aerospace City under construction in Corso Marche in Turin, where work officially began at the end of 2023.
For Luca Remmert, president of Neva SGR, this is an investment in a strategic area for Turin and for the whole of Europe. The Piedmontese capital, he points out, is establishing itself as one of the most dynamic aerospace hubs, thanks to an ecosystem in which companies, universities and research centers collaborate. A cross-fertilization, as he defines it, destined to produce important results for Italian industrial competitiveness.
Mario Costantini, CEO and general manager of Neva, also emphasizes the importance of the operation, explaining that the goal is to support the evolution of the technological-industrial ecosystem by facilitating access to both national and international capital, providing technical and strategic support, and creating synergies with institutional and private partners.
Galaxia, in addition to the support of Obloo Ventures, also counts the Polytechnic of Turin and the Sapienza of Rome among the scientific promoters, flanked by other Italian universities. For Claudia Pingue, head of CDP Venture Capital’s Technology Transfer Fund, the entry of Intesa Sanpaolo and the Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation among the main investors represents a significant result, which confirms the growing centrality of technology transfer in the country’s economic and industrial development.
