Qatari capital seen as key catalyst for Italy’s deep-tech startups

A pioneer in Italian innovation, Andrea Romagnoli, has highlighted Qatari venture capital funds as a potential game-changer for deep-tech startups in the Lazio region of Italy. According to Romagnoli, who serves as the project manager for Startup Internationalisation at Lazio Innova, Italian academics and startups in the region are hindered by a lack of domestic capital.

At Maker Faire Rome – The European Edition, a tech innovation summit held in Rome, Romagnoli noted that while Italy boasts a strong research base, it faces significant difficulties in translating this research into marketable products, and suffers from a shortage of venture capital. Lazio, home to prestigious universities like Sapienza University of Rome, Tor Vergata, and Roma Tre, is a hotbed of research in engineering, robotics, cybersecurity, IoT, and life sciences.

However, only about 9% of Italian startups survive past their first two years due to the local funding environment. To address this, Lazio Innova manages a co-investment fund worth €6mn, matching private investments dollar-for-dollar. This fund operates alongside regional public accelerators, or Spazio Attivo, a network of innovation hubs and business incubators managed by Lazio Innova.

Romagnoli emphasized that Lazio Innova's mission is to facilitate investment in the region, helping local companies expand internationally without losing their ties to Italy. The agency prepares companies for international partnerships and market entries in cities such as Doha and Riyadh, offering local market analysis and identifying sectors ripe for joint collaboration, including smart grids, smart finance, AI, and cybersecurity.