EIF backs €20 million fund to power Italy's small tech businesses

The European Investment Fund (EIF), part of the EIB Group, has committed up to €20 million to the DaVinci Growth Capital Fund, a new private equity vehicle targeting high-potential Italian small and medium-sized businesses, as announced in an official statement. The fund — a collaboration between RedFish Capital Partners and Alternative Capital Partners SGR (ACP) — focuses on growth-stage Italian companies in digital technology, industrial technology, and life sciences, with a total target size of €80 million. The financing is backed by InvestEU and the European Scale-up Action for Risk Capital (ESCALAR), an EU instrument designed to draw private capital into growth investments by improving their risk-return profile.

Italy’s small-cap private equity segment is structurally underserved, with many promising businesses operating in fragmented markets and lacking access to the kind of patient, strategic capital that could help them scale, consolidate, and modernize.

DaVinci will take majority shareholdings in companies with strong financial profiles and EBITDA of between €1 million and €4 million, combining operational value creation with governance improvements and buy-and-build strategies. EIB Vice-President Gelsomina Vigliotti said the investment “helps support the digital transition and strengthen the competitiveness of the Italian production system.” EIF Chief Investment Officer Marco Marrone noted that the EIF’s equity activity in Italy reached a record €687 million in 2025 — and this commitment builds on that momentum.

The fund’s management team brings a track record of returns on invested capital exceeding 2.5x and annual returns above 30%, with previous investments delivering measurable gains in revenue, EBITDA, and employment across supported businesses.

Beyond the capital itself, the EIF’s involvement plays a catalytic role — anchoring the fund’s first close, strengthening governance structures, and signaling credibility to other institutional investors still in due diligence. For Italy’s innovative small businesses, that combination of financing and institutional backing could make a tangible difference in how far and how fast they grow.