A New $21.7 Million Bet on Italy's DeepTech Future

Jan de Vries · 2026-09-28

Milan and Rome-based Eureka! Venture just dropped some big news. They've launched a new early-stage fund called Eureka! Fund II – Deep Tech Lazio. We're talking about a $21.7 million pot of money aimed squarely at backing DeepTech startups in Italy, all the way from proof-of-concept and pre-seed stages up through seed rounds. It's a significant move. And it signals a growing belief that Italy's tech scene, often overlooked, has some serious proprietary tech waiting in the wings. ### The Fund's Backbone and a Unique Twist The fund is managed by Eureka! Venture itself. But here's the kicker: Lazio Innova is coming in as the anchor investor, committing a hefty $17.4 million. That cash comes from European funds under the PR Fesr 2021-2027 program. But the real interesting part isn't just the size. Stefano Peroncini, Chief Executive of Eureka! Venture SGR, points to the fund's innovative structure. He says it has "an innovative and unique mechanism for the asymmetric allocation of profits and losses to the benefit of private investors." In plain English? They've built in a feature designed to lower the risk for new private investors jumping into DeepTech. It's a tool meant to tear down barriers to entry and, slowly, build a much wider base of private capital that's dedicated to funding innovation. Peroncini put it this way: "With our first fund, we demonstrated that Italy possesses proprietary technologies capable of meeting the needs of industry and the market, even at an international level. With Eureka! Fund II, we remain committed to this vision... we aim to attract new investors to DeepTech – a strategic asset class that is still under-represented in Italian investors’ portfolios." ### Why This Matters Right Now This new fund isn't launching into a vacuum. The European DeepTech market has been buzzing in 2026. Just look at Italy alone. Recent financings reported include: - $3.9 million for Puglia-based Physical AI startup Mirai Robotics - $5.4 million for Pisa-based Wearable Robotics - $15.2 million for Milan-based seismic tech company ISAAC - $12.8 million for critical-materials specialist Circular Materials - $5.4 million for Turin-based wireless-power startup ORiS And right in Lazio, Rome's own Physical AI cybersecurity firm Exein landed a massive $254 million financing back in September. That's a later-stage deal, but it shows the scale of ambition. The activity stretches across Europe, too. From Barcelona to Helsinki to Berlin, startups in robotics, AI infrastructure, materials discovery, and quantum computing are pulling in millions. All these 2026 deals add up to roughly $415 million. It's a hot sector. ### More Than Just One Fund On the fund side, it's not just Eureka! making waves. There's also 360 Capital's $92 million first closing of their Italy-focused Poli360 2 fund, and Elaia's $145 million DeepTech Seed fund. Money is flowing into this space. Eureka! Venture itself is no newcomer. Their first fund backed companies like Astradyne, which raised $2.2 million back in 2025. This new $21.7 million Lazio fund is a continuation of that tech-transfer mission, just with a sharper focus on DeepTech. Andrea Ciampalini, Director-General of Lazio Innova, adds another layer. "Through our investment in Eureka! Venture, we are consolidating an investment model in Lazio that is specifically geared towards maximising the value of research and proprietary technologies," he says. He sees it as bringing specialist DeepTech and tech-transfer expertise into the regional venture capital platform. The goal? To create a stronger, more effective link between the research lab, the business world, and the marketplace. ### Who Is Eureka! Venture? Founded in 2019, Eureka! Venture is an independent asset management company. They're supervised by the Bank of Italy and Consob, and they specialize in venture capital and private equity. To date, they've raised over $206 million across a family of funds: - Eureka! Fund I – Technology Transfer: Focused on advanced materials tech transfer with universities. - BlackSheep Fund: Targets software for marketing and advertising. - Eureka! Fund II – Deep Tech Lazio: Their new DeepTech-focused fund. - Z_One Fund: Concentrates on AI and UrbanTech. - ETA Fund: Dedicated to SMEs via the search fund model. So, what's the takeaway for professionals watching the EU startup scene? It's another concrete sign that institutional and regional capital is getting serious about DeepTech. It's not just about software-as-a-service anymore. The bet is that the next wave of European unicorns will be built on hard tech, robotics, advanced materials, and quantum computing. And funds like this one are placing their chips on Italy to be a part of that story.