EUREKA! Venture SGR Research
Overview
EUREKA! Venture SGR is an independent Italian venture capital asset management company founded in 2019 and headquartered in Milan, with a second office in Rome. It is supervised by the Bank of Italy and Consob (Albo SGR n.180, EuVECA manager n.16). Its own site calls it the first independent Italian VC management company focused on deep tech, science-based investments and digital tech. EU-Startups (September 2026) reports it has raised over 190 million euro across its funds.
Investment Thesis
The firm invests in deep technologies, "the next big thing", across energy, health and well-being, mobility, environment, and AI/big data. Its core edge is technology transfer: building a pipeline of proprietary, IP-backed spinoffs out of Italian universities and research centers, with a team that says it has 25+ years of venture experience and 35+ years in technology transfer. Eureka! Fund I is a partner of 32 universities and research centers across Italy. ESG is built in: the team maps each company to UN 2030 Agenda goals and publishes SFDR disclosure.
Funds and Stage Focus
- Eureka! Fund I, Technology Transfer (launched 2020): proof of concept, seed and early-stage deals in spinoffs and startups from Italian universities and research centers, centered on materials science and engineering. Anchor and institutional investors include the European Investment Fund and Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (via the ITAtech mandate), with Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo, A2A, Nestle, SAES Group and UMBRAGROUP as corner investors.
- BlackSheep Fund (launched August 2021, first close of almost 40 million euro): late-stage European venture fund focused on MadTech, meaning marketing technology built on big data, AI and robotic process automation. Run by digital marketing veterans with four prior exits. CDP Venture Capital is a corner investor.
- Eureka! Fund II, Deep Tech Lazio (announced September 2026): a 20 million euro early-stage fund investing from PoC and pre-seed through seed, anchored by a 16 million euro commitment from Lazio Innova under the regional ERDF programme. It targets climate and energy transition, circular economy, advanced manufacturing, mobility and logistics, security and defence, longevity, plus STEP technologies such as robotics, physical AI, quantum and materials science. It has an asymmetric profit and loss allocation favoring private investors, and will scout nationally with a focus on companies with a Lazio presence.
- ETA Fund (announced May 2025): the first Italian institutional fund for search funds, led by Paolo Guida. It backs searchers through search, acquisition and management of Italian SMEs with roughly 5 to 15 million euro revenue and 1 to 3 million euro EBITDA, often generational-transition deals. Supported by Politecnico di Milano GSOM; Fondazione CR di Lucca was cited as a potential anchor.
- Z_One Fund: listed by EU-Startups as focused on AI and UrbanTech; no detail on the firm site.
Check Size and Lead Tendency
No check size is published. A third-party profile cites a historical average around 1.6 million dollars, and the portfolio-company announcements are consistent with that: BlackSheep led a 1.5 million euro round in 3DNEXTECH in February 2024, and Fund I took part in a 2 million euro raise for Astradyne in 2025. Fund I appears to lead or co-lead small technology-transfer rounds and BlackSheep leads some rounds while co-investing in larger ones (for example a 40 million dollar Series B with Omnes, Move Capital and CDP Venture Capital, per the firm newsletter). Lead tendency is recorded as both.
Portfolio Highlights
The portfolio page lists about 38 companies across Fund I and BlackSheep. Fund I names include Alterecopulp, Astradyne, RE4REAL, Benewtral, Active Label, 3DNEXTECH, BeDimensional, Planckian, I-TES, Beyond Criopura, ILICO2SEP, E-CO2SYNT, Alice, Novac, Perovsky, T-REM3DIE, EYE4NIR, Aquaseek, Caracol, ENDOSTART, INTA Systems, FLEEP Technologies, Phononic Vibes and WISE. BlackSheep names include Spoki, Kleecks, Qapla', Inflead, Shop Circle, Blendee, Nexoya, Roibox, Connected Stories, Adtonos, iGenius and Scibids.
Team
- Stefano Peroncini: CEO, Eureka! Fund I investment team
- Anna Amati: Partner and Director of Institutional Relations
- Massimo Gentili, Anna Tampieri, Alessia Gennaro, Matteo Renzulli, Giovanni Reggiani: Eureka! Fund I investment team
- Marco Caradonna and Umberto Bottesini: Founding and Managing Partners, BlackSheep Fund
- Marcello Giordani: Junior Partner and Investment Manager, BlackSheep Fund
- Paolo Guida: Manager and partner, ETA Fund
- Enrica Acuto Jacobacci: Independent Chairwoman of the board
Decision Process
The firm is a regulated SGR with a board of directors, compliance and risk functions, and separate investment teams per fund. Fund I also has an 11-member Technology Advisory Board. Decisions run through a partnership and committee structure; exact mechanics are not published.
Founder Preferences
Researchers and inventors commercializing IP-backed science from Italian universities and research bodies (Fund I and Fund II), European digital marketing technology teams (BlackSheep), and operator-searchers acquiring Italian SMEs (ETA). Pitches are submitted through a form on the website.
Geographic Focus
Italy first, via university and research-center partnerships and, for Fund II, a Lazio tilt. BlackSheep invests across Europe.