Nextalia Ventures Research
Investment Thesis
Nextalia Ventures is the venture capital division of Nextalia Investment Management (Nextalia SGR S.p.A.), Italy's leading alternative-investment platform. Rather than acting as a passive check-writer, Ventures positions itself as a strategic bridge: it backs growth-stage technology companies with capital plus hands-on support, explicitly designed to help Italian companies expand internationally while giving international companies a foothold in Italy's market. The thesis leans on Nextalia's broader platform (Private Equity, Credit, and Ventures divisions) for network access, deal flow, and an "elite network of stakeholders and partners," plus a roster of Strategic Advisors made up of industry experts and successful founders.
Sector Focus
Nextalia Ventures targets B2B software and services (SaaS) across a defined set of verticals: fintech, insurtech, edtech, agritech, healthtech, food tech, infratech, smart mobility, and cleantech. In practice, the realized portfolio skews heavily toward AI-native enterprise software: an AI holding company for mission-critical SaaS (Circeus), an AI customer-service automation vendor (Sovran AI), an AI-driven healthcare data intelligence platform (Candor Health), and an AI implementation consultancy (Datapizza), alongside fintech (Rain Technologies), insurtech/mobility (HLPY), edtech (Lingokids), martech (Underdogs), workforce data intelligence (SkillSherpa), developer tooling (Builder.io), and energy monitoring (TaDa).
Stage Focus
The fund invests at Series A and Series B, positioning itself as later-stage venture capital rather than a seed investor. It looks for companies with proven product-market fit and initial international ambitions.
Check Size
Typical investment tickets range from €10-15 million, consistent with a Series A/B-focused strategy. Recent deals cluster near the top of that range (Datapizza's €10M Series A) and above it when co-investing in larger syndicated rounds (Shop Circle's $100M extension, Rain's $75M Series B).
Lead Tendency
Nextalia Ventures both leads and follows. It led Shop Circle's Series B extension to $100M (September 2025) and led Datapizza's €10M Series A (July 2026), while participating alongside lead investors Prosus (Rain Technologies, April 2025) and Bullhound Capital/General Catalyst (Lingokids, September 2025).
Recent Activity
The fund has been actively deploying through 2025 and 2026:
- July 2026: Led Datapizza's €10M Series A (Italian AI implementation company)
- September 2025: Invested in Lingokids/Monkimun's $120M round (edtech)
- September 2025: Led Shop Circle's Series B extension to $100M (AI-native B2B software M&A platform)
- April 2025: Joined Prosus-led $75M Series B for Rain Technologies (US earned-wage-access fintech), marking Nextalia's first US investment
Portfolio Highlights
Notable portfolio companies include Circeus (AI-native holding company for mission-critical software, backed by $220M+ across its portfolio of 18 businesses), Builder.io (AI-native visual development platform), Candor Health (US healthcare provider-data intelligence), Rain Technologies (US earned-wage-access fintech, $340M valuation), Shop Circle (AI-first B2B software acquisition platform), and Lingokids (leading kids' edtech app with 185M+ families reached globally).
Team
- Attilio Mazzilli — Co-Head of Ventures
- Federico Lonoce — Co-Head of Ventures
- Lucio De Costanzo — Partner
- Vladimir Pacheny — Business Development
- Fiammetta Mataloni — Director
- Anna Milloni — Associate
- Federico Valla — Analyst
The team is co-led by two Heads, with a Partner and supporting Business Development, Director, Associate, and Analyst roles, indicating a partnership-style decision process rather than a solo GP structure.
Decision Process
Partnership-led, with dual Co-Heads (Attilio Mazzilli and Federico Lonoce) alongside a Partner (Lucio De Costanzo), consistent with institutional decision-making rather than a single decision-maker.
Founder Preferences
Nextalia Ventures favors technical/operational founders building B2B SaaS with international ambitions, particularly those looking to expand between Italy/Europe and the US, or international companies seeking entry into the Italian and European market. The firm emphasizes hands-on scaling support over passive capital.
Geographic Focus
Headquartered in Milan, Italy, investing across Italy, wider Europe (including the UK), the United States, and Israel. Recent deals show a deliberate push into the US market (Rain Technologies, Candor Health) alongside continued Italian/European activity (Datapizza, HLPY, Underdogs).