Cesare Maifredi, Giulia Galbiati and Alessandro Zaccaria / 360 Capital
European venture capital firm 360 Capital has just closed an €85m fund focusing on early-stage deeptech startups — and it’s betting big on Italy.
The firm has invested in more than 170 companies over the past nearly 30 years, and the new technology transfer fund, Poli360 2, is the successor of a fund of the same name which launched in 2020 and has backed 20 companies.
Poli360 1’s investments include Energy Dome, a long-duration energy storage startup that has raised more than €150m over the past five years and Isaac, a construction technology startup focusing on earthquake-protection, which recently closed a €14m raise.
The fundraising will continue towards a €100m target but has now closed its first oversubscribed fund, and will invest in early-stage deeptech startups, specifically focusing on university spin-outs and research labs.
“Fundraising for deeptech VC funds is always a challenge,” Alessandro Zaccaria, Partner at 360 Capital, told Pathfounders.
But, he continues, “having the conviction to raise the hard cap to €100m reflects both the LP appetite we faced and the deal flow we see ahead: a greater number of bold and ambitious deep tech founders in Italy and across the EU deserve funding at that scale.”
“Geopolitical pressure, the EU’s push for strategic autonomy, and the race to build alternatives to US and Asian technology stacks are all creating a window that sophisticated LPs clearly recognise,” Zaccaria added.
The fund will invest predominantly in Italian companies (at least 80%), with the rest of the funds allocated to other European startups — a clear signal of its strong commitment to the Italian startup ecosystem.
“Deeptech investing, in particular, is a proximity-driven business,” he said. “Tech transfer, university relationships and early-stage sourcing all require a strong local presence. That’s why an 80% focus on Italy is not only coherent for an Italian team — it’s essential to doing this well.”
360 Capital’s team of 25 is roughly evenly split between offices in Milan and Paris.
Last year, deeptech investment in Italy reached nearly €500m — a 14% increase from 2024 and the most it has seen in the last ten years. Globally, deeptech startups have seen an even bigger increase in investment, from $138bn in 2024 to $217bn in 2025. This marks a 57% increase, driven largely by surging interest in AI infrastructure, defence technology and energy transition, as governments and corporates race to secure strategic technological capabilities.
“A bold commitment to Italy — and the conviction behind it — has always been at the core of 360 Capital,” Zaccaria said, pointing towards Italy’s technical talent coming out of top universities, and its positioning as the second-largest industrial economy in Europe.
Despite that, Italy remains, as Zaccaria put it, “systematically underinvested in venture capital relative to its industrial strength”. “That asymmetry is the opportunity,” he added.
360 Capital joins an ever-growing list of VCs that have recently raised for deeptech, including Swiss firms Constructor Capital and b2venture which closed a debut fund at €92.8m and a fifth fund at €150m, respectively, in January.
In the UK, Albion Capital, closed an oversubscribed £90m top-up offer last December while Mundi Ventures closed its fifth, and largest, fund to date at €750m last month.
360 Capital has €700m AUM, investing in early-stage European startups across deeptech, climate and digital, with recent exits including Preligens (acquired by Safran for €220m in 2024) and Exotec, the first French industrial unicorn.
This fund will focus on industry automation – including robotics, AI, semiconductors and cybersecurity — and sustainability, focusing on new materials, energy transition and circular economy.
Poli360 2 is classified as an Article 8 fund under the SFDR (Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation). Its investors include the European Investment Fund (EIF), CDP Venture Capital, Italian pension funds, family offices and several corporate investors such as Brembo, MBDA, Lucchini RS.