Z_One Fund closes €35M first round to back Italian pre-seed startups

Z_One Fund has closed its first round at more than €35 million, with CDP Venture Capital among the backers. The fund is still aiming for €60 million in total, and it plans to spread that money across as many as 100 pre-seed and seed investments. Initial cheques can go up to €250,000, with more capital reserved for companies that hit milestones.

The vehicle is managed by Eureka! Venture SGR, a Milan-based asset manager supervised by Banca d’Italia and Consob. Its investors also include Zest and Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo, plus several private backers. Luigi Capello, who spent more than 10 years building a listed startup accelerator in Rome, stepped down as Zest CEO in July to become fund manager alongside two former Zest investors.

The mandate is broad but still focused. Z_One wants startups using AI in business processes, public administration and citizen services, and it is also hunting in urbantech: efficiency, resilience, electric and connected mobility, smart water and waste management, smart urban services, security and public space. The fund says it will begin in Italy, then widen both its portfolio and its deal flow across Europe.

The timing makes the pitch easy to understand. Italian startups raised €813 million in 145 rounds in the first half of 2026, but pre-seed and seed activity has been falling even as average deal size rose. In June, Italy’s per capita venture investment in 2025 was €127 million, the third lowest in Europe. That is the hole Z_One is trying to fill.

But there is a catch, and it is not subtle. Italy had around 53 Series A rounds in 2025 and only 14 Series B rounds, so a fund built to back 100 very young companies will also be manufacturing a queue. Zest and CDP both seem aware of that, which is why the model leans so hard on acceleration as well as capital.