Berlin VC invests in Italian startup. Is this the start of something?

http://eu.techcrunch.com/2011/12/30/shock-horror-berlin-vc-invests-in-italian-startup-is-this-the-start-of-something/

by Facens • 15 years ago

44 43 15 years ago

eu.techcrunch.com

dariobarila2• 15 years ago

HN, keep an eye on italian startup scene, a lot of potential waiting to be discovered...

klaut3• 15 years ago

agreed. I really wish the startup scene blossoms in Italy in the near future as there is great potential there - One of my favourite italian startups is http://stereomood.com/

brador• 15 years ago

How would you monetize that site?

SammyRulez• 15 years ago

Lot of potential but little money.

"Italian VC investors (I mean the ones based in Italy) are, in general, famously useless at identifying high growth businesses in their own country"

Sad but true.

davidw• 15 years ago

The money is in hiring good hackers at good prices.

advanced• 15 years ago

Finally !

zerostar076• 15 years ago

... and we find out about it thanks to the british correspondent of a californian blog.

zerostar076• 15 years ago

Care to contribute your euro-startup experiences here?: http://textchannels.com/EuroStartups

tucosan• 15 years ago

http://www.gruenderszene.de/news/point-nine-capital-cibando also http://www.deutsche-startups.de

zerostar076• 15 years ago

See that's a problem, writing in English guarantees a wider audience.

mikebutcher3• 15 years ago

TC broke it first.

zalew• 15 years ago

and "Pawel Chudzinski, Founder and managing partner of Point Nine Capital" is Polish

guk5• 15 years ago

And a great guy!

guk5• 15 years ago

Thanks all! I really hope the Italian scene grows a lot!!

danmaz744• 15 years ago

Besides the deserved congratulations, there's a question I'd like to ask you. I noticed that the Cibando website is Copyright "Cibando Ltd.", but in the TOS the service is from "Mobatar S.r.l."

Does this mean that you have both a UK ltd company and an Italian S.r.L.? If that's so, why? Have you already explored what it means from a fiscal point of view having both?

I ask because right now I'm very undecided if I should incorporate in the UK with a ltd company for the paid service I'll launch very soon on pro.hashtagify.me - not to dodge Italian taxes (I live in Rome too), but because a S.r.L. costs too much and sounds much worse for an international audience - and I only found very confusing information on the Internet, so it would be very interesting to learn about your experience :)

Facens2• 15 years ago

I had to face the decision too, for Iubenda, and ended up with an Srl. I went for the most hassle-free choice, since incorporating abroad can be time consuming and hide additional costs (loss of focus included). About the Srl, I wrote this article a while ago which can clarify some of the expenses: http://thinkamination.com/migliorare-srl-italiana/ [ITA]

mikebutcher3• 15 years ago

It's very common now for European startups to have a UK LTD as well for later exit purposes.

guk5• 15 years ago

Nice catch! We're planning to change it very soon. We were operating with Mobatar S.r.l. and are now in the process to close it down since we already transfereed all the assets to Cibando Ltd.

What we did now is have the HQ in UK and open a branch in Italy. It was the best solution if we wanted to easily raise new funds or exit.

oscardelben• 15 years ago

If you're in Italy and want to fund your startup try contacting h-farm http://www.h-farmventures.com/

Disclaimer: I've worked with one of their startup but I know the place is great and they're more than willing to invest.

itmag2• 15 years ago

Interesting that things are actually happening outside of SV.

Speaking of that, is there a startup scene in Scandinavia? Anyone know?

mikebutcher3• 15 years ago

Er, cough, Spotify...?

pdelgallego2• 15 years ago

+ Skype, Zendesk, Opera, Rovio, among others.

Ironballs• 15 years ago

Yes! There's even a whole site devoted to the startup scene in Nordic (and Baltic) countries: http://www.arcticstartup.com/

itmag2• 15 years ago

Cool! (heh)

I want to meet local entrepreneurs who are in tune with the HN ethos, but it's really hard sometimes in Jante country :)

mebe• 15 years ago

In Finland, there's been quite a lot of happening lately: http://steveblank.com/2011/10/07/the-helsinki-spring/

dariobarila2• 15 years ago

http://www.magno.me/startup-e-italia-qualcosa-si-inizia-a-mu... Here you can find a quite critical point of view from one of the best italian entrepreneurs and business angel. Is written in italian for the italians who always criticize the italian venture capitalists, accusing them that they miss some good startups. But venture capitalists in this country are moving and growing, although there are still many gaps about seed capital. Also, the new Italian government has introduced measures to promote venture capital. By the way, You're hacker enough to translate this post!

Berlin VC invests in Italian startup. Is this the start of something?

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