Italy's CDP Launches Early-Stage Fund, Backs Over 570 Startups

Italy's Cassa Depositi e Prestiti has launched an early-stage fund and has backed more than 570 startups to date, according to Dealroom. That single figure — 570-plus portfolio companies — is the hardest number in the story, and it frames the scale of what CDP is doing in Italian venture capital.

The new vehicle targets the earliest end of the market: pre-seed and seed. For a state-backed institution like CDP, that's a deliberate shift toward the stage where Italian founders historically struggle most to raise capital. Dealroom's report is the source for both the fund launch and the portfolio count, and it's the anchor for everything in this piece.

What does the new fund change?

CDP already ranks among the most active backers of Italian startups. Adding an early-stage fund means the institution can now write checks earlier in a company's life — before Series A — rather than entering later rounds alongside private investors. The stated portfolio figure of over 570 startups to date covers CDP's cumulative activity, not the new vehicle alone.

The practical read: Italian founders at day zero now have one more institutional check-writer on the cap table. That matters in a market where early-stage capital has long depended on a thin bench of local funds and angels.

Why does the 570 number matter?

Portfolio breadth is the story here. Backing more than 570 startups puts CDP's activity in the same conversation as Europe's most prolific early-stage investors, at least by headcount. Dealroom, which tracks the European startup ecosystem and reported the figure, did not break down the count by round size, sector or check amount in the headline announcement.

What the number does signal is volume. A state investor that has already reached 570 portfolio companies isn't dabbling — it's running venture as a core program, and the new early-stage fund extends that program down-market.

What's the context for Italy's startup scene?

Italy has spent the last decade trying to close the gap with France, Germany and the Nordics on venture funding. State-linked capital has carried much of that effort, and CDP sits at the center of it. An early-stage vehicle fits the pattern: policymakers across Europe have concluded that late-stage capital follows early-stage deal flow, not the other way around.

Dealroom's reporting doesn't specify the fund's target size, its first investments or its management team. Those details will determine whether the vehicle becomes a genuine seed player or a symbolic addition to CDP's toolkit.

The takeaway: CDP now covers the earliest stage of Italian venture, and its 570-plus portfolio gives it more founder relationships than most funds in the country ever build. Watch the first deals out of the new vehicle — they'll show whether the state investor can move at seed speed.