Primo Space is the first Italian Venture Capital Fund dedicated to the Space Economy, successfully inaugurated in July 2020. E. Amaldi Foundation is the designer and the key institution for advisory and scouting activities. The Fund has also been sponsored by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and counts on the support of the main Italian Universities. The main objective of the fund is to enhancing the Italian and European Space ecosystem by targeting companies that offer innovative solutions able to cut costs and provide disruptive products and services to make life on Earth easier by integrating space technologies.
The fund starts its operations with a budget of EUR 58M (first closing) already provided by European Investment Fund (EIB group), CDP Venture Capital SGR, Compagnia di Sanpaolo, Luigi Rossi Luciani S.a.p.a. and Banca Sella. PrimoSpace guarantees the necessary level of investment for developing an industrial sector that will allow Italy to maintain a placement capable of ensuring adequate returns in terms of industry and employment – as well as for Europe’s industry. The total target budget of the Fund is of EUR 80M with an hard cap target of EUR 100M.
The objective of the Fund is to support new businesses based on the transfer and use of space technologies as well as to lead to a better identification of national and European industrial needs and their correlation with space technologies.
Primo Space invests 75% of its resources in Italy – as lead investor – while the remaining percentage will be invested in other European countries as well as in the United States and Israel with the role of co-investor.
Specifically, the fund is designed to provide two types of investment:
- Companies in Seed-Early stage can aspire to an investment that goes from EUR 50k to EUR 1M;
- Companies in the Scaleup phase can raise between EUR 1M and EUR 5M.
The maximum limit for a single investment is EUR 5M without difference on the Technology Readiness Level (TRL).
The vision of E. Amaldi Foundation and of its ESA Business Applications team is to merge the mission of the Foundation with the needs of the industrial space ecosystem, by giving space and support to the companies with a high growth potential so that they can stand on their own feet. The initiative started from a large expertise and knowledge of the space environment as well as of the world of finance in order to accelerate the process and optimize the criteria to obtain the resources. For this reason, the proposed idea and its potential business perspectives have found a strong interest in the European Investment Bank – EIB group – as it has the potential to improve the competitive position of the whole European space sector.
For more information and to be part of the dealflow of Primo Space contact us at: advisory@fondazioneamaldi.it
