BACKGROUND
Despite our industrialization, Italy is lagging behind other countries in terms of supporting and financing new business ventures, which is why we are the only country without a unicorn.
New Italian high-potential ventures often need a long time to raise the funds necessary to enter the growth phase, and, despite their viability, many do not survive simply due to financial constraints
Sponsor
GENESIS
Coopera was created after a discussion among a number of startup founders on May 24, 2021, in which they highlighted the difficulty of funding high-potential startups, even for those in the industry
The Italian system is characterized by a lack of investors operating in the "post-seed" phase. These operators allocate the majority of their resources to Round A and later rounds, for amounts that typically begin at € 2 million
Coopera has been founded precisely due to this equity gap-that is the difficulty in obtaining funds in the post-seed phase for amounts routinely ranging from €500K to €1.5M
Saverio Canepa
Promoter and Founder
Strategy
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
There are two factors that contribute to Coopera's Competitive Advantage. One is external, while the other is internal.
By exploiting its distinctive elements, Coopera turns the equity gap into an opportunity:
1. A collaboration among the most influential Italian incubators resulting in a diversified and qualified deal flow of the best Italian start-ups
2. Partnership with a well-known Italian operator that specializes in the management of venture capital funds
3. A commitment to a rigorous selection process that is shared and structured
Structure
COOPERA MODEL
COOPERA's model involves the close interaction and collaboration among different actors
FOUNDING MEMBERS and ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
Besides the Promoter, six Italian incubators have joined Coopera: Digital Magics, Enry’s Island, Entopan Innovation, Key Capital, LVenture and Nana Bianca. Legal Representatives are ex officio members of the Advisory Board, a collegial body which makes merit judgments on start-up companies seeking investment from its Venture Capital Fund
SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE
The Scientific Committee is composed of professionals, managers, and professors with special expertise or knowledge in the areas in which the Fund operates. When it is necessary to validate the economic, legal, or technical feasibility of a particular project, members may be consulted by the Advisory Committee to express an opinion
MANAGEMENT COMPANY and INVESTMENT COMMITTEE.
With a total endowment of more than € 200 million, Vertis manages five venture capital investment funds, taking positions in research projects, spin-offs, startups and SMEs and serving as an investment resource for innovative Made in Italy companies.
According to the regulations, the Fund will have its own Investment Committee, which will be composed of between 3 and 5 professionals chosen with the support of the majority shareholders by 3 key men. In addition, the Fund will use a dedicated team of seven professionals. The Fund will consider investments presented to the Investment Committee only if the Advisory Committee has approved them in advance
INSTITUTIONAL INVESTORS
Coopera intends to propose a novel asset class to institutional investors – Pension Funds, Insurance Companies, Banks, Pension Funds, Foundations of Bank Origin, Family Offices, HNWIs, etc. – that are currently outside their scope. With the Fund subscription, they will have the opportunity to invest in a diversified portfolio of start-ups that have already been successfully launched for at least two years, supporting their growth and consolidation
START-UP
We target start-up companies seeking capital to finance an existing business that needs to be launched and developed. Consequently, the stages of ideation, design, and experimentation have already been completed. Typically, these projects have been in existence for no more than five years and have been supported by an incubator or accelerator and have received their first pre-seed investment. As well as perfecting the product, defining the business model and obtaining early market validations, they have a well-structured team
Partner
To achieve our long-term goals, we have established strategic partnerships with the following organizations
Equidam
Partner
Vertis SGR SPA
Partner
