Primo Space Fund, the first Italian fund focusing on aerospace start-ups, will receive €21 M
from CDP Venture Capital, the asset management company owned by CDP Equity (70%)
and Invitalia (30%). The fund has the target to collect €80 M and boasts the support of
institutional investors and the EIF-European Investment Fund.
The creation of this fund underlies the importance of the space economy in Italy. This sector
occupies a leading position in the international context, 4th in Europe and 7th in the world.
Alongside prime contractors such as Leonardo, Fincantieri, GE Avio, Iveco and Piaggio
Aerospace, the national supply chain is made up of 80% by Small and Medium Enterprises
(SMEs) concentrated mainly in five significant industrial Districts (Piedmont, Lombardy,
Lazio, Campania and Puglia).
Moreover, as reported by The Space Economy in Figures: How Space Contributes to the
Global Economy by OECD, “Italy’s space policy guidelines formulated in the latest Strategic
Vision Document for 2016-2025 puts an increased emphasis on socio-economic returns of
space activities, in particular, on the development of downstream activities”. [1]
The space sector involves several Italian companies in the production of satellite, launcher
and orbital system production. At a regional level, it is essential to highlight the presence of
several clusters: Lazio, Toscana, Abruzzo in centre of Italy, the Norwest cluster in Piemonte
and Lombardia and the one in Campania, Puglia. The latter region hosts the Taranto-
Grottaglie Airport which has been formally appointed as Italy’s first spaceport by the
Ministry of Infrastructures and Transport and ENAC, the civil aviation authority. The
development of the cluster in Puglia is raising interest internationally, and many big players
as Virgin Galactic and Virgin Orbit showed their interests in the developing of agreements
for further commercial initiatives.
For more information about investment opportunities in Italy, please contact us
[1] ASI (2016), Strategic Vision Document 2016-2025, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, Rome,
https://www.asi.it/sites/default/files/attach/dettaglio/dvs-ing_web.pdf
