About This Fund
CDP Venture Capital – Corporate Partners I is a corporate venture capital fund managed by CDP Venture Capital SGR, the venture capital subsidiary of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP), Italy's national promotional finance institution. The fund was designed as a first-of-its-kind Italian CVC vehicle with a target size of €400 million, structured across four thematic sub-funds — EnergyTech, IndustryTech, ServiceTech, and InfraTech — each targeting €100 million in commitments from relevant industrial corporate partners. The fund's first closing reached €57 million, anchored by commitments from industrial groups Adler, Marcegaglia, and Camozzi, with total initial assets under management of €180 million at launch.
The Corporate Partners I fund operates on a co-investment model that pairs public capital from CDP with strategic commitments from Italian and European industrial corporates with a direct commercial interest in each thematic sub-fund's focus area. Investments target technology startups and scale-ups operating at the intersection of established industrial sectors and emerging enabling technologies, including industrial automation, digital energy management, smart infrastructure, and enterprise technology services. The fund provides portfolio companies not only with capital but with privileged access to the commercial networks and operational ecosystems of its corporate LP base — a significant competitive advantage for startups seeking to pilot and scale B2B solutions.
CDP Venture Capital SGR sits at the centre of Italy's institutional venture capital infrastructure, managing multiple complementary vehicles designed to address different funding gaps across the startup lifecycle. Corporate Partners I represents an innovative structural approach to bridging the gap between the financial resources of large Italian industrials and the innovation capacity of early and growth-stage technology companies. A dedicated sub-fund, ServiceTech, became operational with the participation of BNL BNP Paribas and GPI S.p.A., illustrating the programme's ability to attract major financial and industrial institutions as strategic co-investors alongside the CDP anchor commitment.