Nevermind (NVM) says its NVM Venture Lazio compartment has raised €23.6 million at first close, towards a €35 million target. The fund intends to back 10–15 dual-use companies at Pre-Seed and Seed stages. Lazio Innova is the key investor named in the announcement, with €18.83 million committed through Lazio Venture 2.
A first close is an interim fundraising milestone: it records capital secured before fundraising reaches its stated final target. The announcement gives no date for the close or timetable for completing the fundraise. It describes an investment plan, not investments already made in named companies.
How did the fundraise begin?
The announcement says Nevermind has launched the NVM Venture Lazio compartment as part of NVM Ventures. Its final fundraising target is €35 million, and the first close stands at €23.6 million. Those amounts describe the target and the capital reported at the initial close, respectively. No final close date or other fundraising milestones are provided.
Lazio Innova committed €18.83 million through Lazio Venture 2. The source describes Lazio Venture 2 as the Lazio Region's fund of funds, meaning it invests in funds rather than directly in companies. The vehicle is co-financed by the ERDF Regional Programme 2021–2027, and the new compartment was selected under that programme. The announcement does not provide the terms or process for that selection.
What will the compartment invest in?
The plan is to form a portfolio of 10–15 companies at Pre-Seed and Seed stages. These are early funding stages, when businesses are developing their technology and beginning to establish their commercial direction. The companies are to work on dual-use applications, meaning technology intended for civilian and defence uses. NVM Venture Lazio says it expects to act mainly as lead investor in those rounds.
The stated sectors are aerospace, maritime, robotics and autonomous systems, cybersecurity, AI for defence, energy infrastructure, new materials, advanced manufacturing and biotechnology. The fund says it is seeking companies with international growth potential. It also links its investment activity to strengthening the innovation ecosystem of the Lazio Region. No individual startup, investment amount or planned investment date is identified in the material.
Who manages the compartment?
Andrea Bonabello and Niccolò Bienati are named as the fund's founders, founding partners and board members of the General Partner. The General Partner is the entity identified as having founded the fund and leading its strategic direction. Giorgio Gulienetti and Alessandro Casiraghi are described as fund managers at the delegated manager and key persons for NVM Venture Lazio. The source does not name that delegated manager or give a detailed allocation of duties.
The fund describes its structure as multi-compartment, with specialist teams matched to separate investment theses. It says the arrangement gives emerging managers a shared institutional framework for governance, risk management and compliance. The announcement does not describe the framework's rules or how oversight will work in practice. It also provides no independent assessment of the structure.
Why was Lazio chosen for this strategy?
The source says Lazio is the only Italian region with the entire aerospace value chain, spanning research, manufacturing and services. It cites Lazio Region data stating that more than 300 advanced-technology companies operate there, with around 23,000 employees. Those companies generate annual revenues above €5 billion, including €1.6 billion in exports, according to the cited regional figures.
The fund's team is described as having experience in domestic and international venture capital, corporate finance and scaling technology companies. The announcement also points to experience connected to aerospace and defence. These statements provide the rationale offered for the investment focus, while the source does not quantify the team's track record. The regional figures describe the wider ecosystem, not the fund's expected returns or results.
The announcement leaves open when fundraising will conclude and which companies will receive the first investments. It also does not specify investment sizes or the timing of portfolio construction. The next concrete updates would be a subsequent close or named investments, if reported.